Easy Boxing Day meal for 14 people for parents of newborn?!

[OliviaMumsnet]

Is there such a thing?! Looking for something vageuly festive and feastlike with minimal effort for my family.

Everyone will have done the turkey and full trimmings on Xmas day itself but in my house it will just be the 4 of us so not enough turkey leftovers to stretch to 8 adults and 6 kids(!)

So emphasis on the EASY as baby may be only 4 weeks old.

TIA MNers,

Wow, did not expect my "what shall we eat?" thread to turn into something from Emily Post!!
Aitch, I know what you mean about taking to having staff
Think we may go for the ham and maybe baked spuds but salmon also sounds good too. Trying not to overthink it all - gotta have a baby first fgs.

Our family has had staff in the past. Yes, it is very easy to become accustomed to such a system .

Oh, you must have some smoked salmon after being denied the priviledge during pregnancy. Mmmm. And mussels. With crusty bread and ice cold white wine.

I insist.

Cold food only. I never want hot food on Boxing Day, except perhaps soup. But only then a clear turkey broth or something.

Ham with a mustard and marmalade crust is great, keeps for ages so make ahead. Do as big a ham as your pot will allow, its so much nicer than shop bought sliced stuff, you can never have too much.

I think the key to Boxing Day is getting the accompaniments right. Some freshly cooked bread is very hard to beat - get some part baked stuff on your Ocado order, and get a really good fresh unsliced loaf before Christmas and immediately freeze it. Lots of pickley stuff - gherkins, pickles, onions etc and as you say, stinky cheeses and pates. Have lots of fresh raw fruit and veg too - cherry toms, celery, grapes etc.

I think an exotic fruit platter is nice for pudding. Thinly sliced pineapple marinated in passion fruit pulp and a few tablespoons of orange juice is very refreshing. Can put a very good vanilla ice cream alongside, and a few Duchy shortbreads.

Over Christmas I often do a sort of platter of nice nibbly sweet things, so people can graze at it, and it works very well as a pudding for people to have a few bits of with coffee after a meal. It's very useful for big gatherings.

The most important thing is a nice large plate (I use one MIL gave me). Onto it you pile clementines (which look nice with their leaves still on if you can get those), squares of dark chocolate, brazil nuts, crystallised ginger, dates, and crystallised fruits (or marrons glaces if you want to push the boat out). Easy!

Good tips for managing to have fresh bread on boxing day taffeta

Nigella's choc chip chilli is fantastic, easy and freezes amazing well (so can do weeks before Christmas) - and/or lasagne - also freeze well.