Christmas menu

[ailbhe]

On the clear understanding that we will be eating the leftovers for weeks...

Starter: No idea. Neither Rob nor the children are that keen on melon, which was traditional in my family.

Main course: Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, roast carrots and parsnips, steamed carrots, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, two kinds of gravy, bread stuffing, bread sauce, apple sauce, cranberry sauce, mustard. No sausage stuffing, spiced beef, horseradish etc, we definitely don't have enough people.

Dessert: Trifle. For which we need to make and freeze the sponges soon. And buy the fruit and sherry. Also, some sort of snow-scene decorated cake, but not a fruit cake, because none of like like actual Christmas cake. Perhaps an iced bara brith? Mainly we'll be eating the trifle, anyway.

There is a shopping list a-growing. I need to decide where I'll buy the ham. And how big.

Comments

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

We always have either smoked salmon or gravadlax on very thinly sliced wholemeal bread and butter, crusts cut off, served in the drawing-room along with champagne cocktails for the grownups and soft drinks for the younger element.

Also oddly traditional for us is broad beans from the freezer - no idea why!

And our family has always done what must have derived from the Provençal "13 desserts" tradition, although I don't know whether we ever knew that - I certainly didn't until I visited Provence in the new year - and had "dessert" after the pudding, which was things like almonds-and-raisins (usually cranberries and macadamias these days), dried figs, nuts, oranges, and various sweets, especially home-made chocolate truffles.

As we never actually have room for these at the main meal, they tend to be served on Boxing Day instead!