Christmas cooking

After the Thanksgiving debacle, we are going out for Christmas eve dinner with the family. I will miss having roast goose (and a year's worth of lovely goose fat), but maybe I'll roast a duck for Christmas day.

i think my mother and i will share duties. i'm not sure what the menu will be, but duck is going to be involved.

Xmas eve I'm going to my one friend's drunken eve party, which last year went until 4am. This year another friend is having a during the day feast, which should be fantastic since she is a terrific cook. I will probably bring cookies to one and bread to another.

Chris is cooking on christmas day. We're still in the flat, so tiny kitchen, and my parents are down so it's going to be an interesting day.... No Turkey, Chris is rather proud of his menu, so I'll let him share it, if he ever has time to get online!

My Mum always cooks and the rest of the family is banned from the kitchen until she needs somebody to lay the table. She's got it down to a fine art and gets just the right size of turkey, so we all have plenty for lunch and there's a little left over for boxing day tea. The carcass and any leftover veg make a very fine soup, though it wasn't so great when she used the water the ham had desalted in for 2 days. In fact it was pretty inedible. My jobs are usuallyt making the trifle and buttering the bread for Christmas Day tea and laying the table for every meal. Dad does the wine and the washing up and I can't remember what my sister does except cause rows.

I always cook, although technically it's a joint effort. Haven't planned a starter yet, doing turkey this year instead of goose for the first time (oh schmaltz pot, how I love you so for keeping my goose fat fresh) and making a mincemeat creme brulee for pudding.

Two years ago we went to my mother-in-law's and there was NO GRAVY! How can you have a turkey and NO GRAVY? Freak. (I suspect everything came ready-made from Marks and Spencers and she probably burnt it or something). I am making every attempt to avoid her Christmas dinners for the rest of all time now.