What can you pre-prepare to make Xmas dinner easier on the day?

[maria2bela1]

Any tips/tricks welcome please!!

Trifle made on Christmas Eve.

Keep it simple...no starters

Turkey and small gammon.

The only veg I peel and boil up are potatoes for roasting, carrot and swede and sprouts. Peeled and chopped in the morning.

Buy M&S stuffing and pigs in blankets, instant gravy made with water from veg.

Get everything pre prepared

I prep and par-boil potatoes in advance, then freeze. Parsnips and sprouts are prepped in advance. Bread sauce and gravy are made early and frozen. Sausages bought already wrapped in bacon.

Dessert is mince pies (made in advance), Christmas pud (microwave) and cream.

I lay the table the night before.

On the day, I put the bird in the oven, add the potatoes, parsnips and sausages to the hot oil, and make the stuffing. Steam the sprouts, and heat through the gravy & bread sauce. Warm the plates.

It's very easy.

Gravy is so easy to make yourself and tastes a million times better than instant, especially when you use giblet stock and add some port, try it and you'll never go back to instant.

I buy ready made stuffing and pigs in blankets

The day before I peel potatoes, carrots, parsnips and trim broccoli

I also prepare any dressings for veg the day before

Some of the veg are cooked on the hob (2 or 3) so just need warming

The advice about timers is good, I set loads on my iPad, as a PP said, start from t he time you want to eat and work back, see the photo.

Apparently my image is under review (it's alarms), I wonder if it was the word "stuffing"? Ha ha if so

I pre-make the bread sauce and Dh makes the red cabbage if he can be asked (he’s the only one who eats it). Otherwise, as roasts go, Christmas is an easy one to make. The turkey cooks in the morning and rests for 4 hours and then we have those 4 hours to make potatoes and veg, pigs in blankets and stuffing (I buy it fresh) are whacked in in the final 30 minutes.

I do make a salmon and horseradish pate for elevenes as a tradition, and that I make the day before.

I am currently par boiling the potatoes right now!

Thankfully we aren't having a proper dinner this year so that's all I need to do. But most years I prep all veg for roasting weeks ahead.

Bread sauce comes from Marks and Spencer, so does creamed Spinach. Cranberry sauce comes from a jar. Gravy comes from a tub from Marks and Spencer or Waitrose.

One year I tried Jamie Oliver gravy and for several hours work, everyone said it wasn't very nice!

Gravy is getting made this weekend as per Jamie Oliver's instructions!

Veg peeled Christmas Eve. Turkey and gammon cooked Christmas Eve.

I had a feeling this thread would depress me

Not keen on alcohol in gravy, I have tried! And with two fussy teenagers not worth the risk. I add some extra ingredients though and everyone enjoys it, that's the main thing.

Buy a tray of ready made stuffing - there are some really good ones out there already in foil containers. Likewise buy ready made pigs in blankets. I buy ready made bread sauce too. I usually buy a packet mix and add some double cream to it. You can buy ready prepared red cabbage and Aunt Bessies do a really good swede & carrot mash frozen. Nobody will know the difference, in fact I get complimented on it. Peel sprouts, parsnips and potatoes on Christmas Eve and leave in cold water in saucepans and obviously refresh the water on Christmas Day. I always cook the turkey on the day and leave it to rest as I don't like cold meat with my dinner but you could cook it the day before, slice it up and reheat it in a tray with gravy. I make my gravy with the turkey juices and vegetable water, so I can't make that in advance. Really and truly there's no need for anyone to slave away these days (like I did years ago).

We will be hosting 15 adults and 7 children this year - always in ours and always a big gang, LOVE it!!
Chicken liver pate already made and in freezer and 2 types of stuffing - we don't stuff meat, stuffing is cooked wrapped in foil. Stock for gravy also made - I use ox tails for beef gravy and an assortment of chicken wings/necks/legs for chicken gravy. Cheese sauce also in freezer.
The pate and crackers are our only starter but it's not a sit down starter, people nibble on it when they arrive.
Someone will drop me off the following:
On Tuesday a big pot of mashed potatoes and I will make the croquettes.
On Wed a tray of cooked potatoes and I will coat them in butter for roasting on the day.
A bowl of cooked cauliflower that I will add the cheese sauce to and top it with several pkts of crunched up King crisps!! before adding to oven.
A tray of blanched carrots and parsnips that I will add a honey and mustard dressing to before roasting
Two sets of tiered pots containing carrots/squash/sprouts/broccoli and green beans that I will steam on the day.
The turkey will arrive straight from my MILs oven on the day itself and be left well wrapped and covered to rest and stay hot.
The ham will arrive, not fully cooked and still warm in it's cooking pot of water and DH will glaze it and into the oven.
The only meat I will actually cook is the beef fillet, which I sear and into the slow cooker on a bed of red onions - the juice from this will be added to the beef gravy.
Not sure what deserts are being brought yet but I will do a roulade the day before and assemble with fruit and cream on the morning.

Couple of hours after dinner the men retire to the kitchen to wash and clean up while the women take care of the prosecco 😋

There’s a programme on at the moment with Jamie Oliver called something like ‘freeze ahead Christmas’. There are some really nice ideas on it.

I love spending Christmas Eve in the kitchen getting prep work done. My kids are all adults so I don't have to attend to them!

I peel and parboil potatoes, parsnips, peel carrots. Put them all in a roasting tin.
Make cheesy leeks
Put beef in the slow cooker in wine to soak (cook overnight)
Make puddings (not Christmas puddings, this year pudding will be key lime pie, lemon slice and a bought yule log)
Make a ginger and spice cake
Peel sprouts (if I haven't bought prepped ones)
Make bread sauce
Prep the chicken (garlic butter under the skin, bacon over the breasts - the chicken, not mine)
Make carrot, swede and sweet potato mash
I might even knock up a few mince pies if I have time!

Many takeaways aren’t open Christmas Day.

Just get more people to help. I've never made a Christmad dinner or even a normal roast dinner for that matter but in many years or being around my mum/DH/MIL doing it none of them have done anything the day before but never found it stressful because they have everyone else around to peel and chop etc and not have to worry about storing stuff or remembering to defrost it etc.

I use all frozen vegetables, so all I have to do is cook the meat and put the pud on to steam (and that's done in the Instant Pot, so I don't have to keep an eye on the water level)

It’s a roast dinner. Why does it need prep ahead?

Just pre cook it all and dish up onto paper plates (except gravy). Wrap in cling film and freeze.
Defrost on Xmas eve. Dish up onto plates on the day, microwave and then let people add their own gravy.

You are making a joke, yes?

A friend of mine always peels and parboils her potatoes then freezes them - apparently it works a treat if you then tip them in hot oil to roast. Never tried it myself though.

Because it's a very superior form of roast dinner with loads of extra things?
I certainly don't make 2 types of stuffing, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, lots of veg done in fancy ways for my usual roast dinner. It's usually for a lot more people than the usual Sunday roast too.

Those things don’t take long though.

Individually they don't, but all the chopping and prep time adds up on the day when you do it all from scratch. So I've already made and frozen lots of things so I spend as little time as possible in the kitchen on the day when I'd rather be with family.