Christmas dinner disaster

[parsnipandpotato]

Posting for traffic.. no shame

Christmas dinner.. we are rapidly running out of options..

We are a family of 5 and usual additions for Xmas day dinner is My sister, BIL, and DH's brother.

Christmas is usually, and has been for the past 7 years, held at my other brothers (large) house however this year he's decided to go to Scotland to his in laws.. how selfish!! (Lighthearted)

Issue is.. what do the rest of us do!

None of our houses are large enough to accommodate the whole group really.. certainly not for dinner.

What are people's experiences of eating out for Christmas dinner?
Personally I've never done it..

Does it still feel Christmassy ?
How expensive is is?
Do you have to book 6 months in advance ?
Is it ok to take a 9,7 and 2 year old?

Other option is we all cram into our 2 up 2 down and be cosy!

Looking for advice/previous experiences!

Thanks

Tbh, I would go the cosy route out of the two options. We are in the same boat, only there are me and my husband, our four children all living in our 2 up 2 down lol, so its already cosy, adding on My Mum, my brother, SIL, and their three young boys, and omg we are squished, but you know what, its fun! lol
As we are already usually squished I just think we're used to it! The one thing we did do was put up a gazebo last Christmas as our front room opens onto the garden, and borrowed a heater, and it felt like an extra room lol, My mum enjoyed sitting out with her sherry listening to the kids playing!
Our kitchen basically holds two people at a time, so husband sorted the dinner, and the rest of us got merry! lol. It was great, squashed, but we all felt better after a nice after-dinner walk!

Whatever you decide, Enjoy it! x

definitely possible to have dinner in small cottage - we use to have fold up card table added to end & odd chairs it was a giggle - organise & prepare as much before hand as you can - pre cook turkey/chicken the night before & slice & wrap in foil. ditto sausage rolls etc get freezer box to keep extra cold food with ice bricks (usually in back garden if solid enough!) if the weather is cold -put wine bottles outside to chill - we slept in my daughters dining room (actually we slept upstairs the adult dc slept all over the house. Lovely Christmas tree & open fire - it was great!

It completely depends on where you go. We ate out for Christmas lunch a few years ago. The restaurant was a local independent which has a reputation for excellent food and service. Because it is housed in a very old, quirky building, it is more like several smaller rooms rather than one large, open are. This helped it to feel quite homely and it was easy to pretend nobody else was there. The food was indeed, very good and it was nice not to be restricted to just the usual roast turkey dinner. It was expensive, but our meal was a gift from one of the people in the party, so that wasn't a major concern for us. Anywhere good tends to need booking asap.
That said, I much prefer Christmas dinner at home and would try very hard to find a way to accommodate everybody if at all possible.

Cram in. The children can picnic on the floor, or you can have two "services" with the children eating a bit earlier than the adults.
Since my parent's divorce my house has become the "go-to" house for family gatherings and our living room is very small. We manage to have a good time!

Another vote for buffet/Faith supper (where everyone brings a course). Advantage of buffet is that loads of it can be made in advance ie quiche, salads, I Am joint, coleslaw. Also get to Iceland for frozen nibbles ie sausages rolls, onion bhajis and aldi or Lidl for cheap but brilliant cooked salami etc. Load of part baked baguettes, a yule log, shit loads of cheese and you're done!!

*ham not I Am!!

I would cosy up. I would never eat out on xmas day because it gives me the rage that restaurants are even open! Would be nice if they would close for one bloody day and give the staff a break!

When I loved abroad I ate out a t Christmas as it was the usual price. Assuming you are in the UK there is a massive price hike.

I'd say you have a few options:
A) Check out local pubs that will do a roast Christmas dinner at a lower cost, the more bargain type pubs will do it.
B) Check out hotels etc that do a higher cost thing only if you all want to do that
C) See who has the most space in their home for a meal like this and this would be my choice.

Make sure everyone contributes by bringing (easily identifiable) cutlery and plates etc (stools too if you are short of chairs) and choose a meal that you all like and is not too hard to accommodate in the oven. If the dinnering room table is not really big can you get a couple of fold out camping tables and stools and make it work?

I'd easily go for option C because once you have eaten you can all collapse onto sofas and bean bags and that's fine. No driving or walking home etc.

If the full on roast is too much do a turkey casserole with dumplings and roast potatoes etc.

Or go for a buffet of cold roasted turkey, salads, nice bake in the oven bread and other stuff. Cold food is easier to eat on laps. And you can warm up with steaming bowls of pudding and custard.

lived abroad!

