im doing christmas dinner this year for 10. m&s stick it in the oven or jamie oliver cook from scratch?

[tryingtofigureitout]

just as i said in the subject name: im doing dinner for 7 adults and 3 kids this year. ive done it twice before but just for the 5 of us and i cooked the whole turkey, made my own roast potatoes, gravy etc and it was delicious.
however, 5 more guests is a whole other ball game and i havent done it before.
my sil mentioned yesterday that its worth paying the extra to order everything from marks and spencer, ready prepared, as all you need to really do is stick in the oven, including the turkey crown.
i looked online last night and although the easiness of it is tempting im worried it wont be as nice - the roast potatoes looked a bit rubbish.

anyway, was just wondering what others do?

I think people appreciate home cooked and cooking for 5 more isn't actually much more work, the difficulty with with xmas dinner i find is oven space. I would do a mixture of M and S and do some dishes yourself which will take the pressure off you but definitely do your own roast potatoes, ready made ones even M and S just don't taste the same.

I usually order the turkey from M&S and a few other nice bits but do the spuds myself.

I'd say home cooked all the way - it works out much cheaper too - I've always used Delia Smiths Christmas book and would totally recommend it especially as she tells you what to prepare the night/day/week before and then has a handy list of timings for when to put things in and out of the oven (I tend not to do everything she says as not a fan of actually making my own stuffing or cranberry sauce! but majority of it is great)
The first year I did it I was supprised how little I had to do on the actual day - all desserts you can do before, and veggies all prepped and cut and in fridge night before, leaves you free to pad around in pj's until guests arrive and enjoy a drink too!
5 more is really nothing, same work load as you had for 5 just double the amount of actual ingredients
It depends - do you like cooking? I am approaching this as someone who does Sunday roast for the 5 of us most weeks, you could do it a couple of weekends for practise

yes, i know what you mean.
was thinking of ordering whole turkey, maris pipers, parsnips, sprouts and carrots from sainsburys.
make my own gravy with turkey juices and flour, use goose fat for spuds and then buying ready to go in the oven chipolatas and stuffing from m and s as well as their cranberry sauce. mother in law bringing the ham and desserts.
if i marinaded my turkey the night before and prepped the potats and veg the only hard bit should be serving it hot and on time on the day.
and what to serve for starters? i want to do a mixture of pate and toast and prawn and melon but the thought of all this is making me nervous already.
listen to me, im actually thinking out lous and i know i sound like a mad women!

ach, ill get there. just dont want to spend the next 2 mths worrying about it. its madness.

spider - i do like cooking but im not the best. i feed my family every night and i do a sunday roast once or twice a month. some dinners turn out great, some are very average. if i follow a recipe its usually great. i dont do stuffing or cranberry either - thats funny! just buy good stuff.
i figure if the meat, potatoes and gravy are good, its a good roast.

Well, it doesn't take much more effort to make more roasties, just takes a bit longer peeling them! I don't think you can beat freshly prepared ones. I would do my own veg, get prepped in advance, peel and store in poly bags in the fridge, potatoes in a big pan of water. It doesn't matter if you lose some nutrients from just one meal.

I would also look at recipes for veg that can be made in advance and frozen, and also make use of your microwave to reheat.

You could splash out on a turkey crown from M&S if you wanted, and buy some fresh gravy to supplement the meat juices. I always think home-made stuffing is nicest, you can make in advance and freeze it. I remember my former MIL getting an M&S garnish pack with pigs in blankets and stuffing balls, the sausages were good, the stuffing not so. You could buy chipolatas and bacon to make your own and freeze. Thaw out and they are oven ready.

You could use the money you save on delicious party food from them instead!

oh my goodness girly, i cant start making stuffing too!

cant you order nice stuffing from your local butchers? i would that if poss?

and the chipolatas?

Having bought both M&S super-dy-dooper £££ Turkey and a cheap Tesco frozen Turkey crown I can say there really isn't a whole lot of difference in the actual turkey but I the gravy is worlds apart, I like to use the turkey neck in my gravy.
I make stuffing and pigs in blankets in November and freeze them, and for one particularly hectic Christmas I par-boiled and froze my roast potatoes too.
Jamie Olivers Christmas DVD is good to follow, I always use his stuffing and Christmas pudding recipes.

got the dvd! watched it last week and thought it was great. although i wouldnt do everything like he does but certainly some of it.

trying, stuffing is very easy. A basic one is just onion, breadcrumbs, herbs, salt and pepper and water to bind it all together. To this basic recipe you can add other ingredients, in my case chopped fried bacon and crumbled chestnuts, the vacuum-packed ones. As I said, it can be made in advance and frozen, even in a buttered ovenproof dish with foil over the top. Once thawed, it really is oven ready! I often make mine weeks in advance.

I haven't detected any stuffing in my butchers, but that's probably because I make my own. However, they do good condiments, such as cranberry sauce in jars which is lovely. I buy sausages in advance and freeze them too. I like Tesco's finest chipolatas. They often do multi pack offers which would be good for all your guests.

