Share Your Worse Xmaz Meal Experiences.

daarhn, Nov 18, 8:15am
What was your worse Xmaz meal experience?

Mine. Packet chips Xmaz lunch on Rabbit Island west of Nelson, gale blowing sand and the other half being a pr*ick because he couldn't be bothered to organize food, thinking that I would end up doing it. ha not this time, our first Xmaz together and almost our last. We were on a driving ticki tour heading to Nth Island from Chch. The trip went down hill from there. Once we hit Auckland after a very long drive late at night in silence, I booked a flight home the next day and had the best time on my own surrounded by foodie goodies. It was decided that I would always do the catering for Xmaz and we have separate holidays. Worked a treat!

lythande1, Nov 18, 6:33pm
Worse? The worst one I had was a big dinner with family.
Who wants to eat all that stuff, no-one really.

I just make nibbles now and people help themselves of and when.

daarhn, Nov 18, 6:56pm
waaay back us kids all got the leather strap just before lunch was served for being rowdy. and that was pretty much the last time I enjoyed a Christmas lunch. Never went back as a teen or adult preferring to work instead to avoid the whole luncheon thing

rainrain1, Nov 18, 7:04pm
Year before last when I fell off my chair after too many bubbles ha ha ha

anne1955, Nov 18, 8:15pm
This sort of reason is why I try and avoid Xmas and with B/d before it I have been always behind the eight ball with my day of celebration.

I had a Xmas meal with some relatives of my stepdaughter's once couldn't believe it wasn't the food so much as watch half a dozen human vacuum cleaners work Put me off eating something I'll never forget.

Some years ago my father asked me to come and take anything from family home I wanted I didn't want to go let alone have things anyway took a support person :) I got a bowl out from china cabinet for no other reason than it was in the way of getting other things out. Then I realised what I was holding, he said' oh Anne you remember that bowl?" My reply was "Yes I do and the year you through it at mum for making the wrong coloured jelly" He then asked if I wanted it? Yes was good crystal but I said no thank you.

daarhn, Nov 19, 1:28am
aaah those celebratory days when china, glass, knives, and fists were flung through the air. those days are gone. thank the lord!

whitehead., Nov 19, 2:02am
my mother insisted we have spring lamb for lunch and ex wonted roast duck and i had all the hot plates going and then the 100 year old oven through a strop and blew up and refused to cook anything . had to move every thing to mom and dads to cook lunch for tea and i got a much needed new oven in the new year . life has its good and bad days and the oven was about 40 years old

eastie3, Nov 19, 4:52am
The time Aunty Margaret drank too much gin and her nose dripped into the salad. I wouldn't let any of my kids eat it but couldn't bring myself to say why. Or the time Gran tripped on the mat when she was carrying the gravy boat. She seldom swore but let rip that day, we were all wetting ourselves.

samanya, Nov 19, 5:48am
Mine's minor compared to the above . spent Christmas alone at the family bach . sat on the deck, in the sun laughing aloud at Paul Henry's book . but no one to share it with! (had a party up the night before with neighbours) but to to be alone on Christmas day wasn't that great!
Had a beautiful raw fish salad for lunch, all by myself!
Family arrived the next day & from there on it was really good .
But Christmas day alone . not a good look!

daarhn, Nov 19, 5:55am
sometimes those types of days are best. the hype is not all what it is cut out to be when you get older. But the wiser do it in style just as you did. I would have enjoyed that day very much in my own company feeling the serenity, suns warmth, the meal I prepared and savoured in my own time, and be thankful that I could still laugh out loud. x

samanya, Nov 19, 7:09am
Yep, in hindsight, it wasn't too bad . but to me, Christmas is always about family. It just didn't happen on 'the day' & I just felt lonely (deep down) but it did happen . the day after & we all had a ball.
I'm very happy on my own usually. but Christmas?

eastie3, Nov 20, 4:12am
The best so far IMO. been there done that.

