Hi tvfriend,
im in a similar position in that im having my in laws for the first time and am cooking for 9 adults and 2 kids. i want to have plenty of food so i dont need to worry about dinner on boxing day and if anyone wants to nibble later on christmas day.
here's what im buying (ill come back to you with weights another day, dont know them right now, not a pro either, just know im buying roughly 2 bags of everything:
have ordered a 6-7 kilo good turkey from sainsburys (expensive but we will have enough left over for boxing day dinner and a big pot of turkey soup the following day if i boil the carcass for stock, if i can be bothered)
1 ham (mil bringing it cooked)
2 big bags of maris pipers - 1 to make roast potatoes, 1 to make mashed
2x already prepped sage and onion stuffing from sains just to be cooked in oven
2x already prepped pigs in blankets from sains just to be cooked in oven
2x bag of organic carrots
2x bag of sprouts
2x bag of parsnips
4x tub of chicken stock (for gravy, jamie olivers, looks good, watch the dvd)
2x jar of decent cranberry sauce ( no one likes it but me anyway)
1 bottle of red, 1 white, 2 bottles of cava, 1 baileys, lots of soft drinks and then all the other extras like mince pies, cheeses etc but i dont stress about all that, i buy bits every week and can get whatever last minute but i definitely plan my meal.
i will buy a big pate and some tubs of prawn marie rose from sains to put on rocket and that is basically my starter (with some fresh bread, real butter etc but again, i wont be stressing about starters)
my sils are bringing the desserts, maybe 3 - something chocolatey for kids, a cheesecake or trifle, apple pie - whatever, not bothered, they can choose.
i will focus on cooking my turkey well, making a good gravy and doing good roast potatoes. if they turn out well, it will be a success. the sains stuffing etc will be tastey. just make sure theyre hungry, then theyll really love your cooking! and keep their drink topped up.
i might cook my turkey on christmas eve so the day isnt too stressful for me but ill need to look into that cause im not prepared to ruin a £60 - £70 bird cause its dry but im sure there are little tricks to avoid a dry turkey. if i do cook it on xmas eve i will let it cool right down, make my gravy to perfection and then slice up turkey. once gravy is cold add some over sliced turkey, cover and put in fridge. reheat in oven slowly and thoroughly with tinfoil next day in time for roast potatoes been done and then bingo, that should be it!
who knows, we will see.
oh my god, i just lived out those whole 2 days in my head. im going mad over this (first timer cooking for inlaws)