Hosting my first Christmas Dinner this year. Any cheats/tips/advice welcome!

[Fluffiest]

This year DH and I have decided to host Christmas day for our family. We are really excited and want to put on a good day.

We'll have six adults and one three year old. One of the adults has to have dairy/gluten free food so any tried and tested gluten and dairy free recipes will be especially useful.

We are thinking we would like to do canapés, no starter, traditional Turkey dinner and some sort of pudding (not Christmas pudding because only my DF likes it)

We might have a couple of extra people joining us on the evening so I'd also love to hear some Christmas cocktail recommendations.

Please Mumsnetter, share with me your collective Christmas wisdom!

Well, it used to sit untouched at our table apart from one person who had a spoonful, so we decided it wasn't worth the effort. We do have homemade cranberry sauce though.

I run the dishwasher after breakfast even if it’s not completely full. While I cook I keep a sink full of hot soapy water and wash as I go along, leaving the pots to soak at the end. I can get most of dishes into the dishwasher after dinner, so the clean up isn’t overwhelming at all.

I don’t recommend foil trays. Under the weight of the turkey they buckle even when you double up and use two. I spilled turkey juices all over my suede boots one year so I don’t risk it anymore.

For the sides I use oven to table dishes so it’s the same amount of washing up as transferring from a foil tray to a serving dish, without the waste. Everything soaks while the dinner dishes are washed and then they go into the dishwasher for their turn.

If you don’t have a second oven to heat plates, put a pot of water on to simmer and stack plates on it, shifting them round every so often (carefully not to burn yourself). Hot plates make a huge difference!

For a gluten free pudding I can recommend Nigella's Christmas spiced chocolate cake. It's more like a brownie in texture but is seriously delicious. Instead of flour it uses ground almonds

Remember no-one needs 8 different veg and 3 different potatoes. Stick to the important stuff. Dessert should either be ready made are made well in advance.

For nibbles we like smoked salmon on blinis. Only time of the year I eat them even though I love them.

Things you need to check for gluten if you buy them ready made

Roast potatoes
Anything with sauce
Gravy
Sausages
Pigs in blankets
Stuffing
Christmas cake and pudding
Trifle
Custard

You can buy ready made GF stuffing, sausages, cake and pudding .

Remember they might have to be cooked in a different tray ; kept on a separate plate / cut on a different board if your Gf guest is coeliac .

Though I’m guessing they are not as coeliacs are not usually dairy free.

It might be worth checking with your guest what they actually mean by DF / GF. A friend made Christmas dinner for a Gf guest last year and spent ages making sure everything possible was Gf .

Then the guest started tucking into the gluten containing cake and said “ oh this looks delicious , I can’t resist , I’m sure just a few pieces won’t hurt, I will just be good tomorrow “.!!!

So some people seem to use the phrase ‘ gluten free ‘ to mean “ I feel bloated when I eat a toast for breakfast , pasta for lunch and a pizza for tea.”.

So worth checking what your guest means. For example, I would say “ I get ill if I eat food containing gluten, even flour in a Sauce. But if one breadcrumb gets into my food by accident it won’t make me ill. “

If your gf person is coeliac it’s probably best to just make everything gluten free as big issue with cross contamination. My mum can’t eat anything if same spoons have been used or it’s been served with the same Tongs etc. Far safer just not serving gluten. Sausages are fine as long as you check, loads are now gluten free. Don’t cook everything gluten and diary free and then accidentally stick butter on at the end (happened to my dairy free sister one year)

Thank you, all. Our gluten free/dairy free guest does have to be careful to stick to her conditions or she does suffer. I will bear in mind not contaminating spoons etc...

Our kitchen is quite spacious, we have a second oven, it doesn't get very hot but would warm plates. No dishwasher so I'll be following the advice on washing as we go!

Thank you so much for sharing your tips, I am still making notes!

You’ll think I’m obsessed with doing dishes! But wash any glassware, China and cutlery that you need for the table, before Christmas Day. There isn’t time for that on the day itself and if you are using stuff that isn’t used everyday it’s likely to be a little dusty.

Also think through all dishes that you’ll use. I have a handy little jug that gets used for milk, dessert sauces and sometimes gravy throughout the year and it’s a very easy thing to mentally assign it to all three purposes on Christmas Day.

Also check whether dishes and trays actually fit in the oven together when planning how to cook sides.

Another tip from me - if you only use your second oven on Christmas Day and its your grill too, clean it in advance, otherwise you risk a kitchen full of greasy, smoky smell when you switch it on on the 25th.