Christmas Dinner – In or Out?

With the preparations for Christmas well underway, I am now really looking forward to what I would call a ‘traditional’ family Christmas – my partner and my children, his siblings and the in laws. We went to my Dad’s this year, so from now on we are alternating, and will see my father and sister in the afternoon. My partner’s parents usually go out for Christmas dinner to a restaurant, so this will be the first year in a while where we have all been together at home.

Watching The Wright Stuff this morning, I heard that restaurant bookings for the 25th December shot up by a massive 45% last year from 2014, and that the catering trade predicts a similar rise again this Christmas.

The reasons why?

Families are abandoning the traditional home cooked meal in part because they are fed up with spending half their day in the kitchen – with statistics showing that the average host spends on average of 5 hours chained to stove on Christmas day and that doesn’t include the washing up! The extra pressure of serving a wonderful spread for the entire family can also lead to tears, with figures showing that stress levels on Christmas Day peak at 12.56pm – just before lunch is served.

For me, a home cooked family Christmas will always win.

Whilst I agree restaurant meals are less stressful, they are often very highly priced (last year Mike’s family paid £70 a head – which is more than I can justify at Christmas!). The average cost for a family of four for a restaurant meal is £350, whilst the average at home is just £174. Whilst I understand they have to cover food costs and staff double pay, I still cant help feel this is a bit of a rip off.

Having your food bought to you at the allocated time with no one having to be on their own in the kitchen is also a bonus of eating out, however, from experience, the quality often suffers due to the mass production on the day, with the odd hard roast potato or undercooked carrot! If you go to the first sitting, you are also somewhat pressured to leave before the end of your allocated time. I like a little breather before I demolish my pudding, and would hate to add to my inevitable indigestion by being rushed!

Finally, you are surrounded by people you don’t know, which for me, is not what Christmas is all about.   I don’t want to worry about my children being on their best behaviour, or feel embarrassed if my newborn starts crying just as the crackers are being pulled. It is there Christmas too, and if they’d rather crawl on the floor than eat their peas, then so be it – its Christmas Day.

Finally, Boxing Day just isn’t Boxing Day without a leftover feast and turkey sandwich!

That said, Mike’s mother in law HATES cooking. I don’t want her to be trapped in the kitchen any more than the rest of us, and so this year we are all chipping in! 🙂 We have allocated ‘parts’ of the Christmas Dinner to each family, and will turn up on the day with our allocated items! The kids can play, we can wear our comfy clothes and elf slippers without embarrassment, and we can spend time doing the things that matter – talking and enjoying each other’s company, before watching rubbish TV and laughing at the first person to nod off on the sofa. Oh and yes, the turkey hat will always make an appearance!

Some of my fondest memories are of traditional family dinners and I for one, don’t feel I could replicate that in a restaurant.

Where are you going for Christmas Dinner? What are your thoughts on my In/Out Dinner debate?