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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I think I ruined Xmas dinner : (

27 replies

PrincessTeacake · 26/12/2012 17:44

My mother usually does the dinner but this year she moved to the other side of the country, and she decided to only stop by to spend the dinner with us. I volunteered to do the dinner instead as my Dad is only learning to cook, my brothers are a bit useless and I didnt want my mum to make a two hour trip just to cook for us. As I'm a veggie, she agreed to just do the meat.

It was going fine for the most part, but towards the end as I was trying to serve it up I got very harried. The mustard mash developed a skin, the cheese sauce on the cauliflower went crispy because the stupid fan on the stupid broken oven blew the feckingtin foil off, my mushroom gravy didnt thicken, the uneven heat of the oven made my cinnamon apple bake scorch on top so I had to cut the top off. Its a blue miracle my baked Alaska worked out.

I think everyone's just too nice to tell me the dinner was total crap.

OP posts:
MammaTJ · 26/12/2012 17:46

I'm sure it was better than you are making out.

The best food is food cooked by someone else, so they probably loved it.

SamuelWestsMistress · 26/12/2012 17:47

Don't feel bad! This year was my first year in about 5 of nailing the festive feast. We all have fuck ups, but part of the experience is learning by what went wrong! Don't lose your confidence for next time and don't try and over stretch yourself!

If everyone eats then its all good!

YellowDinosaur · 26/12/2012 17:48

Yes what mammatj said.

And tip of cauliflower cheese is meant to be crispy so you're fine there!

Our bastard oven played 'pick your own temperature' yesterday resulting in dinner an hour later but who cares? The important thing is someone making an effort and the company x

KurriKurri · 26/12/2012 17:49

I'm sure everyone was just pleased to have a meal cooked for them, regardless of whether it was cordon bleu standard Smile - your dinner sounds lovely actually - apple cinnamon bake - yum!

If its any comfort my roast potatoes were soggy white flaccid things because I had to have the oven on too low a heat to cook the main dish (chestnut Wellington - we are veggies too) - so it wasn't perfect, but everyone ate it quite happily.

Mulledandmerry · 26/12/2012 17:49

I'm always delighted that someone has cooked for me..don't care if its burnt, cold or gopping! So just by cooking dinner and making an effort you are a star.

frasersmummy · 26/12/2012 17:51

we all have years like that.. even after years of doing it..

dont worry your company, some wine and some nice pressies are remembered much more than dinner...

dequoisagitil · 26/12/2012 17:53

If the meal wasn't perfect, it doesn't matter. You went to a lot of effort and no-one with any decency is going to quibble about a few minor mistakes, they should just be grateful for the meal, time & attention.

As long as the cook doesn't give anyone food poisoning, it's a win, as far as I'm concerned.

MsVestibule · 26/12/2012 17:54

Me too! My dinner was just a bland, barely glorified roast dinner. I tried to make proper gravy which was a disaster so I had to make it using bisto powder, but without the veg water and turkey juices because I'd already used them in the Disastrous Gravy. I left the roast potatoes in the oven. I didn't do enough veg. The turkey was a bit dry. The sausagemeat stuffing was so-so.

Luckily it was just DH and our 2 young DCs. DS(4) refused to eat anything but mashed potatoes and gravy, and even then we had to feed him Hmm.

But overall, we all had a fab day, lovely presents, DH dressed up as Father Christmas, family visited, lots of wine and champagne. So I'm just putting it in perspective and have learned lessons for next year!

Clary · 26/12/2012 17:58

Don't worry OP, I hadn't cooked Christmas dinner in the new house before so managed to nearly burn the sausages and deffo burn some of the parsnips (like, black!) - not quite got the measure of the oven!

I also over parboiled the roasties so they were roast mash somewhat but tasted fine anyway!

It was all OK and as others say, it's the fact of you cooking and the company that makes it special.

AuntLucyInTheNorthPole · 26/12/2012 18:09

My Christmas dinner was a bit crap tbh - everything over cooked by 10 mins (bar the sprouts, strangely, which were fine) and we ran out of sugar so the homemade cranberry sauce was so sour it turned your mouth inside out. I did manage a good homemade gravy though. However, not one of the 10 people who ate it managed a single nice comment on the food, despite the fact I shopped for it, paid for it, and cooked it in a rented holiday cottage (cottage for 6 also paid for entirely me & Dh) and had a cold. Hurrah, I say - last bloody Christmas dinner they get out of me, ungrateful whatsits!

FellatioNelson · 26/12/2012 18:18

Well I would have been very disappointed if the top of my cauliflower cheese was not brown and crispy. Have never heard of someone putting foil over it to prevent this. Confused I'm sure it was all lovely.

