First time hosting Christmas- no dining room

[Acunningruse]

This will be our first year hosting Christmas, as my mum is now struggling to do it all plus we want to be at home with DCs (6 and 2) and their new toys.

Our house is a reasonable size but we have a long, thin kitchen diner, rather than separate dining room. My mum is already helpfully wondering aloud how we will manage, what a squeeze it will be, etc 🙄

How do you make Christmas lunch feel special if you are sat in the kitchen? Also half in the living room depending on how many come! I really want to create a relaxed and joyful atmosphere in stark contrast to my mums passive aggressive huffing yet refusing to let anyone help every year, but how can I do this when realistically we'll be surrounded by pots and pans?

Any tips from seasoned kitchen hosters welcomed!

I’ve hosted Christmas in a small kitchen-diner before. I didn’t give it a second thought, as family Christmas dinner used to be at the kitchen table at my grandparents house. Sometimes the kids had at table in the living room - this just added to the excitement for us.

I remember the kitchen being bright and bustling, steamy and full of people milling around. I think my grandad would wash up a bit as the cooking progressed but things were served from the cooker within reach of the table. It was just cosy and familiar and full of love.

Could you have Christmas tunes or other background music on? For me, focus on having fun and the rest won’t matter (easy for me to say I know)

Is your lounge big enough to hire a table and chairs? We did it for one of my birthdays, it's not that expensive and you can choose, a round, square, oblong, any shape table you want. Just an idea x

I’m facing a similar scenario - my plan is to let people help when they ask, mainly by washing up as I go along. And for the things that don’t get washed before you sit down to eat, stick them in the oven out of sight!

If your living room table isn’t big enough for everyone, you could try putting a sheet of MDF/something similar over it. My mum does this every year to extend the table, and with a tablecloth over it you’d never know

Table in the living room. It makes it seem special as that is where the tree is and it is the only day of the year that we eat there.

For how many people? Hot dinner served buffet style in the kitchen, eat in any room you can set up for eating.

Food for thought! Regarding table in living room, our living room isn't huge so if we had a table in it there would be nowhere to sit and relax before and after the meal and nowhere for DC to play with new toys as table would be in the way? How do others get round this?
Great tip about putting pans in oven and Christmas music.

Googling cost of conservatories-

We have a kitchen diner and know what you mean. Recruit an efficient helper in the kitchen who works alongside you. In our house I dump stuff I'm done with on a particular part of the surface and DH either puts it in the dishwasher, washes by hand or puts it back in the cupboard. We also have a hostess warmer thing so most of the sides, potatoes, veg, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets go into that as they are ready and the trays washed or put in dishwasher as soon as they are out of the oven. When the last thing comes out then we serve up but the dishwasher has probably already been loaded up and emptied once and so final trays are put in there. Stuff dumped into serving bowls and surface very quickly wiped down.

We have lots of decorations in the kitchen and music. The main thing is to stay calm, smile and walk away the moment dinner is finished, leaving the clearing of the plates and dishes to someone else entirely. The next time you walk into the kitchen it should be spotless!

How many people will you have to squeeze in ?

Oh brilliant tips @Paddlingwhenishouldbeworking thanks so much! My mum has a hostess trolley so I could borrow it, brilliant. Our dishwasher is a slimline one which gets full with about 3 plates 😩has anyone had any success using disposable foil trays?

There'll be 9/10 adults and our 2 DC plus other relatives calling in the morning but not staying for lunch.

In our house husband comes along and washes up on a regular basis. Also, we pre-book lots the day before (all the roast veg) and chop stuff too. We also have a small food warmer with lids that is good for some food, it's put in their when it's ready then the pots are washed.

I would prep & roast veg, potatoes, parsnips and stuffing balls, sausages etc a few days before.then freeze. Then you can put it all into one or 2baking trays to heat through. That way you don’t need to spread them out, watch them carefully like you do with original batch cook.
Otherwise you will spend all of Xmas morning in your kitchen and not with kids.
Just do a turkey or lamb rolled joint rather than on the bone. Cooks quicker & easier to slice

That's a good start, make sure it's not an old fashioned one which keeps things tepid rather than hot. We got ours a few years ago and it keeps things piping hot, you really can't tell they've been in there for an hour or whatever and means everything comes out when its perfectly cooked, not when something else is ready.

I also find roasting the veggies rather than steaming or boiling is also easier and a couple of trays is easier than a pile of saucepans.

See if you can buy an extra shelf for your oven, that's great too.