marcs, Nov 20, 4:42am
Oh the memories we create. Mine was a few years ago we had just moved to Australia and I bought a kettle/webber and was not good at making things in it yet. I asked my brother in law who was good at it to make my roast pork for Christmas lunch. I had all my in laws coming on the day and it should have been on at 9am to be done by lunch. Me being naiive kept say he will turn up soon. Come 11am and he still did not turn up. He only lived down the road. They all turn up at 11.30 and there is no pork on. Needless to say lunch was eaten at 4pm that day. I was so upset. I am one of those if you ask someone to do something you expect them to turn up if they give their word. I was so ashamed and cried all day. It just was not a good Christmas. I never invited the in laws for Christmas lunch again. They have all moved away now but I never forgave myself for relying on anyone. I know make sure I do it myself.

macandrosie, Nov 21, 3:35am
daarhn sorry to hear you've been put off Christmas lunch! I say start a new trend & do it your way! I love Christmas time. It's not about what we get but just being together with family for me & I'm about to be a grandma for the first time so extra special! I think we all have to work hard at family relationships & being a mum we go the extra mile & are prepared to put aside the unimportant stuff to make it all special.

daarhn, Nov 21, 3:44am
I've never said that I was put off by Xmaz lunch. en contraire!
An orphans Xmaz Feast that can go on for days is de jour at mine.

kiwisportsgirl, Nov 23, 1:50am
My mum always did Xmas dinner in our house. For the first time ever one year dad got her a cask of wine (they were the new thing back then). He cracked it open very early and my mum didn't even drink that much but she did that day. She mixed up the Gravy Mix with the Brandy Sauce mix she kept saying that there was something wrong with the gravy.
We all killed ourselves laughing when she went to make the Brandy Sauce and realised what she had done. (Hence it was all dads fault).

skydancing, Nov 23, 2:33am
I had three Christmas days in a row that went viral. The first we had moved to Invercargill. hell that was bad enough but the house had a coal range. Put 2 chickens in and hoped for the best. 8.30am call to say eldest sister had had an aneurysm at 6.30am and if they could stop the bleeding she would be flown from Hastings to Wellington. 9.30am got call to say she actually died just after 8.30am. Chickens were still not cooked and nobody felt like eating anyway. Following year hubby went into diabetic coma via food poisoning on Christmas Eve. Spent Christmas day with in-laws whose idea of Christmas was totally different to what I was used to. The following Christmas Eve hubby once again rushed into hospital (this time too much booze as a diabetic) and once again at in- laws. He was told by myself and our gp that if he did the same thing the following Christmas it was divocrce time lol. We are still together 40 something years later and have managed to have some good Christmas meals but those three are always a reminder of bad ones.

..james.., Nov 23, 6:25am
Me and a mate in a hut way back in the Ureweras. He was lovingly tending to a venison stew most of christmas eve for us to dine like kings on the next day. We didn't realise that every time he peeked at it and gave it a stir using the kerosene lantern to better see by he was adding a dose of kero as it tipped into the camp oven. Christmas lunch came and at first as we were so hungry and were so looking forward to it both denied the suggestion it was suspect somehow. After 4 mouthfuls each we quietly scraped off our plates and opened our last packet of arnotts fruit biscuits to see us through.

sampa, Nov 23, 8:16am
Some really good, sad, interesting Christmas day stories here.

Excellent idea to post this thread daarhn. Looking forward to reading more.

skydancing, Nov 23, 8:22am
I forgot to mention that the chickens I put in the coal range were still not cooked about 3 hours later lol. I never did manage to cook a roast in that oven! Thank goodness we only lived in Invercargill for 7 months.

whitehead., Jun 7, 5:19pm
strangly most of them were not sad just a pain where you had made great plans and life is not like that . saddest one i had was a family down the road who got up in the morning to find their father had past away while playing pool and as the rest of the family had gone to bed he was not found till morning . i could see all the police and every thing that was going on from my kitchen window