I do agree that having good meat, potatoes and gravy make a good roast (speaking as a veteran of many roasts!)

thanks girly, i might do it. id like to, im just being careful not to take on too much seen as its my first time doing it for other people than my own husb and 3 kids.

one other thing, when do you buy all your stuff - the 22nd? 23rd? 24th?
(apart from the stuff you cook and freeze)

I aim not to go anywhere near shops on the 24th! This wasn't always so, years ago when I was a full time working mum I used to get food as and when I could depending on whether we would be away for Christmas.

I try to get last minute fresh things on 23rd, and also collect my meat from the butcher. Last year the snow was bad here, and I walked into town with my shopping trolley because I knew the parking would be non-existent. I went to our small Waitrose for the supermarket stuff and called at the butcher, then trudged home dragging the trolley up the hill!

With this in mind, lay in stocks of non-perishable shopping as early as you like, so that you can just focus on the fresh stuff for your final shop before the big day.

I can give you my stuffing recipe if you would like it, as you make it in advance, it is no more bother o cook on the day than a ready made shop one!

I think you will find that your guests will all be most appreciative of your efforts, if only because they are grateful not to have to cook it themselves. Simple things cooked well are always great. Start with good quality ingredients and you're halfway there.

thanks girly. yes im already stocking up on cava and diet coke, chocolates , biscuits, fresh coffee etc.
ill get what i can in advance and then i think ill go for the fresh stuff on the morning of the 23rd.
ill def look up stuffing. jamie olivers looked quite simple actually.

Don't forget non edible stuff as well, things like foil, kitchen rolls, wash-up liquid, paper napkins, loo rolls, good stain remover etc. It's worth getting some cartons of long life fruit juice, and also you can get long life whipping cream (useful for trifles)

Try out stuffing recipe before Christmas, make a small amount in case it isn't to your liking.

i cook for 10 people most years and do it all from scratch (except the gravy, dont ask) best tip i can give is to cook your meat on christmas eve, and before you go to bed make sure all your veggies are peeled, chopped and set in pans of cold slightly salted water until morning. this way it saves a bit of time on the day itself. i buy the bisto best sachets of gravy which are lovely, and cheat on yorkshire puddings and buy pre-made ones. not because i cant make them, but because its another half hour i have to watch the kids playing.

The only thing I would say about the potatoes is if you are doing twice as many as usual make sure you use a big enough roasting tin (or two). The first time I did it they sort of steamed because they were too close together. Delis is great for timings.

If you are cooking for that many. Microwaves are good!!!!

I once did Christmas dinner for twelve when I was a student, in a tiny kitchen which you could only fit one person in at a time.

You can also steam veg to save a bit of space.

I think homemade is best and don't think it's any harder doing for 10 than for 2 tbh.

Best tip I ever got was pick the time you would like to serve dinner then work backwards to see the time to put something on and build up a timetable for your meal preparations. It saves you forgetting anything or having everything waiting for one item you started too late.

I also prep as much as possible the day before and always cook my turkey on Christmas Eve which makes it so much easier you wouldn't believe it.

I'd do half/half and I'm a good cook and I enjoy cooking. BUT its your Christmas too and you don't want to be a gibbering wreck by 3pm.

I'd buy a really good turkey - they need less cooking time. I'd def make my own potatoes and parsnips - they aren't ever as good as bought. I'd make my own gravy. I'd buy: bread sauce ( get a luxury brand and add a little cream to enrich if necessary ), stuffing ( M and S do good stuffing balls ), bacon wrapped chipolatas ( life is too short to be stretching bacon round a sausage at 3am believe me I've done it tsk ), extra prepped veg eg red cabbage. I'd do my own sprouts and carrots if I had hob space.

The other thing thats worth making and never as good from the shops are mince pies. People travel miles for my mince pies. Even if you buy a really good buttery shortcrust, roll it out thin, then add a jazzed up bought mincemeat, add some brandy and orange zest, prep them Christmas Eve and keep them covered in cling raw in the fridge. Nothing, but nothing, beats fresh from the oven home made mince pies.

MOST importantly whilst cooking- make sure your glass is always at hand and always half full.

DH always does Jamie Oliver from scratch and its always gorgeous, though he is stuck in the kitchen for hours on Christmas Eve whilst I'm in the living room pigging down many many mincepies with cream

He is sooooo good - DH that is! Jamie Oliver is ok, gets on your tits after a while

Ooo if you are cooking for that many, consider a goose instead of a turkey. Its a little more expensive and maybe not as common in the UK, but its still hugely traditional. It is WAY more tasty than turkey imo. It doesn't dry out like turkey either.

Taffeta your post has inspired me to try and make my own mince pies!

Though I can't honestly say I'm going to make the mincemeat from scratch - lets get realistic here!! Poncetastic I'm not

Got to be JO for me. His gravy and stuffing is amazing!!!!!

I made mincemeat from scratch once - complete farking waste of time. Pimp the good bought stuff, its just as good especially if you add loads of brandy

I'm reading this thread with interest as I am cooking Christmas dinner for the first time this year and will be catering for 9 adults and 6 children. Can anyone elaborate on the cooking the turkey on Christmas Eve thing....do you just serve it cold on the day? Sounds like quite a time saver....