AIBU to not want to spend my entire Xmas day cooking?

[Honeybooboo123]

last year we had a join family Xmas and expressed this desire to my SIL. I have two DC, she has one. I stated let's make life a bit easy and buy in a few, nice , ready made bits to take the pressure off.

I shit you not, we ended up making everything from scratch. From 7am onwards. Could have cried.

This year, bigger family Xmas, with another family and mum involved, also with two DC.Already getting emails about turkeys and menus.

How to I get across that I DO NOT WANT TO SPEND ALL SODDING XMAS DAY COOKING A MEAL I THEN HAVE NO INTEREST IN EATING

?

Second time lucky?

late November i start...
i make a menu, and then i make a list beside each course and i include everything possible that is needed, this becomes my shopping list
I check all my serve ware is all clean (and there) and see if i need to replace any of it, and make sure i have enough dinner ware, glasses and cutlery and serving utensil's etc.
start buying drinks and soft drinks etc and hide away.
in the days leading up to the day i start making items i can starting with jamies get ahead gravy, the day b4 i make the custard, brandy sauce, apple sauce, jelly for the trifle etc,
i peel and prep the veges, cut them to the cooking size and place in a snap lock bag with water and lay that in a foil roaster that it will cook in, then i stack them in the fridge over night with a post-it note about cooking times
i do the same with the meats, each one in a oven bag, then in a foil roaster pan and in the fridge with a post-it note of instructions and timings of when to go in the oven
i put the trifle bowl out with a wrapped sponge cake ready to be make, a cake stand out with the boxed pav all ready to be creamed, the xmas pudding in its tub on the platter is will be served on etc

It takes out all the running about stressing having it all right there at ya finger tips

On xmas morning i get up and check my list on what i need to do and as i have approximate times all written down i dont stress, and hey if its late no problem its xmas we can chill!

Pre prepare food, allocate items for people to bring and allocate cooking jobs too. Good luck!

Seems there are a lot of posters who are doing everything themselves. Are you the only adult in the house? Dividend everything up between so you all contribute to the preparation of the Christmas lunch. My DSis takes care of the starters, my parents the drinks, DT’s sort out the table ware and decorations, DH and my brother in law do the meats and I do the vegetables. No one likes Christmas pudding so there is usually a (bought) apple pie and ice cream. Everyone helps cleaning up.

I make and freeze the cranberry sauce in November. Veg is prepped listening to Kings on Christmas Eve, and the pigs in blankets prepped and cooked then (small single continental oven). The ham is roasted on Chistmas Eve and served with dauphinoise (frozen) and red cabbage with apple (frozen).

The turkey is brined, and the stuffing is made either Christmas Eve and cooked on Christmas day, or cooked Christmas Eve. Starters are either smoked salmon, quails eggs and hollandaise, or stilton pate, the latter being premade and frozen. Pudding is fruit, except for dh who likes Christmas pud, so I buy individual ones for his ticking, and he has one of those.

Having done this every Christmas since 1986, I have this sorted now. I now only cater for 4, so it's easier, and I have loads left so I don't have to cook again for a couple of days unless I feel like it.

You can be blunt with the others if the response to your email isn't satisfactory. Tell them there's no way you are spending all of Christmas Day cooking so whatever dishes are your responsibility will come from M&S, naturally you will discuss oven/hob needs with the others to avoid clashes, if they love the cooking part of Christmas then you totally understand and won't mind at all if they choose to spend extra time in the kitchen on Christmas Day but you won't be doing the same.

I cheat ! I buy everything ready made, even the gravy and just bung it in the oven. No bloody way am I spending Xmas day peeling spuds.

We make absolutely everything from scratch. It's all hands on deck Christmas Eve for a good couple of hours so we all get to enjoy Christmas Day together. Actually we all, including the kids, love it. Started when they were about 10 when they were in charge of the pigs in blankets and they've taken on more of the menu as the years have gone by. Brandy butter added to their repertoire last year!

www.cookfood.net/

I highly recommend Cook for anyone who doesn’t want to spend Christmas Day in the kitchen or doesn’t have any help

Does anyone have a COOK discount code they can share please?

