Best - worst Christmas hacks

[Moanranger]

So like most of you, I took a few shortcuts on preparing & presenting the Christmas dinner -
Due to buying a turkey crown ( hence no giblets, etc for gravy) I purchased
Tesco’s Finest Turkey Gravy - ugh, ugh & more ugh - THE WORST! Really artificial & unpleasant.
I subsequently bought Lidl’s Delux Turkey graveyard, quite pleasant, in contrast.
I also bought a turkey crown for £20 from Aldi, a bit bland, but good value - word to the wise: ALWAYS USE A THERMOMETER!! If I followed the recommended cooking time on packaging, it would have been cinders, as it was done one a full hour before the recommended time.
Any other tips or learning experiences?

Gravy, not graveyard!

Agree about meat thermometer

Also, giant poultry forks, for lifting the turkey

I swear by a Thermapen,and some big forks for lifting the bird (I think ours were from Andrew James) I bought a cheap fresh turkey from Tesco, £17 for a medium sized bird which served 4 on the day, 10 on Boxing Day, a couple of sandwiches and a fry up and still plenty left for a pie and some soup. It was really tasty and not dried out.

I followed Marcus Waring's advice and removed the legs and cooked them separately. It made it easier to carve the breast meat and meant that the legs weren't dried out.

I made my gravy stock from some discounted chicken wings months ago and froze it. Jamie recipe without the star anise and it was very tasty.

I prepped carrot and parsnip mash and peeled potatoes and put in cold water overnight.
That saved a tonne of work. Also wrapped the dc presents in two different colours incase they got mixed up

Next year we're going to have the big roast dinner on Christmas eve, and then just have leftovers and picky bits on Christmas day, when people are already full from a nice breakfast and munching on stocking snacks all day. I think that will work a lot better.

That sounds like a lovely idea squib - do wouldn’t like it as he is so traditional but I could really see that working. No mess no fuss on the day.

Don't feel obliged to have Turkey or a roast. Weigh up whether it is really worth all the prep and money and faff and then if not, order a curry instead.

Squib we actually did this, due to scheduling issues with adult kids. Worked wonderfully, and we also invited a couple of neighbours within walking distance beforehand, had drinks & nibbles, then family dinner after. My son stayed after & help to rearrange the furniture. The rest of the holiday has been relaxing & eating leftovers.
It was just the gravy that was minging!

BBC Good Food jewelled chestnut wreath really is awesome, but turning it out on the plate is a trick. Might go for a 2 person attempt next year.

I'm not a huge fan of turkey gravy but you can't go wrong with the bisto one.

M&S fresh turkey gravy (the Finest equivalent) is wonderful.

I cooked the Yorkshire puddings the day before and froze them then they only needed 3-4 minutes in the oven to defrost and heat. I bought ready mashed swede and just added a knob of butter to it once it had been microwaved. The gravy was Bistro turkey granules with the meat juices and a turkey stock pot. I peeled and chopped most of the veg the night before then just changed the water before cooking them, not ideal in terms of vitamins (🙄) but it won't kill anyone for one day. I started the turkey cooking at around 9am then left it to rest so that when lunch time came it was only the veg that needed to be cooked and there was no waiting for oven space.

When I'm wrapping presents I wrap the batteries with them. So if a toy needs, for example, three AAA batteries then I tape three AAA batteries to the box right before I wrap it so that when its unwrapped they're there and ready to be put straight in.

Since September I've had a box in the corner of the kitchen and every time I've been food shopping I've bought 1-2 long-life or non-perishable Christmas things and put them in the box. By the time I came to do the Christmas food shop all I needed was the fresh items as I had a pudding, sauces, gravy granules, goose fat, etc already in the box.

Leaving the turkey to rest for 2 hours makes an enormous difference to tenderness.

My favourite hack is to make up a packet sage and onion stuffing (Lidl) add a packet of sausage meat, a generous handful of fresh cranberries and a good pinch of cinnamon, mix well and bake. If you have pesky, sorry ethical vegan types in your family substitute the sausage meat for chestnut purée.

For gravy I make up bisto or supermarket better quality turkey gravy and add any juices that run out. It tastes similar to the fresh supermarket offerings for a fraction of the price (I actually prefer the beef one but my family disagree)

M&S custard that I use for trifle is freezable. Only realised that this year.
Also used frozen raspberries not fresh in the trifle. Made no difference.

+1 for the M&S fresh turkey gravy.

I prep or cook all the veg on Xmas eve
This year made normal potato mash, mashed carrot and swede, cauliflower cheese, roast root veg (potatoes, parsnips, butternut squash) all cooked in advance and then warmed in oven, then steamed Brussels and broccoli just before serving
Pigs in blankets and sausage meat stuffing prepped on Xmas eve and cooked on day
Its just a matter of timing - this year we had roast beef and a farm reared chicken with all the accompaniments stress free
We are usually too full for a dessert but buy in ready made - this year buche Noel, Xmas pudding and panna cotta were the choices
Starters are usually prawns, smoked salmon, seafood terrine etc, so again easy to assemble
My only other ‘hacks’ are to do everything a bit at a time eg wrapping presents I did over 3/4 evenings, I start Xmas shopping well in advance etc

Get DH to do everything (present buying, food shop and cooking). We had a great time this year!

Im never as long as I live cooking a Turkey again.

I cooked a big chicken last year and nobody noticed. I then decided this year to try cooking a Turkey again and it was totally dry despite a big effort. Never again. Chicken is nicer. If more people come I will cook 2 chickens!!

We've done this for the last 4 years and it works so well. Wouldn't go back now at all, it's made Christmas so much easier.

It just made me laugh thinking that at Christmas I have to get one big item to feed all, (Turkey)
And at all other times of the year, if I had a group over for dinner I would not think of cooking just one very big item instead of just doubling a recipe. It’s cracked.

Rest the turkey for at least as long as you cook it for.

Foil trays for vegetables.

don't get too pissed before you've finished cooking

Adults buy and wrap their own presents, then say delightedly: "It's just what I wanted!" on unwrapping them.

I moved to Sweden from the UK and Christmas Eve is the big ticket here. The. Christmas table is around 4 - 5pm then it's opening presents. On Christmas Morning we do stockings - English presents (not many now with parents gone) and Christmas dinner is leftovers warmed up from the night before with crackers of course. Suits us fine

I made turkey gravy a month in advance using turkey drumsticks.
red cabbage and carrot/swede mash made in advance and frozen.
Par boiling for roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips done really early before DC/ breakfast/presents.
Leave dinner til
Later in the day when everyone is ready for it rather than aiming for lunchtime when the DC are still playing with new toys and everyone is still full of chocolate coins.
When DC were small I opened toys packaging, snipped all ties, placed all stickers, added batteries etc then realised up the boxes before wrapping, making all toys immediately playable..