Christmas dinner - starter ideas needed

I think the platter selection sounds like a great idea.

We're having pate and melba toast - not sure if you could have a toast substitute though as pate by itself would be naff.

Meat for the other 3 and mushroom for me!

We are having melon & parma ham with olives. Mum is providing it as I'm doing all the rest. I got the new Nigella Christmas book yesterday for my Birthday so I'll have a look in there if you like?

Ooh that would be great - thanks ?

How about pate? My friend is making chicken liver and brandy pate, which sounds lovely. You could have it with oatcakes (Can coeliacs have oatcakes?)

Soup maybe, well obviously not if you have soup course too but... ?

Ok, Nigella suggests...

Parma ham bundles (Parma ham wrapped around goats cheese and figs)

Roast squash & sweet potato soup

Oh... that's about it!

I do like pate - have never tried making it myself. Guess that would be a good way to ensure it's gluten-free. And yes, I could have it with oatcakes.

Good call.

Also like the melon and parma ham think (sorry poster, can't see your name and have memory like sieve!) but am rubbish at getting a melon at the right stage of ripeness! They're always too hard or just past their best. What's the trick?

I would have gone with a traditional parsnip and apple soup.....

I've often done Jamie Oliver's parma ham, mozzarella, nectarine (or peach) over salad leaves, drizzled with olive oil & lemon juice.

Or soup for simplicity & ease.

I usually go by the smell and how soft they feel. If I can smell them, they're not under-ripe, and if they feel too soft, they're over-ripe.

I'll be the nutter sniffing and squeezing the melons in the supermarket then...

Portobello mushrooms stuffed with onion and garlic (grate the onion and garlic and soften in olive oil) and topped with slices of tallegio cheese and fresh thyme.

I would second portobello mushrooms, i made some last weekend with onion and garlic softened in butter and olive oil, added a little of finely chopped streaky bacon, added alittle cream to the mixture, then filled the mushroom, crumbled a little blue cheese and toped with breadcrumbs, in the oven for 15 mins, served on rocket. They were delicious.

As a newly converted prawn and fish eater i would not reccomend serving scallops to your mum, i would have not dealt with that when i was funy about fishy stuff ( i now love scallops, except the pink penisy bit)

Oh yes, jolly good point Ginger re. putting them in the oven! I can't imagine they'd taste too good raw. ? I sometimes bake sometimes grill them, depending on what else is cooking at the same time and what oven/ grill space I have.

? i did assume you cooked them

What about indiviual baked camembert with crudites? Super easy to make & delicious!

Deano, good idea, ooh, make it christmassy with a cranberry relish type thing. mmmmmmmmmmmm

Oohhh that sounds yummy, may have to try it for tonights dinner!

Baked goat's cheese with cranberry sauce is nice. Particularly if you can get the cheese with breadcumbs on the outside - Sainsbury's used to sell them in a set with a pot of the sauce, but it was probably a bit of an expensive way of doing it.

Pate really is so easy to make and you can do it a couple of days in advance.

/food/recipes/quickchickenliverpat_71660

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/french/chicken-liver-pate-with-cognac-with-sweet-and-sour-red-onion-salad?utm_source=www.hitched.co.uk&utm_medium=d&utm_campaign=otn&utm_content=from--recipes/chicken-liver-pate-with-cognac-with-sweet-and-sour-red-onion-salad%2C1471%2Crc.html--to--node/13383

https://www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/chicken_liver_pate.html

/food/recipes/chickenliverpate_85880

http://goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/chicken-liver-pate

Guess what I've just decided to make to have in the fridge over Christmas? ?

Thanks so much for all your ideas everyone. I feel much more inspired now!
Will call friend tonight, and decide what to do.

After my Mother's behaviour today she's lucky it's not a seafood salad, but I think Mrs Magic wins with the home made pate. With some back up bought from Waitrose in case it goes hideously wrong ?

Woo! <punches air> ?