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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Hosting Christmas ... what do I need?

17 replies

slimyslitheryslug · 07/12/2017 14:39

We're hosting Christmas this year, as we have done for the past four years. As we've done it so many times, I think I'm at risk of being far too relaxed about it and, when I walked past crackers in a shop earlier, realised I haven't given much thought to the extras as I've been too busy feeling smug about having ordered a turkey & got a good Sainsbury's slot! What I have done is

  • turkey ordered
  • Sainsbury's slot a week before Xmas with all of the non-perishables and useful things whether it's extra kitchen roll or some gaviscon
  • Sainsbury's slot the Saturday before Xmas with all the perishable stuff in
  • panto tickets bought
- crackers bought

What else do I need to do? DH is in charge of wine & beer.

OP posts:
PasDeDeux · 07/12/2017 14:56

Disposable tin foil roasting trays, batteries for toys, snacky nibbles such as crisps and nuts, napkins?

Insomnibrat · 07/12/2017 15:00

Make yourself a Christmas Eve box. Include in it a bottle of gin, a box of night nurse and a cd of whale music.

fraggle84 · 07/12/2017 16:49

Extra bin bags!

4forksake · 07/12/2017 16:53

Make lists of everything you're making / serving & the ingredients they use so you're less likely to forget anything.
Are you having starters? if so think about something like soup you can prepare now & freeze or just get supermarket canapés / blinis etc to serve with a glass of bubbly.

Turkey foil
Goose fat for roasties/parsnips
Gravy granules

4forksake · 07/12/2017 16:54

Posted too early, the few things at the end are things I usually remember last minute!

ParadiseLaundry · 07/12/2017 16:57

You need a Christmas planning folder Xmas Grin

I bloody love mine. In at are lists of all of the ingredients of all the recipes I am doing so I can check them off as I get them, a to do list of making things (stuffing and gravy done already Wink) and most useful a cooking schedule for the day of when things need to go in and out of oven.

4forksake · 07/12/2017 16:59

Ooh I need one of those too paradise. Where did you get it? I do exactly the same but usually in an a4 notepad which gets lost by next year Confused

bellsandwhistles89 · 07/12/2017 16:59

I am watching this with interest, its my first Christmas cooking the big Christmas meal for the other halfs family. I need all the help I can get.

BiddyPop · 07/12/2017 17:04

I was going to mention bin bags too!

Have you decided the full menu?
Are you allocating any elements to DH, DCs or DGuests?

Go through the entire menu with a pen and paper, list EVERYTHING needed for each part. Then go through it again and knock off things that appear more than once (so butter for bread, basting turkey, glazed carrots, mash and brandy butter only need mentioning once).

Check your cupboards - do you have any items as "standard"? (Probably lots but some people only need gravy powder at Christmas, for example). So you possibly have lots of things like salt and pepper, olive oil, dried herbs, gravy powder, flour, butter, etc. If you have enough for all your hosting plans (and taking into account other uses before then), knock it off the list.

Then re-do the list in the kind of order that the online shop has it.

Use that to check your online trollies and to make sure you have everything ordered.

Do you have candles, napkins, crackers, etc?
MAtches for candles and the fire? (And firewood or whatever you use?)
Any batteries needed? For toys, radios, hearing aids, clocks, ....and in what different sizes?

Items for breakfast.
Some things to nibble on - whether a fruit bowl left out, or crisps, dips, party platters etc?

Soft drinks, mixers, drinks for DCs, milk for coffee, etc.

Tea bags, coffee, ....anyone particularly like hot chocolate or Horlicks going to bed who isn't normally there?
Gaviscon is excellent idea.

Do you want to do any Christmas baking, mince pies, yule log, cookies or whatever? Do you need anything for that?

Are all your cooking trays and serving dishes still there from last year, and will last year's arrangements still work? Have you broken any cups or wineglasses that need replacing?

Make sure that, in the next couple of weeks, you get rid of as much rubbish and clutter ahead of time - wrap presents now and get rid of packaging, get rid of charity shop bags to the charity shops, empty out all the bins (bedrooms, study or other little used bins), and get all the big bins emptied in their cycles so that they have plenty of space. (We only have our bin emptied every 2 weeks, recycling and compost bins 1 week, the black waste bin the other week, and I am putting them all out in the next fortnight even though the waste and compost would probably wait another cycle or 2 in "normal" time).

And definitely hide a small bottle of a favourite tipple, a favourite chocolate or treat, and some bubble bath/bath bomb/luxury shower gel in your own Christmas Eve box for a few minutes time out.

(Do you have extra bleach. cleaning stuff, fairy liquid, dishwasher tablets etc?)

poisonedbypen · 07/12/2017 17:07

Gin

ParadiseLaundry · 07/12/2017 17:16

@4forksake it's an A4 folder from the Pound Land I covered in snowflake stickers Xmas Grin (59p from Home Bargains since you asked)

Nice and organised for the sum of £1.59.

Lilliepixie · 07/12/2017 17:18

£30 from each guest!!

slimyslitheryslug · 08/12/2017 13:12

This is brilliant. Thank you. I had covered all the bases on household stuff but hadn't thought about all of the chutneys & preserves and things that seem to be rolled out at Christmas and then gather mould until the following Christmas.
Nor had I thought about all of the mixers to go with the vast quantities of spirits that we're buying.
I need to get on with making some lists!

OP posts:
IJoinedJustToPostThis · 08/12/2017 13:36

Bog roll.

4forksake · 08/12/2017 14:19

Grin paradise - not too dissimilar mine the, just a bit more jazzy

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/12/2017 14:30

Bog roll.

Good call. In the same spirit, toothpaste, shampoo, washing up liquid, soap and so on. Milk, tea and coffee! Depending on where you live, you could probably send someone out to get some essential item that ran out on Christmas Day, but what a faff. I like getting to Christmas Eve and being reasonably confident that nobody needs to go near a shop again for several days ahead.

whiskyowl · 08/12/2017 14:31

Twice as much alcohol as you think you might reasonably consume.

Carol CDs.

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