To ask how much I can prep in advance!

[Schoolhelp23]

Christmas Dinner - have 13 people coming round. How much/what can I prep in advance without sacrificing quality?! I've read about cooking potatoes the day prior, then keeping in fridge and chucking in hot oil on the day (to save hob space) - are they ever as good?! Any other tips appreciated - want to cook a nice meal but also want to enjoy the day!

I've done my roast potatoes and freeze them and then just cook them from frozen in a bit of oil on the day. No they are not quite as nice but still very good and much better than bought ones, and I don't think anyone notices after a few drinks.

I made my gravy already and will defrost on the day

I've also done my red cabbage to reheat. I'll make my cauliflower cheese the day before and re heat. Yorkshire pudding batter the day before. And a cold prep ahead starter like a terrine.

If you keep them in the fridge rather than freeze them, they’ll be fine - freezing changes the texture slightly.

I freeze my potatoes after par boiling, then allow to go cold, put in bags In freezer, then straight from frozen into hot fat on the day and they are gorgeous, crispy on outside and soft and fluffy inside.

I also precook carrot and turnip, then also freeze.

My potatoes are in the freezer too. I actually think they're better that way. (I barely par-boil them - bring them to the boil from cold, give them 2 mins in boiling water and then a good shake after they're drained, to fluff the edges).

Red cabbage is also in the freezer, along with breadcrumbs for bread sauce and stuffing.

Other veg (sprouts and parsnips) will be peeled on 23rd, and milk for bread sauce will be done then too.

James Martin did a whole show on this on Saturday.

I do loads of prep before and it’s fine, been doing Christmas for gosh 42 years now !

do now and freeze - Cranberry sauce, Yorkshire puddings ( only if you have plenty of freezer space I tend todo them a couple of days before Christmas so they don’t get damaged). Pigs in blankets ( I have 175 in the freezer, we eat them with everything 😂, cauliflower cheese, chestnut stuffing, mince pies, sausage rolls, gravy,

Do now - cupboard Christmas pudding, cake, etc

Christmas Eve - peel all veg and store over night in cold water ( the only exception is sprouts which go in a bag in the fridge ) the only veg I pre cook is the spuds which I toss in a colander sprinkle with semolina (or that potato seasoning from Tesco is good ), then spread on tray in fridge.

lift out of the freezer everything you want for Christmas Day , I use disposable tinfoil trays ( yes I know but it’s Christmas). I put the pudding overnight in the slow cooker and just leave on low until I want it. You can whip up the sugar and butter for brandy butter but don’t add the brandy it will separate over night

I don’t pre cook any of my food before Christmas because I see it as a Sunday Roast with more veggies and ‘bits’ and I have a thing about food being ‘fresh’.

But what I do prep is the kitchen and dining table. We don’t eat breakfast at the dining table on Christmas Day so I can lay the table at any point after dinner on Christmas Eve.

I rearrange the fridge so everything is easily accessible and grouped together. And, the most useful bit for me, I plan the serving dishes and serving spoons etc. They are laid out with post it notes saying what goes were. For example, gravy in the big gravy boat, cranberry sauce in the small sauce boat, Brussels sprouts in this bowl, parsnips in that bowl.

That saves me a huge amount of faffing on the day and makes it easy for any ‘helpers’ in the kitchen. I really can just concentrate on the cooking.

Also, a list of running times working back from when I want to eat/serve is essential. If you have a standard white fridge, try writing this using a whiteboard marker on your fridge. It’s awesome! You just wipe it off as each stage is completed.

2pm - serve
1.55 - make gravy
1.55 - veggies out of oven
1.30 - turkey out of oven to rest
1.25 - turn potatoes
…
…
…
10.00 - turkey in oven

The key is to include every single step.

It would depend on what you are cooking. Is it roast/veg situation?
I generally prep all the veg (peel, chop and store in water) the day before, potatoes are par boiled, drained and stored in the fridge.
We don't do roast, we usually have steaks or fish so that's easy to prepare on the day and we don't need oven space for it so all the veggies go in the oven a couple of hours before the guests arrive.

You can do the lot. Reheat in Gravy.

Well, I have had a delivery from Cook. Currently my freezer contains prepped potatoes, sprouts, carrots, cranberry and orange sauce and gravy . I also have their frozen chocolate log for Christmas pudding refuseniks. Waitrose entertaining are delivering the veggie main on Christmas Eve. Not stressed.

I peel and prep veg on Christmas Eve and put in bags in the fridge. The only time I leave veg in water is if it has gone a bit flabby. Stiffens it up a treat, especially things like broccoli.

My mind is boggling a bit at @Grumpynan having 175 pigs in blankets in the freezer. However do you keep count when you're preparing that many?!

You have had lots of advice regarding what food you can prep in advance so I won't give you any more.
I always lay the dining table the night before, and I always work out what serving dishes we need, put them out on the work surface and put post its in them so I know what goes in where. It saves the last minute searching for a dish big enough to put all the roasties in only to find you have already used it for something else. I am lucky enough to have a separate dining table though, and to have a work surface big enough to put all the serving dishes on.

Labelling the serving dishes is a really good idea as it allows people to help.
Also if you don't have a hostess trolley you can warm dishes and sauce boats by filling them with boiling water til needed.

If you want people to start serving at the table ( and plating up a dish for the people who are still helping) then make that clear. Nothing worse than everyone sitting around like lemons.

I don’t pre cook any of my food before Christmas because I see it as a Sunday Roast with more veggies and ‘bits’ and I have a thing about food being ‘fresh’.

I do the same, not so much for freshness but because pottering about in the kitchen is quite nice, music on, glass of wine and organising dinner while the kids play with their gifts is part of my ritual. In saying that, I like cooking, don’t have a hoard of people to feed and my kids are a bit older so don’t need toys assembled etc. I do set the table the night before and breakfast is something easy, so less faffing about.

You could try checking out Mary Berry prepare ahead Christmas & BBC make ahead recipes. Personally didn’t find pre roasting potatoes work they were a bit bouncy! But you can peel & keep in salt water overnight, same with carrots & veg like mashed swede can be frozen in advance as can pigs in blankets & stuffing.