To order a takeaway for Christmas dinner when I'm hosting?

[thirteendolphins]

I have 2 DC's - nearly 4yo and 10 months at Christmas. I have invited my parents round for Christmas dinner, MIL, brother and partner and a friend. So 7 adults and 2 kids in total.

DP will be working on Christmas day and won't be home til about 7pm.

To be honest I get stressed out just making a roast dinner, the number of dishes to wash etc freak me out, the kids are going to be hyper, we'll have different guests visiting the boys late morning, the house will be a bomb site. If DP was here he'd make the Christmas dinner because he doesn't mind and is the complete opposite to me when it comes to cooking i.e. he is unflappable.

I, on the other hand, will get completely stressed, will be in the kitchen most of the day cooking and tidying up, will also be trying to keep up with the constant demands from the kids and trying to entertain the guests. I can feel my anxiety levels rising just thinking about it.

So I've thought about getting an Indian takeaway meal instead and providing pudding. My parents do this most Christmas days so I know they won't mind. It just seems so much EASIER. But I LOVE Christmas dinner (when someone else is doing it). I feel like I'm cheating.

But then I think surely the most important thing is that we're all together and I'm enjoying the kids and the guests and it's relaxed. Surely it won't be much fun for the guests if I'm flapping about, bright red and on the edge of tears???

AIBU??

Offering to host Christmas Day for so many people if you get stressed out cooking a normal roast and your DP won't even be there was completely daft. You should have gone to your parents or asked them just to visit for a couple of hours in the morning to do presents for the children and then offered to have them on Boxing Day instead.

Don't order a curry. I would not go anywhere on Christmas Day where the host wanted to give me a takeaway curry. Unless it was treated as just another day, and a different day was designated as the 'proper Christmas Day.' no way would I go without my Christmas Dinner.

Can't you just ask everyone to bring things pre-cooked or semi-prepped and all hands on deck to finish it off? Or go to M&S and buy the ready prepped stuff and a turkey crown so all you have to do is bung it all in? Can't your parents help?

If you did this with my family you'd be in serious trouble.

Christmas traditions are sacred for us. MIL picked the Christmas turkey a month ago (or something...)

My part of the family would probably either bring their own food or be very calm and pretend like nothing's wrong (but internally...)

If you do have to order you should order a Christmas dinner. Not Indian takeaway...

www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/christmas-food-and-drink/9708099/Christmas-lunch-in-a-box-the-best-dinner-deliveries.html

Another vote for either doing it all on Boxing Day (may be easier in any case as kids can spend the day playing with their toys rather than being hyped up) or if you have to do Christmas Day getting it all from M&S (or Waitrose). We have roast dinner once or twice a year and so am therefore always a bit at the people who say 'why all the fuss, it's just a roast lunch' and the last time we did Christmas lunch we bought everything pre-prepped from Waitrose. Just make a list of what time everything has to go in the oven and it's fairly easy. For Christmas pudding we always cook ours in the microwave, get a carton of custard and sling some rum in it so even that bits easy.

You only have Christmas Dinner once a year. If I was invited round as a guest and was given a takeaway I would be annoyed and offended, it's really quite lazy and rude. Why are you hosting?

You should prep everything the night before, including the turkey, so on the day it's just a matter of heating stuff up and dishing out. I'm sure everyone would pitch in to help with the washing up, I think you're being a tad OTT about the whole thing to be honest.

No, they actually wouldn't bring their own, they'd be lovely, calm, compliment you on your food and would probably even send you thank you cards.

And next Christmas somebody would mention something about the takeaway...

I can't imagine inviting people for Christmas and serving a takeaway - sorry! Especially if your DC won't eat it!

We invited everyone for Christmas - it will be 12 guests plus me, DH & 2 dogs. We didn't know when we invited that I would be 8 months pregnant come Christmas. And DH can't cook. It'll still be fine.

There is no reason cooking Christmas dinner needs to be stressful. You have 2 options - either your DP cooks it all a day or two before and you just warm it up, or you buy the ready made M&S stuff. Either way, you get Christmas dinner without the hassle of anything more
Than popping some trays in the oven.