Depending on how many guests, you could try using several folding card tables & chairs, and only set them up when time to eat...then put away after dinner? Maybe any kids there could enjoying helping you quickly putting table clothes napkins and centre pieces on the table?
Or even everybody individual tv trays, my mil did that a few times.

I would do as much prep the days before as you can so you don't have every pot and pan in the house out.
Wash up as you go.
Can you keep an area clear so food ready for the table can go there, and guests can help serve or put it on the table for people to help themselves?
Yes, the oven and grill areas are great places for hiding large roasting trays and pans.
But, being in the steamy kitchen with all the yummy smells with christmas music playing away would be lovely. Its a lot of pressure hosting christmas, but try to relax and enjoy it.

We were in this position early in our marriage and used a wallpaper pasting table covered with a sheet and then Christmas tablecloths. Didn't put it up until 30 mins before lunch and down again when it was finished - so children still had somewhere to play

Yes to the foil trays to save on washing up.

Just throwing out a bunch of ideas as food for thought:

Is there a natural fault line in the family that you could divide the group? One generation in the kitchen, one in the living room?

Could you serve it buffet style? IME at buffets older people will find a table to sit at regardless but younger guests are happy to sit with a plate on their knee?

Could you change the rooms around? Make the kitchen-diner into a kitchen-living area and clear out the living room for use as a dining area? So the dc won’t have to move their toys?

Don’t take the doors off the hinges!!! It always gets a mention on these threads and it is never, ever a good idea. Ever!

Some people are dining room people (dh’s family are) and some are kitchen table people. I think having to tuck your elbows in is all part of the fun but I can appreciate that not everyone does. You might need to give certain relatives a chair, and sit them at the end of the table whereas others may be happy to tuck in on a stool.

Would the dc like a Christmas picnic on a blanket on the floor? I guarantee there will be at least one relative eating down there with them.

I’m not a fan of foil trays but the trick to them is to double up the turkey one or it will buckle as you lift it out.

Foil trays are a definite. I've extended my kitchen table into the living room with a fold down picnic table before and eaten at a wallpaper table! The trick is to have the cutlery, napkins etc all ready to go then nominate someone to set it up just before you need it, have the kids help set the table etc - then take it down as soon as you're finished.

Could you host it at someone else's house? We've done that before.

I use disposable foil trays at Xmas and I think they’re fantastic. The moment things are cooked I throw the trays in the bin and there is so much less washing up to be done. I also use Aunt Bessie’s roasties, parsnips etc at Christmas. At other times of the year I make my own, but I’d rather spend less time in the kitchen and more with my DS. Make life as easy as you can, no-one will notice the difference!

Also not a fan of foil trays, obviously mainly because of the waste issue, but also they aren't that sturdy when you're rearranging the oven, only takes a slight corner buckle to have oil spilling on the floor.

We also cook the turkey crown the day before and warm in gravy, not for those who like to show of their roast though. We make Jamie's get ahead gravy some time in November then it just needs warming up on the day with a dollop of cranberry jelly added. Hungry now.

Some quick Christmas oomph tips

Add some fresh pine to your door wreath on Christmas Eve (just poke it in) and your guests will get a lovely waft of pine on the way in.

In the evening use lamps, candles (led obv with smallies) and fairy lights

Tisserand do lovely Christmas oils. Sprinkle a drop on the radiator for a subtle scent.

Create a playlist for background music.

Turn the heating down as lots of bodies in the house and lots of talking will heat it up.

Sometimes we have a stream of drop-in-for-a-minute guests on Christmas Eve and I keep a pan of non alcoholic mulled wine (M&S or Aldi) on a gentle heat with a few slices of orange, a stick of cinnamon and a star anise floating for good effect. For anyone that wants a kick I add a dash of brandy. It’s the nicest not-actually-wine-mulled-wine ever and as most people are driving, it always goes down well.

I've always wanted to try cooking the turkey the day before. Carving up the turkey is the only thing that still stresses me out.

We do cook everything from scratch and have it all in serving bowls but never put the turkey on the table as there's too many hungry people to faff around admiring a turkey when everything has been moved from hot tray to the table. No-one would know if it had been cooked the day before.

Food for thought. Could do it Christmas Eve morning before countdown begins.

No-one would know if it had been cooked the day before I think it tastes completely different. Have you tried YouTube for tips on carving. I was awful at it until I learned that there’s an order to it, and you have to cut in the right direction. Also it carves better if it’s left to rest for a while.