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?

@Iam4eels Great idea to cook Yorkshire puddings in advance. If you cook the day before, I wouldn't bother freezing them. I'd just leave in a cool place covered by tea towel

You can also boil and half roast potatoes (for 20-30 mins) and finish them on the day (for about 30-40 mins)

If I leave them in a cool place the teenager will snaffle the lot before they get anywhere near the dinner, freezing deters him

😄 I love this! My family are all terrible at acting (especially me) so it would add an extra element of hilarity on Xmas morning

Let's face it, Christmas could accurately be described as a "Deluxe Turkey Graveyard".

M&S gravy, it's bloody fabulous.

On Boxing Day we had the leftover Yorkshire Puddings, they crisped up beautifully in the air fryer. Much easier than juggling warming them in the over.

Best - have a pile of clean teatowels or a couple of hand towels on standby and make sure the turkey comes out of the oven at least an hour before you want to carve it. Move it to a carving or serving tray, put the cooking foil back over it and seal it round the edges, then cover that with the towels. It'll still be hot, it'll reabsorb some of its juices and be more moist, and it'll relax a bit and be easier to carve. Also makes more space in the oven for potatoes etc.

Worst - a few years ago I made Jamie Oliver's get ahead gravy. Hours of peeling, roasting, simmering, mashing, scraping, sieving, and then having to get the bastard sieve clean 😡It was okay but nothing special. This year we bought one tub of premade Sainsburys gravy and added it to a little of the turkey juices with some flour whisked into it. Gradually added the rest of the juices and it was gorgeous.

Good ideas here. Really like the idea of shifting the main meal to Christmas Eve.

This year, we did no adult presents at all, except a Secret Santa with one side of the family. Children's gifts only. It made it so much easier!

I am very proud of this hack as I invented it. If you have a real tree, when it comes to removing it from the house needles will be shed everywhere. I’ve spent many Christmas trying all sorts of tricks (somewhat successfully) to get my tree to cling on to its needles across the festive period. But once it comes to moving it and chucking the bugger out, no chance.

Pop an old double duvet over the top and feed the branches in moving downwards (like they’re a really awkward duvet 🤣). Button up at the bottom, unscrew the tree from the base and tip upwards so the buttons at the base are the highest part. Then move it. Hey presto! Minimal needle shed.

Give up on turkey that’s my hack.
we had rose Elliot nur roast and a cheap Lidl ham the size of a small child. Both were yummy

Get an older child or an adult who knows your dishwasher arrangement to be on plate scraping and DW duty. Nothing worse than working around teetering piles of dirty (posh) plates.
As for any important meal, start with an empty DW.
I recycle aluminium trays from meatloaf (narrow but deep) for cooking PiB in the smaller spaces in the oven.

Worst hack (for me) : freezing Yorkshire puddings. I forgot them in the freezer and then burned them.

My best hack is KFC gravy. We go and buy it at lunchtime on 24th. Once it cools, into fridge and then pop into a Pyrex jug and microwave until hot.

We don't bother with traditional dinner, we don't love it that much. If it's my turn, I only do make-aheads on Christmas Eve for Christmas Day. So puddings that need chilling time and main meal things that sit happily on the hob or in the fridge and can be heated back up for a few min whilst fresh pasta or rice etc get prepped. Might try picky bits next year as although it's more faff on the day, it's relatively easy to sort.

Similarly dinner on Christmas eve is a charcuterie board type spread with a couple of bought Spanish omelettes and thrn a plate of german Christmas biscuits as it's quick- just dump it all out of packets. I actually like cooking, I just refuse to spend more of Christmas Day working than I need to.

(a) like others, I parboil all veg the night before and leave it in its tray and with oil for roasting the next day.

(b) Oven space can be complicated so I sit down the night before and write out my oven/cooking rota, working back from when I want to serve up and including resting time for meat.

(c) Clear all surfaces I will want to leave food on in kitchen, utility and dining areas the night before and run the dishwasher last thing before bed.

I don't really have any hacks for presents but I love adults buying and wrapping their own, and wrapping the batteries in with gifts that need them!

I would also always get a turkey crown if we were having turkey - but recently we've ditched turkey and tend to have beef or pork.

Second the M&S gravy added the meat juices to it and it was lovely. I'm lazy so I used Aunty Bessies yorkshires. Preprepped all the veg the day before. My best hack is to par boil the potatoes when the turkey goes in the oven. Then strain and shake and put on a baking rack covered with a couple of clean tea towels so that they are bone dry when they go in the oven (when the turkey comes out).

This year's innovation was fabric gift bags - saved hours on the present wrapping and no paper to throw out.

@londonmummy1966 fabric gift bags is a genius idea.
Wish I could save this thread for next year!

We did this last year due to Boxing Day work commitments of some family. We'll be going back to that next year. It was just so much easier and more relaxed on Christmas Day and got everyone so excited for Christmas Day.

Clear every possible surface in the kitchen then do one thing at a time eg veg prep. The air fryer was a revelation for roast parsnips, under 15 minutes, tossed in oil and salt first. Saved room in the oven.

Now is the time to buy them - quite a lot on ebay and etsy that are reduced. I made mine as I was on more of an eco drive so wanted to use reclaimed fabrics (mainly old clothes - jeans legs make fab bottle bags). If you want to go more for a colour theme than Christmassy fabrics then The Clever Baggers is brilliant for stockings and drawstring bottle and tote bags in a range of plain colours - eg go for red and jazz up with green ribbons or blue and silver etc. The Ribbon Room is also a fantastic website - it does printed hessian Christmas Bags and a range of gingham and polka dot ones and sells matching ribbons etc for far less than the shops.

My best hack is to buy two sets of identical stockings. Hang the empty one, then when everyone is asleep swap for the pre loaded one. Saves messing around stuffing it in the dark.

I also use paper striped sweet bags to quickly wrap small stocking filler items, seal with a sticker.

Finally never, ever suggest that the stockings should be hung in the child’s room. Door handle at a minimum, ideally downstairs and well out of the way of restless babies.

Amazing, thank you so much. Going to check that out now.

We’ve done this for several years. Christmas dinner as our evening meal on Christmas Eve, then leftovers/treats/party food on the day itself (although we actually went out for a curry this year on Christmas Day!).

It’s SO relaxing. Also makes Christmas Eve feel extra Christmassy.

Christmas stockings - for our two, I bought four identical Christmas stockings years ago, and they each hung one on the end of their bed. The other empty two were in my wardrobe, where I filled them with little bits and bobs I picked up when shopping. By Christmas Eve they were ready to go, and all I had to do was swap over the stockings while they were sleeping. It just saves a bit of faff on the night when all you want to do is sleep.