Still can't get over the idea of serving guests chicken tikka masala on Christmas Day then having your own Christmas dinner on Boxing Day. My family would stuff and roast me 😂

Too late for M&S why on earth would you be?

If you really can't cope with what is essentially a roast dinner, which you can practically buy done for you in M&S, it's a bit

My opinion.

I'd be delighted to have a lovely curry.

But I am the Christmas grinch & don't give a toss about the whole thing!

I just think you should tell them all or how about getting MIL to cook while you look after the DC.

Men can cook and so childcare too, you know.

How is it to late for m &s its the 4th of bloody November unless m&s have hyped everybody up into a frenzy so you think its to late

I know you are asking for ideas for Christmas dinner but have you thought about moving Christmas day to boxing day? We've done this for birthdays and other important dates and it's worked really well because the DC get DH and me on important dates.

My parents nearly always have an Indian takeaway for Christmas dinner if they don't go out. They had one last year with my brother who's coming this year.

Ah. Well in that case then obviously YANBU and there is obviously no need to have asked the question in the first place, if it passes as normal for your family.

If you invited my family and presented us with a takeaway curry there would be some sort of civil unrest in the streets.

People get so hung up and hysterical over Christmas dinner - it's some veg and a bit of meat and gravy at the end of the day - I'd rather have a takeaway.

But slotted she's also invited MiL - who apparently can't complain because she has 'nowhere else to go'!

I agree Not due to complicated geographical and logistic restrictions on either side of our family we have often shunted 'Christmas Day' to elsewhere in December for one side of the family. It has still felt exactly like Christmas Day with proper Christmas Day food, presents etc, and then we do it all again on actual Christmas Day for the other side of the family. It works perfectly well. Or they come to us on Boxing day instead. But then they get Boxing Day food (leftovers from Christmas Day.) that is the law.

Curry must not doesn't feature anywhere unless it's a Boxing Day to NYD turkey curry. We eat enough takeaways the rest of the year. Christmas week is sacred for us.

Another vote for ordering it all ready prepared from Marks and Spencer, Waitrose or other supermarkets doing similar. Then just bung in oven. This is what we are doing this year as I am scheduled for major surgery soon and want to make things as simple as possible.

I would be extremely disappointed to be offered Indian takeaway on Christmas day, and I love a bhaji and a dopiaza as much as the next person.

Ah yes, good point Margaret. Back to YABVVU then.

YY to markies food that you pre order. All you need is a turkey, roast veg and some potatoes. Fling it all in the oven, heat up some pre mixed gravy and bobs your uncle. Very easy.

A curry is pretty crap, sorry OP!

If you invited my family and presented us with a takeaway curry there would be some sort of civil unrest in the streets.

Exactly.

I was being tongue in cheek about MIL

FWIW I've never had an Indian takeaway for Christmas dinner - it's always been a full roast. I've hosted twice before I think but had my other half there to help.

If it was my mum and step dad coming they would help out no problem but my dad and step mum aren't like that and would expect it all done for them. If they had to bring food and help out it would be talked about for years "remember that time we were invited to thirteendolphins for Christmas dinner and we had to bring our OWN food and WASH the dishes after?!" Cue tinkly laugh. So I feel there's a bit more pressure on me this year and with the kids added into the mix.

I've never ordered m&s food before but have seen the frenzy collecting it so I thought perhaps there was a cut off time for ordering.

Get your mum or MIL to roast the turkey or turkey crown in advance (overnight or very early in the early in the morning) and bring it. No need to reheat it. Buy Aldi goose fat basted frozen roast potatoes and parsnips - they are excellent if you really can't cope with someone bringing some parboiled roast potatoes with them and emptying a jar of goose fat or a block of dripping on them on the day.

By microwave bags of pre-prepped veg and ask your parents to bring an extra microwave.

Buy tubs of proper fresh gravy from any supermarket. Buy foil trays of pigs in blankets and stuffing now and bung them in the freezer. Surely you can put those in the oven without suffering a mild nervous breakdown?

I hate roasts with a passion, normally have something else for Christmas dinner and a takeaway sounds like heaven to me. I'll come