We do M&S Christmas food to order every year! Everything premade and just all goes in the oven on the same temp soooo nice too! And I ordered mine today and was told that if you order by tomorrow and spend over a certain amount (£80 I think?) you get a free bottle of wine picking it up on the 23rd and that's us done!

I did this last year- invited everyone then felt like I barely saw DS due to cooking.
This year DSis and I and our families are going to DF. The vast majority of the food will come from Waitrose.

Is anybody willing to share a checklist? I get though it by the skin of my teeth really and every year I say it will be different next year...

Why are you so spineless?
You’ve had all year to talk about this. Who invited the extra family, last minute?

Why haven’t you said to your sil: “last year was too much for me, let’s order in some parts, or we’ll divide it, I’ll do a the .... turkey and gammon/puddings/veg/etc ... what suits you? “

We had dinner for 25 at our house and the only stress was plating up that many meals and keeping them warm. Everyone brought things cooked ready to heat up and everything was from scratch. I actually wandered round the house in the morning thinking I've got no cooking to do !

Tell the men it's their turn to cook. Follow through; refuse to cook

You don't really need to do anything. The last few years I've bought ready prepared everything.

Look in M&S, Iceland is always good, Aldi, Lidl and all the usual supermarkets you will find everything you need ready to cook one way or another.

Honestly its really easy. Get yourself up mid morning then pop downstairs/into the kitchen and peel back wrapping/remove wrapping stick in oven. Pour a glass or 3 of prosecco/wine/champers and stuff your face with chocolates having set a timer to remind you to take everything out the oven

Almost everything has a ready to bake tray it comes in so no sorting pans and you just throw the tray away once served etc throw it on the table once cooked and serve. If anyone complains about it they get the standard reply of 'next year you cook it then'. No one has yet complained about the food. I don't have to peel/chop anything. Naturally I complain all year about how difficult cooking the Christmas dinner is for the sympathy factor but honestly its really easy.

I'd just email her something like " Why don't we make it easy for everyone this year and order from M&S/COOK ? Means we'll have more time to have some prosecco and join the family. Happy to order it all and can let you know your share"

If she doesn't want to do that then I'd find out what she is prepared to compromise on , order that and see if she can prepare the rest the day before as she's the one wanting homemade.

I plan to hide most of the day in the kitchen getting lunch ready away from my in laws! 👌 Perfect!

If we're having a family christmas we all chip in.
My mum is doing the turkey, I'm doing the christmas pudding, brandy butter and vegetarian alternative.
My sisters are doing the veg and bread sauce/pigs in blankets.
My son is bringing all the sauces.
None of us live together. It's the only fair way, we are all too busy to do everything and it's expensive.

Hmm, I love M&S and have used their Christmas ordering service many times.

Our frustration is that you still have to battle to crowds to park, queue to collect the order, wait whilst the staff round up the order, battle more crowds to join a queue to pay and then sit in traffic to get home...

It may be different for other M&S stores I guess. Our nearest is at Cribbs Causeway and traffic is always ridiculously busy at Christmas.

I like to do whatever keeps my Christmas spirit as intact as possible.

Avoiding any shopping process which involves the great British public en masse certainly helps

Bump for a COOK discount code anyone?

Who drives the 'cook everything from scratch'?

I'd give them two options:

• dishes which can mostly be prepped the day before and everyone does their share of peeling, chopping and washing
• buy ready prepped

In both cases everyone has a task or two on the day.

If you don't get a reasonable response to a mail, send them the link to this thread. :-)

Already getting emails about turkeys and menus. How to I get across that I DO NOT WANT TO SPEND ALL SODDING XMAS DAY COOKING A MEAL I THEN HAVE NO INTEREST IN EATING

Forward each email to the various men in the family, ccing the person sending them.

Forward each email to the various men in the family, ccing the person sending them.

Oh I like this.