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Goddamn increasingly-demanding-family Christmas dinners. Used to be 12 of us - everyone just ate whatever showed up in front of them. Now we're down to 10 and we have 1 coeliac ( who is lovely and brings their own food and doesn't deserve to be lumped with the rest) 1 No dairy 1 Vegetarian (who is pretty flexible at Christmas) 1 Vegan (No-one really cares about the food, it's all about the gathering!!! (AKA hasn't actually cooked a meal for other people in about a decade) and 1 'who doesn't really eat smoked salmon any more' - smoked salmon being the core element in our christmas starters for the last 20 or so years. Gonna have a Christmas Scavenger Hunt - just making some signs pointing at the fridge, freezer and stove and leave the fuckers to get on with it. I'll get sorted and it'll be fine, but the salmon thing on top of everything else is just really irritating me - this is not a restaurant, you don't get to place an order dear.
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Dec 1, 2018 11:23
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 01:22 |
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Right now I'm thinking of doing a buffet to start the meal which will feature homemade wheaten bread, really good smoked salmon, the grimmest dairy-free/gluten-free/vegan mystery lumps I can manage, plus salad.
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Dec 1, 2018 17:29
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Scientastic posted:How dare guests expect to be catered to? What the gently caress do they think this is, some sort of family event where everyone wants to be nice to each other? Yeah, just going to double-check the food likes and dislikes (not aversions or allergies, just preferences) of each element in a 4 course meal for 10 people who have eaten together dozens of times before. You're allowed not eat something you don't like, it's just slightly entitled to announce in advance that you suddenly don't like the thing that is probably the starter, so's there'd better be something else available.
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Dec 1, 2018 19:58
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dino. posted:Re: vegan starters. If you’re in the USA, dollar tree sells these frozen apps that take 0 effort to bung in the oven. Spring rolls, samosa, and one other thing that I’m blanking on. Olives are vegan. As are various nuts. Prolly wouldn’t hurt anything to have some kind of hummus situation. It’s relatively inexpensive to buy if you don’t wanna be bothered to faff about with the food processor. If you’re not in the USA, hit up the local Aldi. They’ve started a vegan line as of late, if I’m not mistaken. I'm not in the US, but these are great suggestions and much appreciated, so thanks very much! It's not as big of a pain as I was making out - my coeliac brings their own food, the veggie is flexible about meat at Christmas, and the vegan is determined to make their Very First nut roast all by themselves on Christmas Eve, and the dairy-free isn't going to keel over if they accidentally get a little butter. It was just the salmon thing that peeved me; I'm actually seriously thinking about the simple buffet starter idea - so those pre-made appetizers could be a godsend - it means I still get my christmas smoked salmon but there can still be other nice options for the veggie/vegan/salmon-hater guests, without it being any kind of Big Deal. I'm trying get all my Christmas Dinner Cooking irritability out of the way well in advance so's I don't kill anyone on the day, hence the bitching here 
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Dec 2, 2018 18:51
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dino. posted:To be honest, if you have more than one option for people with actual dietary issues, it might be a fun way to explore different offerings, and it’s well possible that everyone can enjoy them too. I’ve got a friend who does the warm and cold buffet for starters on Xmas, and it’s always a huge hit. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. It can just be fun little snacks things that people can nibble on. I think it’s awesome that you’re not actually mad at the legit dietary poo poo but were basically side-eyeing the salmon bitch. I know more than one person who gets shirty about something as easy as vegetarian, so it’s refreshing to see that you have got this. You're right about the thinking positively thing; it may well be a blessing in disguise because the more I think about the buffet idea, the more I like it! Only slightly more setting-up and clearing-up than usual and people can pick out things they prefer. Christmas dinner is a weird one though - there's this urge to keep things the same as they always were, even if you know you'd also enjoy a bit of a shake-up.
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Dec 3, 2018 12:08
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My brainless cooking moment happened when I was using my brother's rice cooker once and instead of pouring the water into the bowl with the rice, I poured it into the outer shell (where all the electrics are). Because it kinda looks like a steamer, and that is what I would do with a steamer, also I was 100% not paying attention to what I was doing.. 
