23 December – our Christmas Dinner menu

It’s almost Christmas, so today I will share our planned Christmas Dinner menu … and I expect our main course is fairly typical of what will be served in homes throughout Northern Ireland on Christmas Day.

The main event of course is the turkey and ham – we collected ours from the lovely Clare at Blackberry Farm. They raise their own turkeys and pigs, and the meat is always beautiful.

I love how it comes wrapped up in brown paper and string, along with some fresh herbs.

Along with the turkey and ham there will be :

Mashed potatoes (requested by our kids)

Roast potatoes

Roast parsnips

Carrots

Stuffing (I make a meat-free bread/onion/lemon stuffing with a LOT of butter)

Gravy

Cranberry sauce

Cocktail sausages …….

and of course the much maligned Brussel sprouts!

You either love them or hate them ….. personally I love them

We usually opt not to have a starter …. nibbles will have been served at our neighbours in the morning …. to make a wee bit more room for the main course.

Here is a photo of the main course dishes ready to serve (from a Christmas or two ago)

For dessert …. (when we can fit it in) this year we are being very non-traditional …. no Christmas pudding but instead a light and healthy fruit salad and a not-so-healthy white chocolate cheesecake.

Somehow, later in the day, we will find room for a nice cup of tea and maybe a mince pie!

So what do you serve on Christmas Day? Do tell me!