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

We've only eaten out once for Christmas dinner, and that was only due to a bereavement. My FIL would come to us for breakfast, one SIL for the big dinner and the other SIL for a light supper. He passed not long before Christmas, so I suggested that perhaps we could all get together, so the day wasn't entirely about the one person missing from all of our tables. We ate at a local pub/restaurant and it was expensive, but we did have 7 courses. Apart from not being able to sit back and unbutton trousers, it was enjoyable. We haven't done it since but it definitely helped us all get through the day together, and we have some fun memories of that day. The lack of washing up was a definite bonus too.

If you can fit 5 you can fit 8

^^This. I wouldn't pay to go out on Christmas Day. Even somewhere like Toby Carvery, you're looking at £50+ pp .

If you're determined to go out, I would do it on a different day, maybe the weekend before Christmas itself - book a table, you'll get a roast and Christmas pud all over the place any day in December for a fraction of the cost. Maybe have a buffet gathering on the day itself if you want to do that too.

But I honestly would do it at yours. We live in a 2 bed semi that's smaller than many terraces and we've twice hosted 8-10 for Christmas and we've managed fine.

You have to be a bit tactical with your cooking - if you want two meats, make one a slow cooker ham or brisket to save on oven space for example, cook the turkey the night before and reheat sliced in gravy on the day. Then you have the oven for the roast pots, stuffing etc.

We use our small dining table and a cheap ikea desk covered in a Christmas table cloth to fit everyone in and put it in our (admittedly quite large) living room - we don't have a separate dining room.

The only time we've come unstuck is that I realised on Christmas Eve that we didn't have enough chairs and my first thought to have a last minute dash to Ikea, which is literally up the road, for cheap folding chairs was thwarted by the fact that Ikea does not open on Christmas Eve, due to that being the main holiday day in Sweden. But I just had to ask some of our guests to bring chairs with them.

Eating out may have the bonus of no washing up, but there are no leftovers either.

One of the many great pleasures of cooking a Christmas roast with all the trimmings for me is the fact that you get to graze on leftovers for the next couple of days and you don't have to cook again during that time. We usually have a couple of reheated roast dinners, cold meat and chips and even things like all the roast potatoes and pigs in blankets fried up together for breakfast.

My mother used to host over a dozen at her DP’s house and my DD ‘overoccupies’ hers for dinner parties. Mum used to have as many as she could get round the table and some adults would eat with the plates on their knees. There was no diminished jollity and fun at all. My DD uses a Pembroke table which unfolds to a large area and then has fold up chairs in from the shed form large dinner parties. We used to add a put you up table to our kitchen table to seat ten when the SIL’s family came at Christmas and add picnic and other chairs.

As for food, you will have to plan the meal carefully and perhaps use the oven in relays. The turkey can be done first as the longer it rests the better it is. Christmas pud can be done in a microwave and swede can be made the day before, mashed and microwaved on the day. It is certainly do- able and would be more relaxing and enjoyable, not to say cheaper, than dragging children away from their toys on Christmas Day.

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
Lol, this is a serious question. WHY do people get so uppity about the odd thread in a section they don't think it should be in??

OP, I ate out once with my family, it was very expensive but the experience was AWFUL and not at all as advertised or promised.

Please just all cram into your house, years ago my sister had a 2 up two down and we often had 16 people crammed in for events. I'm telling the truth, I could probably find photos... I'll have a look lol.

Don't ask your BIL if you can use his house, he'd be in the very awkward position of having to admit he was fed up with having the chaos at his house every year.

Good luck ... can you do me a favour? I'd love an update after Christmas on this thread please!!! 😊😊😊

We ate out for the first time last year. It was nice to actually get out of the house and go somewhere but the food wasn't great, the portions were tiny (it's the only time I've finished Christmas dinner and not been full) and there were so many other families in the room it was really noisy and impersonal. I wouldn't do it again.

We've had a family Xmas Day meal out twice in the past for various reasons - first time was lovely in every respect but massively overpriced. Second time - same place - dreadful! Poor service, awful food quality, no atmosphere - couldn't get home quick enough! I'd say squeeze in, make the best of it, share the cooking & enjoy the leftovers!

