With a three course meal on the first day of Christmas - and with us all on best behaviour as guests - I thought that an informal buffet would be the best thing for the second day of Christmas. I had hoped that we could relax as a family and chat. It seemed sensible to go for completely different tastes to the day before.
Menu
Roast carrot, garlic and yogurt dip (a recipe my wife found from an Ainsley Harriott article)
Pitta bread with herb butter (used chives and parsley)
Toulouse sausage rolled in black forest ham
Chipolata sausage rolled in bacon
Courgette pakora and dip
Baby peppers stuffed with black and white pudding
(Smoked salmon pancakes)
Left to right: pitta bread with herb butter, smoked salmon pancakes, courgette pakora, sausages, stuffed peppers & carrot dip.
We decided to sit round the table after all and the meal was a mixed success. We realised very quickly that the smoked salmon pancakes had a subtle taste that did not go with robust flavours like garlic/carrots, black pudding, pakoras and chilli dips; pancakes quickly returned to the fridge for another day! Shortly after starting one son got into an argument and went in a huff, ditto for his eldest brother a little later....oh well, so much for family meals.... conversation for the rest of the meal less than lively 
Kids...I remember the days of emotional, huffy teenagers....won't last forever...seems like it does tho'