Any hosting tips for a first timer?

[cheapandcheerful]

Hi everyone!

It looks like we are going to be hosting Christmas day dinner for the first time this year. It will be me, dh, dd(6), dd(4), mil, fil and possibly bil.

Any tips for surviving my first go at it? I want it to be lovely but manageable. I'm planning on getting mil to sort out some aspect of the food, maybe dessert and drinks...

Issues we have revolve around space (we have a smallish dining table which we will be just about be able to squeeze around but it is in the kitchen so I'm not sure how logistically this will work) and time (my dh works at our church so it will officially be a work day for him and I imagine we will be there from 10-11:30am).

I'm really looking forward to doing Christmas here for once rather than dragging the dc across the country after church. It all seems a bit overwhelming at the moment though. I see all these lovely ideas for food/drink/decor and I've no idea how I'll manage any of it!

DH always says the same - "it's a roast dinner with crackers, chill"

^ this always riles me a bit.

Yes, it's essentially 'just' a roast dinner, but actually a roast dinner takes quite a bit of faff.

Especially if you're making your own gravy/stuffing/bread sauce/cranberry sauce.

Add to that a full house, a day busy with opening presents/going to church/enjoying yourself then all of a sudden it's not actually "just a roast dinner" any more and in order to not screw up the whole day, a certain level of military precision is essential.

So there sticks tongue out

If you are hosting children (visitors or your own!) make sure there are enough things they'll eat on the table. Last year we had smiley potato faces cooked alongside roast potatoes and some microwave pitch lentils as I knew DS would eat those without fuss. You don't want to have any food battles to deal with.

Oh yes, gravy in advance is good. Although DON'T put star anise in your JO gravy unless you really like it. I found it underbelievably overwhelming, even when I added the juice from the meat on the day. The rest of his make ahead recipe is good - just don't add the star anise!

Great thread! We are also hosting for the first time this year with same ages etc. Making gravy and doing other prep in advance and avoiding food battles with kids all great ideas! Think I'll also brew some mulled cider so if all goes wrong we can at least get sloshed

It is essentially JUST a roast dinner, yes. But not everyone does roast dinners anymore. Not everyone is used to or comfortable hosting. Particularly when Christmas is chaos in itself and there is also such pressure imposed (by family and self imposed) that the Day must be PERFECT!. And there can often by not just visitors for the meal, but for the full day and staying overnight too. Which may not be very frequent occasions in the lives of those hosting.

That's why it's good to think about it ahead of time. Have a plan for the meal itself to refer to when things go blank or you have to referee the row about who has whose truck and need to leave DMIL in charge for 20 minutes at a vital point. And also to allow juggling around other committments (in this instance, the OP has talked about Church for at least 90 minutes in mid-morning, others have talked before about going to the pub).

And it also means you have time to figure out how your dining table that just fits 4 can be made big enough to sit 7, what chairs you have, and whether you want to bodge something, locate spare chairs around the house, borrow things from neighbours/friends, tell the visitors to bring something or go out and buy more yourselves. And the same with things like crockery - knowing you have enough cereal bowls that you can serve side dishes in and you will serve pudding on bread plates so it will all be fine - or renting, or buying more, or borrowing etc.

And then knowing you have it planned and can get organized in peace, you can then be the domestic goddess, all under control and actually enjoy the day as well!!

As engineers I work with say: "Failure to plan means planning to fail".

(And my earlier post may have been super-long and super-detailed, because I know what I am doing and just let it happen but I have seen others go into complete meltdown about the idea even when they are normally fine about doing almost everything, just not all at once. So it's much easier when overwhelmed, to start at the beginning and break it down into manageable chunks).

I'm hosting for the first time too, great thread OP. I will be referring back to this over the next 3 months.

One quick question - if the spuds are parboiled beforehand, how do you store them? Take them out of the water, cool and into the fridge? Or keep them in the water overnight - my mum does this with raw potatoes but not sure it works with partially cooked ones.

but actually a roast dinner takes quite a bit of faff.

Depends how used you are to doing them- maybe practice a few better now and Christmas. We do them weekly in winter and so it is automatic and so the only difference at Christmas is that the turkey takes longer to cook, extra veg and I make the Yorkshires the day before as the turkey and beef take a lot of heat out of the oven.