Don’t ask DB if you can house sit. It puts him in an awful position of having to refuse.

I think it would be harder to do a buffet! It’s just a scaled up Sunday dinner with a few trimmings after all. I think you are feeling the fear of the unknown, and nervous about how ‘your’ dinner will compare to your brothers.

I can say with all truthfulness that your relatives will be very happy with what you provide, they will be relieved that they are not hosting!

We have always been the hosts on Christmas Day for 38 years now, and numbers change over the years, peaks and troughs. I have never once gone anywhere else, but we do have a big family.

I say again, no one wants to do it, they will be so happy you are !

We've eaten out for Christmas dinner and to me it just wasn't the same, the food was okay, but it was very noisy with loads of other diners there, it didn't feel special or Christmassy either, you just can't beat being at home with the smell of the turkey and stuffing wafting through the house whilst a Christmas film is on enjoying a glass of fizz!

We do Christmas dinner for 7 and our place is only small and our kitchen is really small!

But it works,we bring in a table from outside(it gets all tarted up with a lovely table cloth,napkins and a centerpiece)and we do the same with the chairs(they have Christmas covers put onto them)we move the 2 tub chairs upstairs and push the tv unit back to make enough room for the table and chairs and it always works.

With the cooking I make the stuffing and mashed potatoes(our Christmas dinner is always huge)a few days before and freeze them(to save me room on the day preparing bits)and no one comes into the kitchen whilst I'm cooking,I have Christmas music on and have a drink or 2 whilst I'm cooking for everyone and my DH takes care of everyone else and the table and chairs get bought in and set up about 15 minutes before I'm ready to bring the food through.

I manage to make a 4 course meal for everyone so quite a bit of cooking and I wash up as I go along,it's a bit of work but it's enjoyable.

I just don't buy why this can't go in the Christmas topic. There's people who are interested in this trivia posting on there round the clock by now.

I did Xmas dinner for 9 in a 2 up 2 down terrace. You just need to be imaginative :)

One year I cooked Christmas lunch for 11 in our very small, 2 up 2 down Victorian terrace (9 adults and 2 children). It was a bit cosy, (some people at the table, others on the sofa) but we managed.

Buy some folding chairs and floor cushions from Ikea and get in some extra chocolates, drink and desserts!! Hardly a tight fit.

Got to agree with everyone else - really not seeing the issue. I am currently in a house that has a kitchen barely big enough to swing a cat, but with an OK-ish sized lounge. I think I fed 14 at the pre-Xmas Panto feed last year! We got creative and used the BBQ / smoker plus a buffet kind of arrangement with the sides / salads in the kitchen and plenty of emergency chairs in the lounge. Plan as much as possible and I'm sure you'll be fine.

As a child my family and my DM's five brothers and sisters and OHs (and 15 cousins) would take turns to host 3 days over Christmas - women cooked for children and men, men cooked for the women. Mattresses on every available floor space and it was the best fun ever.

Go for it OP.

Get the crowd organised to bring the easy stuff and cram them in regardless.

DS is likely to work flat out on Christmas Day, as he's a junior chef in a posh hotel, so his day is probably going to start at 6 for breakfast and finish at midnight without many breaks, but he will be paid double or triple time, (so won't worry too much).

I have a friend with 6 siblings and their family of about 30 go to a local Chinese for an all you can eat buffet. They've done this for about 5 years and she says it's brilliant - there's no way they could all be together otherwise.

Just cram them all in yours and serve oven chips in breadcakes.

Appreciate this is not the point of the thread but your brother may well have buggered off to his in laws as he's sick of it always been assumed he will host.

I say this as the one with the biggest house who is now always expected to host.

If it makes sense to do it there then fine but you should all take it in turns to take complete responsibility for the main lunch ie the shopping, the prep, the cooking and clearing up - oh and the cost.

Trust me, it takes its toll but doing the above would make a big difference.

As someone who's husband had to work our first Christmas married and sons first Christmas dont do it!
If people didnt eat out the restaurant business would not be open and the workers could be home with their families!

Dont get me started on the boxing day sales!!

Eaten out twice.. first year was just OK but overpriced. The second year was amazing but we chose to go to a local restaurant that we go to throughout the year and so know the owners and quality of food.

If you're going to do it, don't choose a 'chain' pub, they completely overcharge for what is essentially microwave food.