What time do you start cooking Christmas dinner?

[Ninjaplus1]

I enjoy cooking the Christmas dinner listening to Christmas songs and having a Bucks Fizz or two.
However I do feel I’m missing out on Christmas Day. Just wondered when everyone else starts cooking.

Last year I made Christmas dinner while my youngest was 12 weeks old so I did it simply. I did some prep the night before and bought some ready prepared sides so I wasn't in the kitchen too long. I bought a cook from frozen turkey and that took about 2 hours to cook so I put that in about 12 and then started the rest. Sat down to eat about 3.30.

I usually prep as much as I can. I actually think roast potatoes come out better when prepped a day before and put in the fridge. Veg can be chopped the night before and I also prepare my own stuffing balls.

On the day I can just put stuff in the oven with timers.

That said if you are sick of your guests a lengthy cooking session can give you some space, it's what DM always did.

"Do you..."

I think you have that wrong, dear. You mean "did you." I put the sprouts on yesterday.

I start about 4 or 5 days before - I'm not kidding!!! The potatoes can be parboiled and either left in the fridge or frozen. The gravy can be made in advance (you can always add any juices at the last minute). Red cabbage, stuffing balls can all be done a day or two in advance. Vegetables prepped the night before. The only thing I do on Christmas day is put things on!

About 6pm. We eat at 7. Just the 3 of us. And DH chops because i find it far too boring. And he is in charge of drinks. We share washing up.

Thank you

I cheat a bit a lot

I use a turkey bag which produces a perfectly succulent bird with no faff basting and turning. It goes in the oven and it comes out a few hours later perfectly golden.

I make ahead when December is going smoothly, and buy in when it’s not. The ham is cooked on Christmas Eve.

There’s a manic 30 mins while the turkey rests getting potatoes roasted, the veg cooked and the gravy done.

It doesn’t pay to make it look too easy and having the kitchen to escape to is vital for maintaining family harmony

We had M&S Christmas food (ordered) last year- was just as good as homemade and meant there was so much less preparation than other years!

I usually prep the night before and then stick the turkey in in the morning as soon as we are done with presents 🙂

Turkey goes in about 8 depending on size. As much prep as possible is done in advance so its only about an hour of actual cooking from around 12.

My. MUM cooks turkey well in advance and freezes it. Veggies all come from M&S that way noones in the kitchen long

We don't have Christmas dinner till 5 or 6, so the turkey will go in the oven 3-4 hours before that. Having it later rather than at lunchtime makes for a reasonably relaxed day.

I always have a list of timings, worked out backwards from when we sit down to eat. I.e. Turkey on table at 6, therefore out of the oven at 5, to keep hot wrapped up while roast pots/pigs in blankets are in the oven and I make gravy, cook other veg. So oven on for turkey 15 mins before it goes in, etc.
Ditto spuds, ready at six, so in the oven at 5, so on to parboil by 4.30, etc.
I don't find Christmas dinner a big deal, but I've been doing it a long time, and given the amount of Buck's Fizz I usually consume, I must have my list of timings on the front of the fridge.

I think you have that wrong, dear. You mean "did you." I put the sprouts on yesterday

Amateur

March is when you put them on, a rolling boil till early June then simmer.
Unless you're showing off that you have a pressure cooker !

I quite like the rolling cooking , we don't eat turkey unless there's guests .Ours kitchen/dining room/family room are open, so I can yak to people and warch the TV (multi- tasking at it's finest)

I do the veg in the morning and pre-steam the potatoes and let them go cold.
Yorkshire Puddings cooked then frozen, reheat for 3-4 minutes (better than Aunt Bessies )

I cook everything in the morning on Christmas Eve, as I can remember 2 separate Christmases as a child we had mainly electric and due to all the ovens on, the local network went down, thankfully my mum had prepared for this just in case and we found ourselves eating sandwiches of turkey and ham, pre-cooked with fizzy drinks so it was a treat in itself under blankets by torchlight.