AuntLucy that's very dispiriting. Sad Sod the bastards.

MsVestibule · 26/12/2012 18:27

I did manage a good homemade gravy though. That was directed at me, wasn't it? Go on, rub salt in the wound Angry.

I couldn't imagine cooking a Christmas dinner in a rented cottage - the organisation required, and in a different oven, with limited crockery would kill me!!! Your guests were very ungrateful; never mind not making Christmas dinner for them again, they should consider themselves lucky to get a cup of tea out of you.

AuntLucyInTheNorthPole · 26/12/2012 18:29

Thankful fellatio.

Ditto - cauliflower cheese is def meant to be brown and crispy on top. Would be weirdly anaemic without a brown topping..

Downandoutnumbered · 26/12/2012 18:35

Don't worry, ours was half an hour late because I pulled the roast potatoes out of the oven to shake them about a bit, dropped the whole lot on the food just as MIL walked into the kitchen and had to make more in a tearing hurry! It happens. I couldn't even swear because of MIL!

trapclap · 26/12/2012 18:36

Come on! This has got to be a not so stealth boast! BAKED ALASKA????!

Downandoutnumbered · 26/12/2012 18:39

On the food??? Sodding autocorrect - on the floor.

MaltesersR4LifenotJust4Xmas · 26/12/2012 18:39

My Xmas dinner was delightful, them I got cocky and stuck my creme brûlée's too close to the grill to caramelise, the result was something akin to scrambled eggs :( we drowned our sorrows with champagne and cheesecake (bright side)

Original poster
PrincessTeacake · 26/12/2012 19:06

I wish it was a stealth boast, I'm very confident about my baking skills but I was expecting the Baked Alaska to go south due to the crappy oven. It was about the only thing that came out perfect. I think I just got overly ambitious for my first Christmas dinner, particularly with the gravy because I made it from scratch and it was perfect up until the non-thickening part.

Is it terrible to be glad that other people fecked up too? I didn't know the cauliflower could be crispy, my mother never made it that way! And AuntLucy, I salute you as a yuletide hero.

OP posts:
TheoxenandDonkeyskneltdown · 26/12/2012 19:19

Better a few mishaps than perfection served up in an icy atmosphere. frasersmummy is right, all the other elements of the day will stick in the memory far longer! Posters like AuntLucy probably wonder why they bothered, so much effort for little or no thanks.

AuntLucyInTheNorthPole · 26/12/2012 19:29

I think they liked it - it was eaten cheerfully and all went. They just forgot to say 'nice food Aunt Lucy' or 'thank you' ( it was a bit like they were in a restaurant - it never occurred to them!).

PS have never attempted a baked Alaska - that is one SERIOUS pudding for a Christmas Day menu - kudos to you Grin

Primadonnagirl · 26/12/2012 21:48

Absolutely not BU!!! It really is the effort that counts and personally I think all the burnt,crispy bits etc are the bet part of a homemade meal.. Have been out for many a good restaurant Xmas meal and although lovely not the point ...surely it's all about juggling to keep it hot..shouting out the stuffings not supposed to be this crunchy etc. whilst guests are on emergency chairs! Sounds like you had a lovely day which is whole point..

waitingtobeamummy · 26/12/2012 21:51

I love the top of cauliflour cheese going brown and crispy! I'm sure you did fine

MerryLindor · 26/12/2012 22:06

I forgot that I was parboiling the potatoes, so they were cooked through. Put them in the oven and they took much longer than normal (as did the turkey) cause my oven is crap.

Then I dropped the almost finished potatoes on the floor.

I bunged them back in the oven and didn't let on. They were being roasted at 220 degrees. I challenge any bacteria to survive that!

The gravy took ages to thicken, I forgot the cranberry sauce and the meal was an hour late.

We drank lots of wine and opened the crackers while we were waiting and had a lovely evening.

Don't worry about it. I'm sure that it was all lovely. There is so much pressure on Xmas day for the meal to be perfect, when it is actually just another meal.

thixotropic · 26/12/2012 22:18

Oh lor,

Having suffered an ex family members meltdowns in search of Xmas dinner perfection and the food was good, just the stressed shouty shoutathon it took to deliver it - all help aggressively refused / repelled...

I would far rather have burnt cheese on toast in a friendly atmosphere.

I'm sure it was fine, our roasties didn't cook, I forgot the stuffing, overcooked the veg and we were too pogged for pudding.

In short a good time was had by all. Bet your guests did too.

Snowkey · 26/12/2012 22:41

My dinner was fine, the home made Nigella Christmas Pud was crap though - 6 bloody weeks waiting and it was crap. Dh and Ds politely ate it but I was bitterly disappointed - next time I'm buying the bugger.