Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

How to cook achristmas dinner?

12 replies

Cranky17 · 22/12/2018 00:08

It’s just a toast right?
Feeling a bit stressed and a tad worried that I can’t do it. Worried about amounts and timings really
Cooking for 8.
Any veterans who can offer advice?

OP posts:
MintedLamb · 22/12/2018 00:10

It's just a roast, prep as much as possible the day before (OH peels all veg and we leave it in water in the fridge). We use disposable roasting trays to save on washing up on Xmas day.

Cranky17 · 22/12/2018 00:12

prep as much as possible the day before
Even potatoes?
I’d use frozen veg,
Wha my else can I prep?

OP posts:
Cranky17 · 22/12/2018 00:12

What else

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

FlibbertyGiblets · 22/12/2018 00:14

It really is just a roast. Check your timings per weight of meat. Work out what time you want to eat. Take an hour off that - meat out, resting then carving. Time meat by counting backwards and work from there. Clever cloggses will set oven to come on so is up to temp when you wander down. Meat out, oven up to blast furnace, temp of the sun stuff for your roasties. Veg can get going. Make gravy.

Ta dah.

elephantoverthehill · 22/12/2018 00:17

Toast is good. Just make sure you know what time the bird has to go in and rest. The veg will be as usual. Nobody minds a lull between dinner and pudding. Relax and it will all go well.

VimFuego101 · 22/12/2018 00:31

Write a time plan - start by working out what time you want to eat and work from there.

AornisHades · 22/12/2018 00:37

Weigh the meat and calculate how long it will take to cook and rest. Work backwards from that.
I write my schedule down the night before.

NonaGrey · 22/12/2018 00:38

I make a spreadsheet with everything listed in the order it needs cooked, with temperature and timings noted.

I work out when I want to served the meal and then just work my way backwards to when everything needs to go in.

Christdinber isn’t actually technically difficult it’s just a lot of food for lots of people that all has to be ready at the same time.

I make soup, sauces, and baking the day before. I also set the table the day before (and then cover it with a light cloth)

I think in recent years there’s been too much focus on everything being “perfect” and instagram worthy when it’s really just a celebration with your family who love you and don’t really care if you forget something or mess it up.

LilQueenie · 22/12/2018 00:43

for us its just a roast with the exception we add glazed parsnip.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 22/12/2018 00:49

If you peel the potatoes and parsnips the night before, leave them in bowls of cold water and cover with cling film.

I put the parsnips and potatoes in at the same time as the bird, and keep en eye on them, then take them out when they look nearly done, then they just need to go back in for 20 minutes or so to finish off, while the bird resets (covered in foil and a couple of clean towels), and you cook the other veg.

Oh - and I parboil the potatoes (boil them for 10 minutes) then drain them and give them a good shake in the pan, to chuff up the edges so they go more crispy, and then put them and the parsnips into really, really hot fat - I have a big chef’s pan (a deep frying pan) so I do it in that - I find it easier - but you can put the tin in the oven with the fat in, and put it on the hottest ring on the stove when you put the potatoes and parsnips in, so they sizzle and go crisp. Do this carefully - the hot fat will hurt if you splash yourself.

Don’t put too much stuffing in the cavity of the bird - fill up the neck end (where the flap of skin is), and do the rest in balls or in a separate dish. Really filling the bird means it has to cook for a lot longer, and that can make it dry.

Do as much as you can the day before - I make the stuffing and stuff the bird, make bread sauce and gravy, prep all the veg (I do roasties, parsnips, sprouts and chestnuts, and red cabbage), and make the brandy butter to go with the pudding.

Above all - don’t worry - it is really just a roast dinner with a few more bells and whistles, and you will do fine.

HeddaGarbled · 22/12/2018 00:51

Yes, it’s just a roast. The complication is getting everything ready at the same time. I usually have something that isn’t ready on time - usually the roast potatoes. It doesn’t matter - people can wait another 15 minutes while I whack them up on high and no one in my family would even notice if the turkey is slightly dry or the sprouts a bit mushy.

Most important advice from a veteran: make 3 times as much gravy as you think you’ll need.

Cranky17 · 22/12/2018 00:58

You are all amazing so prep the
Potatoes
Veg
Stuffing
The night before

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page