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Dec 30, 2018 10:34
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Squashy Nipples posted:For that matter, when I was in Ireland, McDonalds had a "Curry Sauce" that didn't taste like any "curry" I'd ever had. Where does that one come from? I thinks it's highly modified version of indian curry which has been heavily modified by its passage through postwar Britain (very mild, very bland, add sultanas and probably turnips), 1950's Ireland (even milder and blander) to its final home - Irish chippers. I like it, but it's only for making into a thick brown sauce to slop over some chips; it's not even a nodding acquaintance of an actual indian curry at this point.
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Jan 28, 2019 16:18
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Goose is good, but it's not a great choice if you have to feed more than 3-4 people because geese don't scale up like turkeys - once they hit about 12 pounds I think, the amount of meat is maxed out, any extra weight after that is just fat, and a 12 pound goose does not have as much meat as a turkey of the same weight. So if you want to feed a larger group you either need to cook two geese, or have another main dish of equal size. I roast turkey every Christmas and it's not dry but I think that's because I don't need to cook an enormous bird - mine are normally around 14 pounds. I'd say keeping the breastmeat edible is a lot harder if you have to roast a 20+ pound bird. Also a meat thermometer is a complete gamechanger -the last three years we've used one, and every time the bird has hit the right temperature nearly an hour earlier than the recipe predicted it would. If it'd been left in for the full time it would have been sawdust.
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Oct 19, 2019 09:58
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OMGVBFLOL posted:hell thats a way more balanced meal than i eat most of the time That's breakfast, then a mid-morning snack of mince pies, then the dinner and pudding. There should be some after eights and some stilton+crackers right at the bottom tho.
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Dec 11, 2019 15:13
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Can't remember if it was this thread or the general questions one, but last year I posted/ranted about people being awkward about Christmas food - we've got a couple of different dietary requirements (one coeliac, one no dairy, one vegan) and then someone decided that last year, they 'don't like smoked salmon' - the food which has been our traditional starter for about 20 years. Anyway, I was annoyed about that because it was sent along the grapevine to me like they were ordering in a dang restaurant instead of doing what normal people do, which is to eat around food they don't particularly care for when someone has gone to the effort of cooking for you. This year was so much worse. I did a vegan main, and sides, plus a baked ham for those who wanted meat. Except ol' 'don't like smoked salmon' has now got multiple other dietary exclusions, (none of which are medically diagnosed as far as I know, and none of which were communicated directly to me beforehand) .' but they also declare that they MUST HAVE PROTEIN AT EVERY MEAL! ???? So after me spending the guts of two full days cooking, they very publically whip out a little parcel of cold turkey to have microwaved and put on their plate because eating a single meatless meal is an impossibility. They also comment that 'there's no gravy' and are also either openly rude or passive aggressive about sundry other meal elements. Their partner was also extremely dismissive about really very fancy vegan main I made and was pretty drat proud of, because apparently the very idea of vegan food offends them. Honestly, it was like being slapped across the face completely out of the blue - I have no real idea what they think I did to justify such appalling behaviour - I thought I was on very good and friendly terms with at least one of them, but apparently not. I suspect it might be because I cooked a vegan meal but didn't cook a gluten-free meal, and that was entirely because I 100% cannot guarantee that any surface/tool/material in my kitchen is gluten-free. I live with family -they eat bread a lot, they leave crumbs everywhere, and they are not careful about not getting those crumbs into/onto every single thing they touch. I explained this days before the meal, when it was brought up, I thought the explanation was accepted, but it seems it was not. (I made a gluten-free dessert out of guaranteed gluten-free materials and using a set of tools I prepped very carefully before I started, the person who is coeliac was very happy with it, and said so repeatedly.) I was angry, but now I'm just sad that someone I thought liked me could be so awful  edit: Renée, your good news about your family is very heartening and I'm delighted that everything went so well for you 
Pookah fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Dec 31, 2019 |
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Dec 31, 2019 13:09
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Thank you all - I was seriously beginning to think that I was being oversensitive and taking this stuff too much to heart, but that really is how it went down - And yeah, the celiac brought their own, made no fuss whatsoever and was super nice about the dessert, they even demanded I pack up a big portion to bring home (because they are lovely  )I'm going to avoid the others for the time being I think - I've no interest in finding out if they are either going to pretend it never happened or somehow try to justify it. An actual apology is extremely unlikely and frankly, I don't want to hear one. If it had been one remark or one snub I'd put it down to a bad-tempered moment, but this went on for about 20 minutes and cannot be blamed on too much booze either, since it was right at the start.
