Help me plan my Christmas dinner!

[blackfriday1]

Can some lovely Mumsnetters please offer their culinary and hosting wisdom and help me decide what to serve on Xmas day!
For various reasons our plans are different to normal this year and we don’t have the space to accommodate all of our guests for a traditional sit down meal.
I’m planning on doing a nice brunch and then when more guests arrive around 4ish (they will be expecting to eat) my plan was to do a sort of carvery style Xmas dinner - a turkey and the usual trimmings but people will self serve and eat on knees.
On second thoughts, and for many reasons, this is no longer a good idea. I don’t really want my Xmas dinner on my knee and I’m sure others don’t either! I can’t put on a sit down meal so buffet style is the only option. What can I serve that will make people feel they’ve had a decent festive meal that will be reasonably easy to serve and eat in this way?
DH suggests hot turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry, bread rolls, and let people make hot sandwiches. I’m not against this idea but it just doesn’t feel special enough! Fine for evening munchies but not the main event!
I need ideas for 7 adults, 2,tweens and a 4 year old (who won’t care about anything other than chocolate coins!)
Any thoughts much appreciated!

If you’re not keen on people eating on their knees then DH suggests hot turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry, bread rolls, and let people make hot sandwiches to add to a hot buffet is quite a good idea. I’d supplement it with potatoes (either a large bowl of roasties, potato salad or plain baby new potatoes) coleslaw, hot pigs in blankets, bread sticks, home made sausage rolls, pin wheels and vol au vent cases, maybe some seafood? I used to work in the naffest hotel when I was about 13 and was responsible for making the starters. Prawn cocktail was chopped up lettuce in a wine glass, prawns and a dollop of MarieRose sauce on top, with brown bread and butter. Sooo classy 😁 I suspect you could improve on that, maybe scallops with Chorizo? A cheeseboard? Ooh, and you could go retro and have a cheese fondue! Stick some grapes and salad bits in all the random spaces and the table will look packed.

This is helpful and along the same lines I was thinking. I’ll miss a full dinner this year but at 42 I’ve had plenty and hopefully have many more to come!
Thanks for your help @WilfredsPies

This Mary Berry game casserole is DIVINE and can be made in advance. I make it with venison.

You could make it and then put portions in hand sized pastry cases or pasties?
womanonamissioncoaching.com/lifestyle/christmas-game-casserole/

But where do people eat having a buffet ? If it's between knee and standing id rather knee
Can you buy lap trays for those who want to sit ?

Something you can eat with one hand in a bowl. It’s hard balancing a plate in your knee and trying to cut things. Some sort of festive pasta, tray bake, stew and mash. Beef bourguignon feels special, also there is Rachel Roddy beef stew with pepper that is delicious with cheesy polenta.

If I’m not sitting at the table my vote goes to party food. We never do it for Christmas so for our family it will feel special/ unusual/ fun.
So I would add lots of interesting cheeses, fancy bread, double amount of pigs in blankets, extra vegs and crack on.
It depends on party food, of course, but just looking at some things at Waitrose and M&S makes my mouth watering.

I do have trays and people can sit down of course! FIL is quite immobile due to ill health and would struggle with a roast dinner on his knee. Fine eating at a table, or fine with finger food etc on his knee, but couldn’t manage with a full meal on his lap on a tray. This is one of the primary reasons we’re going for more buffet style food.

I don't understand op so where will fil sit ?

Why don’t you have a table? If it’s just because you have 10 of you, serve dinner as normal, in shifts: kids first while you have drinks and nibbles then pop a film on for them. Then 7 adults eat, you should be able to cram 6 around a normal table, 7th (you or Dh) can squeeze in or eat on knees. Or ask one of the visiting adults to bring a side table or extra chairs from home. We hosted 14 once and I told everyone coming to bring a folding garden chair or two if they wanted to sit. It worked fine.

If you truly must do standing, I’d go with Dh’s suggestion of turkey and ham baps, roasties and pigs in blankets (which can be finger food) and a few nice little nibbles like mini prawn cocktails, devils on horseback (prunes wrapped in bacon), with nice chocolates and truffles to finish.

Of course we have a table! FIL is in o wheelchair and we live in a town house so it’s difficult to get him between floors which would be required if sitting down to eat. They usually go to my sister in laws for Xmas day so normally not a problem. The 2 tweens are my step children who are eating with their mum before coming to us and they won’t want another big sit down meal but will
graze. Like I said, just lots of reasons why a buffet is best this year. Thanks for your food suggestions, some nice ideas there