A general thing, one year I had to go to AnE with a suspected broken right arm on christmas eve, fortunately not broken but v v painful, and lots of last minute things didn't get done. And no one missed them. So crossed them off my to do list for ever more. Whenever visited the inlaws for Christmas always used to muck in with all the peeling, as did the husband, and preparation and washing up, but, odd that, when they came to us guess who did all the peeling and preparation and washing up - , only me, husband didn't seem to think he needed to do any for me whereas he did for his mother. Why did it take me ages to think that prepared was the way to go, if anyone objected no problem, they were quite at liberty to prepare fresh stuff. No one did. Much easier with all the shopping too, only salady stuff to buy near the day

Three times now, we’ve paid for a local hotel to deliver the turkey and trimmings to the door. It cost anything between 80 - 120 quid for a massive turkey, gravey, stuffing etc (once threw in a bottle of wine for free.) All we needed to do was add fresh vegetables. Twice though, I did accidentally carve & serve the turkey butt but that’s another story (the hotel deliver it upside down so the juices flow out or somethin’ - who knew (not me)) 🦃

Don't go out to eat. It's expensive and much cheaper to do it at home. How do you manage to eat meals when it's not Christmas? I'm sure the addition of 2 extra people wouldn't be too much hassle. It is only for one (possibly two) days after all. My son worked as a chef until very recently in a hotel and had to work every Christmas Day. He's changed jobs specifically because of this, which is a shame as he loved his work.

Cram in. DSis catered for 17 in a studio flat when she was first married. I was seated at the ironing board!

Or eat in your own houses and get together afterwards?

Folding tables, wallpapering table, anything temporary can be covered/disguised by seasonal paper table cloths then packed away afterwards. get guests to bring some food ready to reheat.

Now is the time to start having cosy Christmas Days by yourself and relax to enjoy it with no pressure. Cook and eat what and when you like.

We used to get loads of people round a 6 person table at Xmas. It will be fine if you all squeeze up! That’s the whole point in Xmas! Ask people to bring a fold-up table and a couple of chairs if you don’t have spares. I wouldn’t bother going out to eat. I get that it’s less work in cooking but it’s just not got the same festive feeling as cooking the meal yourself!

If none of you have the space then is it essential that you all eat together?
You could have Christmas lunch just your own family (as in your DH and DC) and invite the others over for a buffet and/or drinks in the evening?

I hosted Christmas for many years, because it just wasn't the same as doing an 'outside' one. But once my dad then my mum died the heart sort of went out of it for all of us. Plus the trouble of moving around on Christmas Day when you are all over the country.

So now we do a 'family Christmas' a weekend just before or after. We squash in as we used to at my parents' house, or non drinkers drive people back as they would have done anyway. Then have individual cosy family Christmases on the day. Maybe try that? The kids love it - two Christmases!

I used to do Xmas lunch for 10 in a two up two down with galley kitchen. ‘‘Tis all part of the fun! (and wine helps with the stress!)
I do remember dishing up in the bathroom once tho 😀

We have chicken for Christmas Dinner and my mum roasts them the night before.

I can't think of anything more soul destroying than one plate of roast dinner, portioned by professionals, served by people who wish they were somewhere else.

We had a lovely Xmas dinner at a pub once, to avoid non-cooking BIL & wife getting lumbered, just because they were near "too old to Xmas cook" MIL. The food was good, the atmosphere jovial, but unforced. A happy memory. It was a bit more than usual, but not extortionate (hard to remember, maybe £45 each, a few years ago). I'd say, pick somewhere you know and like, make sure everyone's happy with the price range, spend it with people you care about, and it'll be fine. Why wouldn't it be?

Is there a local church hall with adequate kitchen you an rent?. I attend 2 craft /hobby groups in church halls that are bright and comfy with great kitchens that would be suitable with plenty of room room for the DC to run around.Bboth in villages just outside large towns

I've read the thread twice but have clearly missed something.
My understanding is that there are 5 adults and 3 children altogether?

So an extra table next to your usual one: move any unnecessary side tables etc upstairs to provide 'squeezing in room'. M+S or Tesco turkey in a tray, likewise trimmings. get your guests to bring the veg/pudding.
drink lots of wine, play with your children in the comfort of your home. Let anyone who hasn't made a course do the washing up/take down the folding furniture while you do lego with DC.
Have a great day!

Decorate the house, create space, be inventive and make the best of what you have in your 'two up, two down'. Be thankful that your have a dilemma like this at all, as some people don't have a big family to celebrate Christmas at all, and it can be a fairly depressing and lonely day actually.

So be thankful and have a great day in your quaint house! Small, Big, its irrelevant.