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Dec 31, 2019 15:39
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Squashy Nipples posted:In case you need the reminder, this was 100% premeditated, bringing the portion of turkey is proof of that. They are so small-minded that they were genuinely offended that you weren't serving a meat that they like! They will never get over this, they will never understand how incredibly rude they were. I thought the same thing, that the turkey proves it was all planned! God, it was just so utterly ridiculous and unnecessary and mean. Also, meals in their home are regularly gluten-free/dairy-free, low-salt, and I can't even imagine the shock and outrage if any of my lot demanded to be served food containing those things. I am honestly baffled by the whole thing - it makes zero sense.
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Dec 31, 2019 16:21
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The Maestro posted:Have you tried telling them how it made you feel? They were absolutely in the wrong, but it’s worth a shot. Chances are they'll just deny everything and make out I imagined it all I've known them for a very very long time and while this particular behaviour is exceptional and unusual, a tendency to flatly deny any wrongdoing is not. I suspect that other people who were at the meal might have expressed some honest opinions on how they acted though. Also the super-fancy-pants vegan thing was a big decorative pastry thing. Probably not really all that fancy, but fancier than I am used to making
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Dec 31, 2019 20:57
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Genuine thanks to everyone who's offered advice/support at this difficult time of post-dinner party rudeness, and I really do mean that - it's very helpful to get a variety of different perspectives on this sort of thing, since it's not something I'm really used to dealing with. Much support too, to those who have to deal with much worse on a regular basis - this was very unusual for us; I know there are people posting here who have to deal with this crap, (and much much worse) absolutely constantly. I'm not planning to totally sever from them, nor am I going to stage an open and honest discussion of our feelings-type thing either. The first would be unnecessarily destructive in a wider sense and the second would just be extremely weird for us. For the minute I'm just going to sit tight and leave the ball in their court. It's not like these are people I see every day or even every week. There's a decent chance I won't see either of them for at least a month. I'm not sitting here stewing on a grievance, it's more like I was trying to work out what the heck the thought-process behind the whole thing was because it was just so alien to me.
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Jan 1, 2020 10:37
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Liquid Communism posted:Same thing house slippers are for. Some warm slippers and a light sweater/robe for lounging around in means not having to crank up the heat in your drafty-rear end old house and risk having to refill the fuel oil tank midwinter. At home I live almost constantly in a fluffy robe and fleece-lined fake crocs ( 'Mocs'). House is also drafty af. Like, I'lll put on a nice outfit in the morning, then immediately swathe myself in an oversized robe until it's time to leave the house, when switch the robe for a bigass coat. I do occasionally forget to switch shoes which is pretty embarrassing.
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Feb 27, 2020 10:08
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That Works posted:Having a lot of bread staling is just a good excuse to make either stuffing or bread pudding. You can't lose folks. Oh my god I'd love a big bowl of my grandma's bread pudding right now
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Mar 16, 2020 16:07
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Weird recipe recommend: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/fish-finger-bhorta My brother made this yesterday, and I was very sceptical because it sounded both bland and awful, but it's actually really tasty in a comfort food kind of way, and extremely easy and cheap.
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Nov 1, 2020 19:31
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Pookah posted:Weird recipe recommend: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/fish-finger-bhorta Quoting myself to say that I've made this a couple of times since, and have found that it's even nicer if you use ghee instead of oil and add a tsp of cumin per serving to sizzle in the ghee before the onions go in. The lack of spices in an ostensibly indian recipe was making me quite antsy.
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Nov 8, 2020 20:48
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 01:22 |
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One Christmas a few years ago I unpacked our turkey on Christmas Eve to let the skin dry out a bit and discovered that there were No Giblets!?! I need the drat gibs for the gravy and for moistening the stuffing that's not inside the cavity. Anyway I had to go off on a giblet search of my town on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, Christmas was saved by a small independent family butchers who gave me a bagful for free. We've gotten the turkey from them ever since - great guys and they've also expanded out to stocking non-traditional items like chicken feet and hearts, because local demographics have changed and that's what people want now, it's great Apple is great in stuffing, particularly if you want a vegetarian/vegan one, it provides flavour and moisture you might otherwise be getting from sausagemeat.
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Nov 22, 2020 13:36
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