She fired up the oil cooker to keep us warm. As a child, I thought it was brilliant. So on Christmas eve morning, I do my cooking so that if there is overload, I still have food even if it will be cold and can feed extra people if needed.

I do stuffed mushrooms and peppers as a pre-soup course.

The soup for starters is in another slow cooker, usually vegetable as then I only have to heat the bread rolls the next day and butter is taken out of the fridge.

The turkey crown, the ham, the nut roast as a friend who is usually here for at least boxing day is veggie,

All veggies are done in separate foil trays for easy storage in the fridge and I line them with tin foil so I can reuse – For most of the veggies I do double the amount and put the other portion into ziplock bags in the freezer

I do a full range as it encourages children to try different things.

Last year the veggies were
• Carrots with orange juice glaze and honey
• Brussell sprouts pan fried with chopped onion and pancetta
• Cauliflower cheese
• Roasted parsnips with parmesan
• Red braised cabbage
• Processed peas fried – a childhood favourite
• Mashed swede/turnip
• Celeriac mash

Re vegetables, I do a Chinese foil tray size of each as like the variety (and the children all have to try at least a teaspoon of everything)

but potatoes wise and stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings and gravy are all very generous trays/jugs, multiple trays as far as pigs in blankets are concerned

• Roast potatoes
• Mash potatoes / some with cheese / some with scallions

• Stuffing balls – precooked on the 24th
• Pigs in blankets – they are done on the evening of 23rd as i secure with a cocktail stick and fry and then bake to finish off
• Yorkshire pudding – they go in on 25th to the oven

The ham is cooked in cider in slow cooker and then finished off in the oven with honey when cooled. The turkey, ham and is sliced and gravy made with the juices of turkey and ham, then all portions into the fridge with parchment paper between them, with the gravy stored in a jug. The turkey and ham are reheated smothered in gravy so to keep moist and extra gravy is available.

The nut roast is sliced on a separate board and knife and its marinated in a red wine gravy, before reheating to separate from the slices with parchment

Cranberry sauce is scooped from a jar, into a bowl and gets a minute in the microwave to warm up on the 25th

I make a sherry trifle at the same time as cooking and buy other desserts.

I sing along to Xmas tunes while I do this, I have a playlist made on youtube of them. It takes about 5-6 hours in total to do all this.
When the big slow cooker is finished cooking the ham,

I clean it out and start mulled wine which keeps me happy the rest of the day.

DH is up early so he lights the weber at 6, I stuff the turkey by 7 and put it on. Mass at 7.30 then home to turn the bird and potter gently until the usual last 10 minute rush. It’s warm enough here that the only thing that needs to be hot are the potatoes.

If we're at home, we have a 'starter' around 1pm and our main course around 5-ish, so aside from getting the turkey on, cooking doesn't start till mid afternoon. Veg etc. is usually peeled and prepped on Christmas Eve so there's not that much to do except for the hour before we eat. Pudding and cheese later if we feel like it. Works well, and means no-one is stuck in the kitchen all day or misses out on stuff.

DH cooks, and we don’t have turkey so don’t have to get it in the oven at a ridiculous time. We eat about 5pm, usually something like venison Wellington. I’d say he starts prepping around 2pm. We’re all fairly relaxed about timings though, if we eat later it’s not a problem.

we prep everything on Christmas Eve...grab a peeler or a knife and choose your drink and have at it! If you are chezHomeslice you are helping!
The ham will be cooked also, and we have hot ham rolls/chips/salad as a buffet sort of affair for the evening.
Basically everything is set up to be uncovered and ovened, pigs in blankets, a vast assortment of veg, bread sauce, cranberry, apple.
Then on Christmas Day I get the oven on as soon as I am up and hurl things in and out as the day passes, we usually have turkey, pork and beef, and sometimes a goose if I find one in the reduced. Veggie option provided as necessary
All I really have to do is open the oven door and commandeer kitchen passers by to load/unload the dishwasher and tbh mostly I spend my time chasing folks out of the kitchen for picking bits!!
Usually eat about 2ish

But I do not cook for Boxing Day, or the day after as a bare minimum ...it's pringles and coldcuts, cheese, and pate until it's all gone!

