Christmas Dinner

I’ve cooked Christmas dinner so many times now I’ve lost count, although not so many times that I don’t consider myself experienced, however I am learning and the particular lesson I’ve learnt over the last few Christmas’ cooking for my family is to distinctly under cater. You see we tend to have Christmas on our own, so that’s two adults and two small children, now my kids like I suspect a lot of kids arn’t too keen on Christmas dinner, a little bit too meaty and vegetable based for their liking, I think they’d be happier if I served up chicken dippers and waffles on the big day! I myself am not too keen on some traditional Christmas veg (brussels yeugh no way) either. Dessert wise I’m the only one who likes Christmas pudding, with Mr. Lacer preferring nothing for dessert at all. I am also controlled by budget and space issues, I have a tiny 1930s galley kitchen (although I’m sure people in the 1930s without online food ordering for ready meals from Waitrose managed full well to cook a full slap up Christmas dinner for 8 perfectly well) anyway I have an unreliable oven and only three functioning hobs. I dream of the day where I’ve got a big Nigellesque kitchen (and the food budget to match) and I’ve got the whole extended family round the table at Christmas (basically I’m hoping to be a wealthy grandmother), I’d have an aga, a giant american fridge freezer and my very own walk in larder, then I’d cook the most ginormous turkey, every possible permutation of veg, a mountain of bacon wrapped sausages, every sauce and dressing you could want and about three different choices of dessert including Christmas pudding! But back to the present, this is what the cook in me is ashamed to say is for Christmas dinner, with time, space, fussiness and budget taken into account.

Starter: potato skins (Cook yourself Thin) with shop brought humous, salsa, guacamole

Main course: bacon wrapped chicken adapted from this recipe (without the lentils)

Roast potatoes in goose fat from Nigella Lawson’s FeastWaitrose (when doing my food order I noticed ready made goose fat roast potatoes were actually cheaper than the jar of goose fat, having said that I cooked Nigella’s recipe last year and they are devine)

sausages wrapped in bacon (ready made)

french beans with ginger and sesame (Cook yourself thin), only me and Mr. Lacer will probably eat these

carrot, thyme and chilli (inspired by this but I’ll completely stir fry mine, can’t stand boiled carrots and as I’m probably going to be the only one eating this . . .)

balsamic red cabbage (freeze and reheat)

Dessert

Gingerbread house

Christmas cake

Drinks

Champagne for the grownups

Smoothie for the kids

I’m a bit worried about how I’m going to cook it all at once, I know already my frying pan is double booked, will have to get the wok out, I’m just hoping the sausages, chicken and roast potato are all on at the same temperature . . .