Beef or lamb for Christmas

This recipe for lamb is a favorite at our house. https://food52.com/recipes/3814-leg-of-lamb-with-garlic-sauce

We change it up every year, but for a few years' running we made individual beef wellingtons, using store-bought puff pastry and cuts from a tenderloin or rib eye. We skipped the patè but made our own duxelles. Sear the meat before wrapping and then just bake. The packets can be made up ahead and baked at dinner time. Served with a red wine mushroom gravy or a balsamic glaze. This also allows you to bake according to desired doneness--make some medium and others more medium well. Food network has a few recipes, but you could modify any Wellington recipe.

I have two leg-of-lamb recipes that I like.
One roasted with herbs in a southern French palate (originally recommended for spring, but not restricted to that time of year):
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324557804578376840098509944
and one braised with Egyptian seasonings (like Ras el Hanout), from Daniel Boulud:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303442704579363073210205450
See if the sound of either appeals to you and your guests.

Any excuse to cook lamb is a good one. Especially with lots of garlic and rosemary. That said goose is great at Christmas too.

My family always made turkey for Thanksgiving, beef for Christmas, and lamb for Easter to keep the holidays different. The roast is usually pretty basic - fattier and a more expensive cut than usual (we usually try to eat leaner meats and can't afford the grass-fed stuff as often as half of them demand animal proteins) with dried mushrooms (porcini or shiitake), herbs, and a good wine sauce. Then we include sides reserved for holidays. Roasts are never bloody as far as I've seen since they have to be cooked long enough to render fat.