Culminating in a fabulous pie with the last of the meat...sometimes a puff pastry/cream sauce affair, and sometimes a giant handraised picnic pie type, depending on my humour or requests!

Wow smurfy. 😄

I make the gammon on Christmas Eve. Prep all the stuffing, balls, chipolatas, bacon rolls and veg too. I usually put carols on and then go to Mass while gammon is in roasting( boil first) then when I get in I have a glass of wine and finish any wrapping and stick vacuum around. Next morning I get up have lovely breakfast put Turkey in oven then go to Mass ( in choir so go a lot of Xmas) come home and open a couple of presents with DH if home, DD and check on expected arrival time for DSx3 as they often working. Potatoes then veg go on and first course prepped unless soup which is made night before. Boys like fish x2 but DS3 & DD have something vegan. Vegan meal for DD usually goes in oven then I start juggling. Two others usually late so I then get stressed even though I give them half an hour leeway. Turkey comes out to rest and then stuffing balls and bacon rolls go in. Sprouts are prepped and go on as Turkey gravy being made. I shred the sprouts and stir fry with chopped onion and sometimes bacon snippets for meat eaters. It only takes 2/3 minutes and a teaspoon of demara sugar at last minute. John Tovey made them like this once and they are much nicer. Best ones we ever had were the year I grew some and picked them with frost on them Christmas morning.
Last year I was ill and this year I am looking forward to making it as I will have a new large cooker so there will be lots of space and three ovens!

MsHomeslice
Yep it is all in the prep. I make red cabbage then too if having it. You cook loads of meat. Impressed. I just do Turkey and agree absolutely no cooking for next two days. This is where the gammon/ ham comes into its own. Turkey sliced and ham sliced and any left over reheated or stir fried veg or salad coleslaw to choose from and lots of chip oblates.
Oh and I wash up as I go but then never wash after serving. Eldest usually does it. Just realised DD won't be here. She will be having Christmas with my darling sis on the other side of the world or with partner's brother also over there. My sons take a big plate full each when they leave to have on Boxing Day.

No leftovers here, its the last thing any of us want on Boxing Day, which is back to normal cooking. So I aim to only cook what we will eat on the day, if theres any leftover meat it goes in the freezer, it makes the quantities more manageable to prep and cook as well.

@Bowerbird5 its my big meal of the year, have my brother, partner, partners sister (the veggie), her partner and her 2 kids usually as she comes home for xmas and stays with me, she has a third boy this year but I wont be home for xmas so its not going to happen. On the years Ive been ill and before anyone has arrived, I have a friends son who was 14 as at last xmas who does sous chef for me

It made me feel like I was there😊

We fluctuate between the six of us and whoever else turns up. Once it was a cousin from Aus who was in Germany travelling ( he had been to see us already ) and arrived at midnight. I was so excited when I opened the door and he was relieved we were ok with it and tired as he had a difficult journey with the trains in UK. Sometimes some of our sons friends have no where to go so they know there is always room. One lad came for about three years, ones a nurse and can't get home and one is from Europe and comes to us every year and the year he went home we missed him. We hope he will make it this year as he has been very ill so we are praying he will be at our house and not in hospital.
When the kids were younger we often had piles of the village kids arriving excitedly to see what ours had got and show their best present. I liked that it was constant chaos and laughter.
Slow cooker is a good idea for the ham. I usually do mine in a large pan then put pineapple brown sugar and stud with cloves and roast it for an hour. The local butcher also does it for some. When we lived in Scotland the women used to take the prepared Turkey with a label attached to the leg to the local bakers on Christmas Eve. Then they went and collected them on Christmas morning. If they were huge I believe some took them in the pram! It had been a tradition for a long time as it was about third generation when we were there. I think he was paid in whisky.
Hope you enjoy your Christmas even if you are not home. I like the idea of your sous chef. I had one of those in form of DS2 but now he works and is a manager. He did cook last year as I was ill. He said it was a lot of work.