Every year I say I will buy a few Turkeys to rear on the farm for Christmas dinner and every October I realise I have left it too late!
So then, every October /November I spend loads of time researching the best place to buy one. Marks and Spencers? Sainsburys? The local butcher or farm shop? Then I spend my monthly mortgage payment on a premium, amazing bird to feed my fifteen guests.
Now, here is the crazy bit….every year we all have the same conversation just after Christmas… ‘I am not a lover of Turkey’ ‘It is a very dry meat’ ‘It’s tradition though..’ ‘I prefer chicken all day long’
In fact, the only thing that Turkey offers our house at Christmas, which we can not sacrifice is Turkey sandwiches in the evening (which a medium crown will suffice). I have made an executive decision and will NOT be cooking a turkey for our Christmas dinner.
We have taken a few animals to slaughter over the last few weeks so we have a freezer full of beef, lamb and pork. The cuts of meat we have would be worth a fortune if we had to buy them at a butchers. So this year I am going to cook a Beef Wellington and a leg of lamb for our lunch.
This got me thinking about alternative Christmas Dinners and what other things families serve up for their grub.
I asked a few fellow bloggers and it seems quite a few people are not too fussed on our traditional Turkey. Here are some suggestions for something different.
Sophie:
‘We go for Ham. There is no waste and we actually enjoy it. Noone in our family really likes turkey so always a bit of a waste!’
Ayse:
‘We don’t eat meat so last year I made salmon. I wasn’t too fussed about it and this year we’re just having everything but the meat!’
Kelly:
‘We are having the Lamb stack from Lidl, as none of us are too fond of Turkey. I will be making stuffed butternut squash for the vegetarian quest and getting a small Turkey crown for my Grandparents, as that would be dangerous grounds if I didn’t !’
Louise:
‘We’re vegetarian and my Mum has always made a mushroom strudel and we’ve carried on the tradition! With all the usual trimmings of course.’
Victoria:
‘I find turkey quite bland so we usually have lamb or salmon.’
Emma:
‘A lovely plump goose and all that tasty skin 😍😍 ‘
Jessica:
‘We are eating out at a restaurant this year so my parents have chosen to have a Chateaubriand. As they said by the time Christmas comes your normally board of turkey ! ‘
Lauren:
‘We are vegetarian so we normally have a mushroom wellington or nut roast 😊’
Elizabeth:
‘My partner doesn’t enjoy Turkey so always has a lamb shank for his Christmas dinner. ‘
www.whererootsandwingsentwine.com
Eva:
‘Nut roast – as I’m vegetarian Husband isn’t but it became now our family tradition at Christmas.’
Stevie:
‘My stepdad is Indian, one year we had a curry!’
Georgina:
‘Quorn family roast and spinach and feta tart is what my family had growing up! ‘
Victoria:
‘Hubby and kids will have chicken breasts (hubby’s choice), but I’m veggie so I’ll just have extra stuffing or a nut roast. We never cook a turkey here! ‘
Sarah:
‘If we was in charge of Christmas dinner I imagine I would cook chicken, I can’t stand turkey but everyone seems to enjoy a nice roast chicken! ‘
Siobhan:
‘A lot of our family don’t like traditional roasts, so our tradition is to have a big Irish cooked breakfast on Xmas morning, then party food and snacky bits during the day as everyone pops in and out, then in the evening, a couple of different joints of meat in warm rolls – yum!’ www.passthewineplease.blog
Samantha:
‘We’re not really into turkey so we always have our fave roast dinner meat – a chicken! We also get a big ham or beef joint too. 😊’
Cat:
‘We do normally have turkey but on a couple of occasions we have gone for a rib of beef instead. One of our guests this year hates turkey so I think I will cook a rib of beef again.’
Kimberly:
‘We have a ham every year as hardly any of us like turkey. This year there are lots of us so there will be a goose too ‘
Wendy:
‘One year I did – IKEA meatballs, sticky chipolatas, fries, loganberry jam, sautéed red cabbage and Daim bar cake – all from the IKEA food shop for less than £20 – it was everyones favourite Christmas! 🙂 ‘
Kati:
‘If I make a Christmas dinner it has to be apple-stuffed duck roast! I find turkey too bland and lean and if I’m going to go all-out, I might as well make it a cardiac arrest on a plate’
www.howtorockatparenting.wordpress.com
Clare:
‘My husband hates turkey he thinks it’s too bland so we compromise with a 3 bird roast normally. We had goose one year and it was so fatty and a pain in the bum to cook we just stick to a 3 bird. I’m not telling him your having beef Wellington though that would be his preference!!’
www.freddiesmummyuk.wordpress.com
Michelle:
‘For a few years, we did a Mexican Xmas Day. Sombreros, Mexican decorations, games and Mexican food/Drink obv. Easier to get food from the supermarket in the rush and loads of fun! ‘
Helen:
‘We have had steak, chips & peppercorn sauce for the past 5 years and love it! So chilled out and no peeling veg! ‘
Jo:
‘I’m a vegetarian, so we don’t have turkey 😉 I make a savoury crumble instead, with loads of veg and cheesy crumble topping, and serve it with roast potatoes. Even my meat eating husband enjoys it!’
Liberty:
‘We always do something different. We are half south African and it sounds crazy but last year was brilliant, the lads went out to do the meat – a side of beef stuffed and rolled in foil on the fire (BBQ or braai as we’d call it) in the middle of a UK winter. They loved it and the kids too especially afterwards when we turned it in to bonfire. We added roasted vegetables and potatoes dauphinois to the meal which we’d done in the oven. All in all very little fuss and plenty of fun. ‘
www.libertyonthelighterside.com
Lynette:
‘We will be having chicken or lamb. I haven’t had a turkey Christmas dinner for about 20 years. I don’t really like turkey and I definitely don’t trust myself to cook it well. I know it would end up like the one in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’
Charlotte:
‘One year we decided to have Christmas dinner out and I had roast pigeon! It was actually amazing and a welcomed change!’
Kelly:
‘We often have beef and I have a friend who lets everyone choose and so the kids pick fish fingers!’
Victoria:
‘We have a buffet with lots of elements from Spanish cuisine to reflect the Other Half’s heritage. ‘
Sally:
‘Goose, pheasant, duck we’ve had them all as my family have never been huge turkey fans’
Natalie:
‘My cousin does turkey pasta because none of her family like a turkey roast. Sounds grim but she roasts the turkey, takes the meat off & turns it into a delicious pasta bake!’
Sarah:
‘We’re doing a joint of beef this year.i will miss the turkey sandwiches though!’😂
Christy:
‘This year we are having a three bird game roast – partridge, pheasant and pigeon! You may think eating pigeon is a bit weird but it’s actually a really delicate meat with a lot of flavour.’
Helen:
‘We tend to alternate, one year might be a rib of beef and a ham, other it will be a turkey. I’m not a huge fan of turkey so it’s a nice change for me. Important as I tend to be the cook!’
www.welshmumwriting.com
This time though it was all pretty straight forward, now we are old hats at this! 
So we have nine lovely kune kune pigs, varying in ages. Not the most attractive of breeds but full of character and unusually tame on arrival.