Home made cranberry takes about 2 mins, berries, orange juice, sugar bit of booze in a pan and simmer. Get a veg steamer, when the veg is done then stick the Christmas pudding in.

Set the table in advance unless you need it for breakfast.

Remember that everyone will muck in and don't be afraid to ask. Just chill- even if it all goes wrong does it really matter- it is family and just 1 day.

I wondered how long that would take.

Well for you alberta.

I am more than capable and well practiced in cooking a roast dinner, thanks. and my crunchy roast potatoes and huge yorkshires could wipe the floor with your efforts!!

But anyone who says cooking a roast isn't a faff is a big, fat, long nosed liar. It's a meal which takes a min 1.5hrs with almost constant attention what with multiple trips to the kitchen to put various items on/off the hob and in/out of the oven. That's what I call a faff.

My biggest tip for what it is worth is don't start cooking anything else until the turkey is resting. This will make the meat much more juicy. Do all the prep either the night before, or while the turkey is cooking. Chopped veg can sit in cold water overnight.

Won't the turkey be freezing cold by then blue? The potatoes will take at least an hour including boiling. Surely 30mins is long enough to roast the bird?

Obviously if you don't have enough room in the oven you might not have any other option.

I suspect Blue means not to cook anything else in the oven until the turkey is out - so parboil the spuds 15 minutes before you take out the turkey? The other thing is that the turkey can sit happily for an hour, at least (it regularly does in my DP's house!) - cover it in foil and if it will sit for a reasonable length of time, put a folded up bath towel over that to keep the heat in, and it really will stay piping hot for an hour at least!

You'd definitely do anything else you want in the oven in an hour for a group of 7, or have had time to juggle additional dishes for larger groups. More foil, and possibly additional insulating layers (handtowel folded?) for dishes finished earlier to make room in the oven might be needed too.

(And I think if 30 mins was enough to roast the bird, there would be far less panic!! !!)

Hahaha yes, try that one biddy!!

rest - obviously!

If you cover it in foil there is enough internal temperature to keep it warm. To be fair my oven can't fit in anything else, so it has to be done this way.

Right I feel like this thread needs to be revived now that I need to actually start doing stuff!
First up - turkey... Where should I get it from? Supermarket? Local butcher? Do I need to order it? Now?

Ooh and our guests have changed! We are no longer having ILs and instead are having two international students from Hong Kong! On the plus side, there are fewer expectations, on the negative side I will feel less able to delegate.

Lol: it is just a roast dinner, but our sides include red cabbage, cranberry, sausage meat stuffing, chestnut stuffing, bacon rolls, chipplatas, bread sauce and 3 veg, all home made / prepared, so the logistics of what gets heated when and what in take some planning. (Some of these items are made and frozen in advance though).

Then there is the 'from scratch' brandy sauce and the pud bubbling away.

Top Tip:
No Starter Needed. You don't want a load of dirty plates being dumped in the kitchen just as you start dishing up the main course.
Put someone not involved in cooking on getting drinks.

Take as many shortcuts as you can. Buy prepped veg, frozen roasties if you like them. Cook the turkey the night before.

Use disposable foil roasting trays. Have an easy starter and pudding. soup you can cook and freeze, starter and pud should be assembly jobs only, there ar some amazing puddings in many shops at christmas.
Give your guests a strong alcoholic cocktail an hour before the meal, that always makes guest more appreciative imo.

Make a schedule, working back from when you actually want dinner on the table.

So, dinner at say 2, turkey out of oven at 1.30, or even before (see below)
Therefore into oven at however many hours previously.
Therefore, oven on X minutes before that, to heat up.

Etc.

Worth remembering that a good sized turkey will keep hot for an hour, if wrapped in foil and covered with a couple of tea towels. Will also carve better after resting.

This gives you loads of time for veggies and making gravy - if you want to - - personally I don't see as a problem at all. I simmer the giblets early on, or the day before, and use with all the lovely stuff in the roasting tin.

Christmas dinner can be an awful lot less rushed if you actually plan to have it late, though I know some people insist on lunchtime. We never have ours till about 5 now - gives plenty of time for a nice walk, too.