message from a butcher lol

Very true!

Thanks for posting gave me a laugh and so true

😂😂 Brilliant! 🎄

I could never understand the Jame O make-ahead gravy - all that faff, when it takes 5 minutes to make proper gravy in the roasting tin!

Brilliant Fleur.

I would ignore jamie Oliver too but equally I wouldn’t use
Paxo
Or bisto
Or aunt Bessie

That made me laugh Fleurpepper I have got twenty for Christmas lunch this year including 8 children aged 2 - 14.

Already decided that the little ones can have a Christmas picnic in-front of an appropriate Christmas film in the sitting room.

The two teens will eat with us then when they are finished can retire to the playroom with their new computer games.

We are hoping that this will result in relaxed adults enjoying a leisurely late lunch and not worrying about elbows on tables and amount of veggies the children eat

Thankyou for posting that.
I had read it before but forgotten it and it made me laugh .
You can do all that Jamie, Delia, Nigella et al advise or do what I am doing for the third year, pay someone else to do it.
I cooked for 50plus years, no more.
I didn’t have to be up at 5:30am this morning to book my Christmas slot as recorded on another thread this morning.
No more wondering if the turkey will be succulent or dry and all the other worries.
It means of course I haven’t had my H with me for the last 3 years, he would never have gone out, but now that I can, I do.

There was a thread on Mumsnet about Jamie’s gravy, the general consensus was that it was worth all the effort, it really is the best gravy ever. I watched a clip of him making it and tbh, it looked really pale and thin to me. And no, I wasn’t brave enough to say that on Mumsnet 😁

I don't get stressed about Chrismas dinner as I have never cooked one my husband is the budding chef and he enjoys doing it.

Very true 😀

That is a fun take on Christmas dinner, thanks for posting it Fleur .
Despite knowing what it say is basically true, I do tend to throw myself into making an extra special Christmas Day meal and when I see the family’s appreciative faces as they fill their plates it is worth the effort for one day.

Having said that - I did the cooking last year; this year we will be going out and my apron will stay at home! 🤶 🎄

I must have watched a different episode to you Grannydarkhair
Only yesterday I watched him on a programme called the day before Christmas and the gravy he made then looked like wallpaper paste.
Also his idea of jazzing up sprouts was to add 5 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, he also put this abomination on carrots.
Now I like a sprinkle in my stew or a light shake on cheese on toast but veg drowned in it,never.

At the end of the day, it's true - it is basically just a roast dinner. If you enjoy cooking everything from scratch, then fair enough (I cook almost everything from scratch anyway), but some folk don't have the time or the inclination to do so. If you want to cut a few corners by using ready-made stuffing or gravy granules, what's the problem? As long as everyone enjoys the meal at the end of the day, that's what really matters. No-one's going to quibble about whether granny made the bread sauce from scratch!

I shall always remember cooking my first family Christmas dinner- my sil, bil and her young teenagers, with a sulky Belgian boy who was staying with them, my two little'uns, my MIL who was a great cook and VERY bossy, and my lovely but strong headed mum- and all of them telling me what to do, but totally differently. In the end I sent them off and said NO-ONE was allowed in the kitchen- and they all had to admit it was excellent!

Would never choose turkey myself, leg of lamb or well aged beef rib. But you do what you have to do.

Our kids always ate with us though, and a bit of everything.

Love it! 😂

I always ask what everyone wants on their plates, then I can use the leftovers for bubble and squeak the next day with bacon for breakfast. Problem is there are never any roasties left to go in it !

I enjoyed reading that 😂.
Thank you

That was great
Did Father Ted write it?
I’ve always said that Christmas dinner is just a roast dinner with a few add ons.

And yes, at the end of the day, it’s a roast dinner and anyone can only eat till they're full anyway! A plate of delicious hot dinner, good quality meat, not messed with and twiddled around too much is beyond delicious. Warm the plates, serve hot gravy and you can’t go far wrong. I use Paxo stuffing and add a boiled cooked onion and an extra dessert spoonful of sage to lift the taste (thank you mother-in-law 50 years ago).

Christmas crackers on the side of the place settings, a glass of fizz and some Christmas serviettes jazz up the table anyway. Some Christmas music in the background and you’re good to go!

* chop up the boiled onion don’t put it in the dish whole ha!
🤣

Yes, it's amusing, and yes, it makes very good points.
BUT you don't need to faff about to make stock on Xmas Eve - you just have to make stock with your left-overs all year round.
And you don't need to buy herbs for stuffing if you grow them in pots, and sage & thyme last all year round.
Even easier if you have a freezer, but I've done this all my adult life, in many different situations.
Fine if you don't want to do those things, I have no great opinion on what others do. But I get mildly annoyed by those who pretend something is a dreadful faff when it doesn't have to be.

I make Jamie Oliver’s gravy a few days ahead and freeze it. I make bread sauce ahead too, and freeze it.

Christmas dinner is nothing but a roast dinner with a cracker.

Adults... Anyone that can manage to get their sorry arse to your dinner table is also capable of helping to serve up/ sort the kids out/ clear the table /wash up /dry up etc.

I'm thinking of printing that off on a very large sheet of paper and pinning it where a certain member of the family can't miss it!
😁 😁 😁