I am not cooking anything this year, because my younger daughter Neeta and Kavey have planned everything, we will just enjoy ourselves. Wonderful, I am looking forward to it!

What are you planning for your Christmas meal?

Hello Mamta,

As we live in Australia (we are hoping it will be hot,) we are having for starters, Peking Duck with pancakes, cucumber, spring onions and hoi sin sauce. For mains it?s Spanish Prawns (spicy)and Chamoula Lobster with a green salad, for pudding its my daughters favourite, Magic Coconut Pudding with cream/ice cream.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

We are in Australian too (canberra) but it doesn't feel like it is going to be hot. On Christmas Eve (when my daughter and her boyfriend will be joining us) we will have mini blinis with smoked salmon on some and salmon roe on others, together with sour cream and chives from the garden. Then second course, ham baked in Guiness with a delicious cardamom-flavoured glaze. Not sure about desert - I usually make chocolate and vanilla icecream at Christmas and will this year, but i was thinking of a seasonal fruit desert as well.

For Christmas dinner (we prefer this to lunch) we will have roast loin of pork and all the accompanying veggies.

Another Australian here (and in Canberra!). Ours is going to be a big one (approx 50 people) at my inlaws house. Unfortunately I cant cook what I would really like as we've all been alocated dishes to bring. We've got to do turkey. They didnt specify how though so I might open it up, marinade it in some tandoori marinade and BBQ it! (Thats if theres enough room on the BBQ)

Cheers!

Steve

Amazing how international Christmas cuisine has become everywhere. Even with a roast, I often add spices before roasting potatoes these days, they go like a storm with our friends.

We are having Roast Beef (sirloin) in our house here in Co Durham, we don't really like turkey. I must admit to sometimes adding spices to my roast potatoes too Mamta. Merry Christmas to everyone.

we haven't quite made our minds up yet... we were going to do several chickens.. but now we've bought a small frozen turkey... so it might end up mix and match again...

Steve

Sixteen members of our family on Xmas Day, all with varying likes and dislikes of food! Oh! what fun it will be! However there will be a 3 choices for starters, Roast Turkey because my wife says so! all the trimmings, followed by Xmas Pud for those who want it but the main dessert will be a Toblerone dark, white and milk chocolate fondue with fresh fruit.

Oh and for breakfast I have a bottle of Champagne, which I have done every Christmas morning for twenty years.

Will be chicken!

Not quite sure yet between Mamta's Chicken Jalfrezi or Steve's Roast Chicken and Gravy for Father and neighbour yet!

Seasons greetings to all.

Love, John

"Roast Turkey because my wife says so!"

You are a wise man Richard!

Hope your father keeps well John.

Merry Christmas to you all, whatever you cook :-)

Ours will be a bit boring but trying to please everyone is always difficult...

We'll all have smoked salmon and home-made bread (not just home-made but made with Pete's home-grown, home-ground wheat flour).

Then roast chicken and trimmings/ salmon en croute.

Then I'm making desserts, lemon posset and also pavlova.

And we have cheese.

And buffet of snacks for evening.

Sounds like some great meals will be had....

but so far Petes bread is taking my fancy the most... completely home grown and made bread... how can you beat that ?

Steve

One thing is certain for us this christmas ----" NO TURKEY ".

We used to roast a goose, sourced locally, here in the South of France, but my wife has gone off it, so we'll be going back to guinea fowl in a cherry sauce. We do our Christmas meal on Christmas Eve, like the French.

The next day, we'll probably do an Indian chicken dish: chicken in a spicy tomato pur?e sauce with apricots and potato sticks. Colour matters at Christmas, so red and orange colours are good, but green to. That's why I think Mamta's chicken jalfrezi is a good idea. But that's our regular Friday night dish, so we won't be doing it for Chistmas.

If you're thinking of chicken, a capon is a good idea at Christmas.

Phil

Always turkey for Christmas day, with roast potatoes/parsnips, mash with the same, sage and onion stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce, bread sauce, turkey gravy with cream sherry, and sprouts with bacon or chestnuts.

This year (there will be seven of us) for a sweet, we are making a sugar free delice, with fresh fruit, yoghurt moose and topped with sugar free jelly and sprigs of redcurrents, raspberies, blueberries and strawberries

We have planned a little 'amuse bouche' of smoked mackel pate (a recipe of mine which went down a storm at the local weight watchers meeting!)to start with, as the cooks dish up the veg and cart the turkey onto the dining table.

Happy Christmas to all,

and if Christmas is not your thing, well, glad tidings, anyway.

Yeah the 100% home made bread is pretty cool!

Looks like everyone is having a great meal for Christmas. I am specially looking forward to Pete's bread.

Enjoy!

Our two chilren are with their respective in-laws and we're a small family so just us pair of Seabirds are off to Devon on 23rd Dec and return on 1st Jan 2012. We're eating out on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day and I've got Mamta's curry sauce in the pan at this very moment to take with us for Boxing Day. Merry Christmas everyone!