Christmas Dinner

[PatriciaH]

Do you have yours at home or go out to eat on christmas day? I would love a break from cooking the christmas dinner - but .... because people who work on christmas day to cook these dinners give up what i call "family time" expect a good hourly wage for this service of which i agree with BTW , but it would be nice if i could be waited on, on christmas day and before you shout " your husband could " he CANT COOK !! (not a christmas dinner anyway. Do you go out for yours??

[China Doll]

I try to but mum objects.

[Ethel]

The few times I have been to restaurants have been hugely disappointing. Too many people in, too many temporary staff, substandard food....

Much prefer to stay at home after the experiences I've had.

[VillageVicar]

Bless her heart, had my wife ever cooked a meal in her life, we would have said our prayers AFTER we ate!

Nope, I remain the chef du cuisine in our home. But for me, it has never once been a task or chore. For me it has been the greatest way to say to my children 'I love you.'

I did once book a Christmas Day dinner out at a restaurant in London. The food was so bad that I moped about it for an entire year...

Fr Bill

[pussnboots]

Trish you and your lot are invited round to my place. Come about 1.00pm Christmas Day, we will open all the presents then have a couple of drinks, sit down to dinner about 2.30pm Turkey with all the trimmings, Christmas Pud, coffee, chocs, Queens speech the whole caboodle, then you can fall asleep on my sofa with one of my cats on your knee. After an hours kip you will have to wake up and play charades. About 7.30pm I will bring out the turkey butties and you can pick at all the other left overs. See you Christmas day. Luv puss.

[bigmamma]

Congrats on becoming grey Fr Bill :-) xx

( Excuse me Patricia )

[laurence2]

The Vicar has gone grey?

How old are you vicar?

[PatriciaH]

Aww thanks puss.... : )

[ojread2]

At home mostly with myself cooking
We don't have turkey if we are eating as just us though

We usually have company on boxing day or xmas day but it's not 'our turn' anf although we may have my little sister over and her family I shall for the most part be enjoying my xmas with my family alone :)

[cameo]

We have been out for christmas dinner a couple of times and I have to say I'm undcided on it.
One of the times it was lovely, the food was good and there was a lovelt atmosphere was great. That was a few years ago and my eldest was only 4 years old, so as long as 'santa' had been she was happy!
Another time we went to another place. By now I had 2 kids age 10 and 5. The food was a real disappointment, we all hated it! The kids kept saying that it wasn't nice like mine!!
Now if i so much as suggest the prospect of going elsewhere there is a total uproar. They tell me it isn't really christmas without me cooking. I cook virtually every meal all year round!!
But I have to say that it is nice that they love it so much, and as they are getting older they don't mind helping a bit more. x

[chitchat]

I have never been out for Christmas dinner, nor have I wanted to. I really hate cooking but I love doing Christmas dinner. I know I'm strange, my family have been telling me that for years.

Looking forward to doing it again this year.

[andy-hughes]

We have done both - and had usually good to excellent experiences on the times we have gone out.

We moved to a bigger house in February, so looking forward to everyone coming round, and having some room to sit them down comfortably!

[dolly pond]

my parents cook for us!! then we go home for drinks and treats, would never go out, wey too much money and its never the same, spuds are never as crunchy, and u cant afford the taxi home!!!

we keep planning to do chilli and chips for a change, as bored of roasts!

[thugulike]

We had one Christmas abroad, never again. We used to go occasionally to my in-laws but the last time we went father-in-law barked '"there's 1 sausage each". Mr t now insists on Christmas Day at home. My son is in USA so it's just us and the puppy. No effort to cook, the secret is in the preparation. We have the full traditional caboodle, only the starter changes. Last year it was lobster and mango salad. Feeling hungry now!

[amonty1144]

We always have it at home, I've looked at ging out but don't really fancy it, I'm invited to my sisters every year but she lives 300 miles away and my son is not convinced that santa will find him. When he was very small we had xmas in the algarve, that was very weird, xmas day on the beach and a salad for tea.
At least at home, you pick what you eat and at what time and for me more importantly, who you sit next to.

[dolly pond]

its all a big hype really! we often have a full roast, yesterday was lush, crispy roasties, yorkshires, topside beef, veggies (no parsnips) stuffing, followed by carte dore and a captain morgans, really stuffed all nite and cant imagine eating all he trimmings too! we did it together so les of a chore!!

i was sooooooooo bored last xmas, i hot david lloyd on boxing morning, and it was rammed!!!! he he

[dolly pond]

oops, i hit david lloyd, not hotted it!

[VillageVicar]

Laurence...I'm no older than my nose and no younger than my toes. But my daughter has just turned 15 and my son 17....isn't that enough to give us a bit-o-grey?

Thank you Bigmamma...I'm proud to say I don't even hide the few that show :-)

Fr Bill

[bigmamma]

Lol :-D

Patricia , in answer to your question , my mum used to do a fantabulous xmas dinner . I am not sure this year yet.:-)
xx

[JonnyBoy12]

I thought everyone was supposed to muck in with the preparations on Christmas Day. No, all these good folks are right, it is a private time for family, and you don't want to spoil it with a load of strangers (the other pub customers, not you AB surfers). In my experience you have to book up about 100 years in advance for the Big Day, get charged a fortune, and then they give you a child'd portion. Add to that you can't go back for seconds. My family always goes to our friend's nearly every year, and when they go away for Christmas, it is never the same with just us. So take our advice, make the men do all the work.

J.J.B. (A Christmas Lover)