Christmas Dinners!

I love Christmas cake & trifle...but we always end up having Christmas pudding at the in-laws, which I'll eat to be nice, but I don't love it. 

MIL says Christmas cake is - 'Sickly!'  (She hates the frosting & hates marzipan.)

One of these years I'm going to take me some sickly Christmas cake & Wensleydale cheese down, and have my alternative Christmas pudding. 

You guys really make me hungry lol...I am not sure what the DH and I will be doing this year as this is my first year here for Christmas.  We were invited to Borde Hill with his family, or what is left of it, but I think we may just stay home and I will fix something special for 2.  Not sure what yet but I am very creative when it comes to cooking.

I love Christmas cake & trifle...but we always end up having Christmas pudding at the in-laws, which I'll eat to be nice, but I don't love it. 

MIL says Christmas cake is - 'Sickly!'  (She hates the frosting & hates marzipan.)

One of these years I'm going to take me some sickly Christmas cake & Wensleydale cheese down, and have my alternative Christmas pudding. 

Oh, I love Christmas cake -- and with Wensleydale! Heaven. I never used to put icing on mine, just loads of marzipan. I can pass on trifle and the pudding -- just give me the cake and mince pies 

Christmas pudding, but I have it my head to make some Christmas pudding ice cream for a change. We'll see how that works. I might give it a trial run this week.

I recently saw a recipe to make Christmas pudding ice cream and the Husband and I decided we'd like to give that a go this year instead of the traditional pud which doesn't thrill me. Great minds and all that!

If we're having the inlaws, probably something traditional (but probably not turkey as Mr A doesn't like it that much).  I did gamon and beef last year.  I would like to do something like a goose this year if we're doing traditional, but I've never cooked goose other than small bits.  I am afraid of getting fat everywhere.  Still, it's something that I have always wanted to have at Christmas.

Oh, I love Christmas cake -- and with Wensleydale! Heaven. I never used to put icing on mine, just loads of marzipan.

I skip the cake and the icing and just eat loads of marzipan! 

I recently saw a recipe to make Christmas pudding ice cream and the Husband and I decided we'd like to give that a go this year instead of the traditional pud which doesn't thrill me. Great minds and all that!

Do you have the recipe? I was just going to steam a good shop-bought pud, then break it up into pieces and add it to the ice cream maker. I was just going to make plain vanilla.

Do you have the recipe? I was just going to steam a good shop-bought pud, then break it up into pieces and add it to the ice cream maker. I was just going to make plain vanilla.

I don't have it handy. We saw it in a magazine and I have no idea where the mag went! But basically you soak the traditional mixed dried fruit mix and chopped Glacé cherries that you'd put in a Christmas pud in brandy and bunge that in your homemade vanilla ice cream mixture. The pic in the mag looked so festive and it just all sounded so nice together!

I don't have it handy. We saw it in a magazine and I have no idea where the mag went! But basically you soak the traditional mixed dried fruit mix and chopped Glacé cherries that you'd put in a Christmas pud in brandy and bunge that in your homemade vanilla ice cream mixture. The pic in the mag looked so festive and it just all sounded so nice together!

I've been investigating recipes online and most of them seem to call for exactly what you've said - soaking fruit in brandy. But I sort of like the idea of using actual Christmas pud in my ice cream! James Martin has a recipe that includes crumbling up Christmas pudding, drizzling it with brandy and then mixing that into the ice cream. I think that's the way I'll go!

I don't have it handy. We saw it in a magazine and I have no idea where the mag went! But basically you soak the traditional mixed dried fruit mix and chopped Glacé cherries that you'd put in a Christmas pud in brandy and bunge that in your homemade vanilla ice cream mixture. The pic in the mag looked so festive and it just all sounded so nice together!

Sounds a lot like Brigham's Frozen Pudding ice cream (I hated it!) I think it's a New England phenomenon.
http://www.bostonfoodandwhine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/frozen+pudding.jpg

I've been investigating recipes online and most of them seem to call for exactly what you've said - soaking fruit in brandy. But I sort of like the idea of using actual Christmas pud in my ice cream! James Martin has a recipe that includes crumbling up Christmas pudding, drizzling it with brandy and then mixing that into the ice cream. I think that's the way I'll go!

I think that could be a good way to go about it, but I'd be worried about the soggy cake bits. (but maybe that's just me because I am funny about textures) I'd soak it in extra brandy for good measure though! (but again, that may very well just be me! lol)

I think that could be a good way to go about it, but I'd be worried about the soggy cake bits. (but maybe that's just me because I am funny about textures) I'd soak it in extra brandy for good measure though! (but again, that may very well just be me! lol)

I agree! It will definitely be soaked in brandy! I may add some soaked fruit as well. Because, you know, you can't really have too many brandy-soaked items, can you?

I don't think the cake would be too soggy. I often add bits of brownie or things like that to ice cream, and it works well. I'll let you know how it goes!

I can't believe no one has started a food thread for Christmas dinners! 

Here's our main Christmas dinner line-up (for just two of us, if you can believe it!)

Nigella's Aromatic Christmas Ham
boneless turkey breast
pigs in blankets
apple and onion gravy
apple and cranberry chutney (it's mainly for the leftover ham) and/or cranberry sauce
parsnip and carrot mash
roasted King Edward potatoes in duck fat
brussels sprouts (of course!)
pork, sage and onion stuffing

Pudding is maple cheesecake. 

I'm making some cranberry-orange Christmas morning muffins ala Nigella for breakfast.

Our Christmas with DSS is this weekend, so I'm going to make toad in the hole with mashed potatoes, glazed baby carrots and onion gravy. He likes sausages and he likes Yorkshire pudding, not sure if he has ever had toad in the hole so I thought I would try it for him. 

Christmas eve, we are having dinner with DSS and his mother (strange) and I'm taking over a corned beef pie (you'd have to taste it to believe it how good it is) and a red velvet cake (I don't care if it's wanna-be chocolate cake... it looks festive!  )

Boxing day will just be snack foods mostly since we are going out, I will probably do a cheese board with some leftover ham and chutney, and I'm planning on making some cranberry and soy glazed cocktail sausages to eat when we stumble in (if I don't land in the bushes first.) 

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends!!!
   

Since we had a nice Thanksgiving Dinner this year and had planned on being in the US by Christmas (which obviously hasn't happened yet), we're doing my nummy Nachos, Enchiladas & Mexican Rice...I just can't bring myself to do traditional Christmas dinner this year...though we did get a Christmas pudding 

I can't believe no one has started a food thread for Christmas dinners! 

You were right not to believe it! Look here! 

We're not cooking.  We've decided to do low key and mess free this Christmas, so we're ordering some nice things from Waitrose, and that's that.  Our family thing is on Boxing Day, so we're looking forward to having a nice quiet Christmas with just the two of us--the first in our own flat!

But Jewlz...you are my Christmas cooking heroine!