And two large rocks! 
Just joking. I prefer my rocks well done.
A whole emu breast might be more than enough.
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Christmas day was at our house this year, 6 adults and 4 kids after extra adults for morning tea too. We used Ottolenghi cookbooks as the inspiration for warm salads based on traditional roast veg choices, so had a pumpkin salad, a broccoli salad and a green bean and snow pea choice. We discussed having a non traditional meat and having a Christmas ham as well, as I have never cooked one before, so 5 days before Christmas hubby went to the butcher to make the choice… and came home with a huge turkey and ham, so back to traditional after all. We used an old Donna Hay christmas edition of her magazine for ham and turkey tips, but hubby got the ham glaze premade from the butcher, a mango flavour and delicious. The ham was done in the weber in the end, along with bbq king prawns for entree (so people were outside chatting to him and eating prawns while he basted the ham), zucchini pikelets for the vegos.
Roast turkey with sage and onion stuffing, yummy gravy, duck fat and rosemary potatoes, and the assorted warm salads was our meal, with a premade cranberry sauce.
For desert my favourite pavlova (grandmas recipe) and a large open fruit mince tart to channel my other grandmother. I intended to make custard, but it was just too hot, so cream was enough. This was my break from tradition as I usually make christmas pud and custard.
Pre prepared food comes in the days that follow when away at the beach for a week in a holiday home, the BBQ chook from coles with a bag of mixed leaves and just add a few extra veg, bread and butter. The pre made pizza from IGA is also great for the kids dinner when the adults went out one evening, nothing worse than having to make dinner before going out for dinner!
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If you cook your own turkey buffe, you can fill the cavity with stuffing and hold it in with aluminium foil doubled over and held in place with kitchen string wrapped around the breast.
We also completely cover the breast with aluminium foil until cooked and remove the foil to brown the breast for the final 30 minutes.
Instead of our previously dried out and overly browned buffes of years ago, they are perfectly succulent and replete with stuffing without buying a whole turkey when nobody wants to eat the rest of it.
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It’s a popular tradition in the ‘ home of a notable religion’ not to eat meat on Christmas eve, most dishes are fish or cheese based.
But on Christmas day the menù includes meat and fish, and being the middle of winter hot dishes are mostly on offer.
Nuts such as walnuts and hazelnuts are popular and plentiful in autumn, as are currants and raisins which form the basis of Panettone, and almonds to make nougat.
It’s about traditional foods which are in season in another climate and way of life.
What really matters is that Christians wish to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel: God with us, whatever the real date was and whatever we have for dinner, and anyone is welcome to join in and celebrate with us.
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The first post I did on Tripadvisor was regarding a similar scenario some years ago.
Welcome to the Forum @steph2020 . My mouth was watering and I had hunger pangs reading your post .The Christmas food sounds like it was delicious . The old BBQ chook from Coles ,always a great standby .
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We had the Hello Fresh Christmas box. The quality of the ingredients was good and the instructions are easy to follow. One person (ie me) can do it by themselves. It is expensive but was a nice traditional meal.
I use Hello Fresh weekly and I enjoy it but it is becoming a bit the same. Same spices, same ingredients. Freshness of ingredients is average. If items are damaged or missing they are quick to provide a refund.
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We split our Christmas meals over 2 events - a lunch a week earlier and a dinner on Christmas day.
For the larger lunch event, we had a barbecued butterflied turkey, roast vegetables and a pilaf, with homemade pudding and matching ice cream.
For the dinner we had a seafood paella and a barbecued fish with the rest of the pudding and ice cream.
For the second question, we never have convenience meals.
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We had a roast chicken cooked with milk a la whathisname chef (i didnt cook it) rolmops (pickled herring), marinated squid, pinkeye potato salad, a green salad. Dessert - brownies, cherries and nectarines. All delicious.
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Traditional baked late lunch: deboned leg of lamb left to marinate in olive oil, garlic flakes + mixed herbs overnight, baked in a bag lightly floured and with roasted red potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, red onions, peas & beans served with as much gravy as you want.
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Many Orthodox Christians in Australia celebrate Christmas on January 7, and some on Jan 6.
The food champions Peter, Mike, and Gaby, would like to extend their best wishes to our Orthodox friends and look forward to learn what you had for dinner on Xmas day.
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Our Christmas Dinner (on Christmas Eve):
Roasted Scotch Fillet (2kg from our butcher who also tied the roast) served with an onion and red wine gravy, mashed potatoes, roast pumpkin, fresh green beans (from our garden), roast shallots and of course, Yorkshire Pudding. It was cool where we live and the meal was perfect with a lovely bottle of red.
For dessert, a very large, made that morning, Tiramisu.
Before anyone questions the potatoes, our son has autism and dislikes roast potatoes but likes mashed. Christmas is about us all having things we like.
I have never gone for any of the subscription meal boxes. I find them too expensive and too limiting. The same with pre-prepared meals from supermarkets. I succumbed to a green curry ready made meal last year when away by myself and needed a quick meal. It was overly rich and nothing like a proper green curry and I was vomiting 15 minutes after curing my hunger with it. It tasted just as bad on the return trip. I would rather go hungry than go through that again.
The fact that I am an accomplished cook and enjoy cooking for myself and my family is also why we aren’t interested in pre-prepared foods. We have most things from scratch, including and not limited to baked goods like cinnamon buns, biscuits, slices, cakes to most yeast bakery and patisserie items. I will also turn my hand to confectionaries such as marshmallows, hard and soft toffees and caramels, chocolate making, lollipops, honeycomb and the like.
The only pre-prepared food we buy in occasionally are Asian dumplings. But after practising making them myself, I am getting a good frozen supply of them built up.
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Have you tried the smoked turkey buffe? You don’t need to cook it, it’s moist, not dry, and totally delish!
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Yes. I have bought it sliced from the delis at Coles and Woollies.
Very nice but we don’t eat turkey very often.
We had Christmas brunch: Baked glazed ham in the Weber, crayfish from the Abrolhos Islands, with a homemade tartare sauce, my mum’s bread, egg and bacon “tart”, hash browns, roasted honey carrots, a fruit platter and a gingerbread house (a homemade replica of the original farmhouse on our farm that my dad was born in). Was a special Christmas for us with my Dad 
I used to get Hello Fresh. Although it was very convenient for a busy working mum not having to think about what to cook and then going to the store to buy the necessary ingredients, I found it expensive and there was too much packaging, I still have heaps of little spice sachets.
I never buy pre-prepared foods as I prefer to make my own dishes with fresh ingredients, without preservatives, and I know exactly what’s going in to the dish.
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ham and salad, followed by fruit.
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I had a chicken and Branston pickle sandwich, followed by a small box of chocolates. My little dog was put down on Christmas Eve, and I wasn’t really interested in food or Christmas!
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My condolences for the loss of your beloved pet. They are part of the family to many and their loss can be devastating and that loss that can trigger other problems. So please be careful with your health and if you do need assistance there are organisations such as BeyondBlue or Lifeline that can be useful.
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