Food - what are you making from scratch?

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We have never hosted Christmas before but are doing so for the first time this year! I'm planning on making life as easy as possible for myself (frozen/pre-prepared stuff) but I'd like to try to make a few easy things myself.
What are you making? What's easy to make?

Nigella has a glass noodle salad using the leftover turkey that I have made a few times.

I am also starting to make my winter slaw with savoy cabbage, carrot and celeriac with a mustard dressing from the Leon happy salads book.

I make everything from scratch for the meal but there's a lot that I make ahead and freeze.
Roast potatoes, I par boil, freeze on a tray and bag up into a freezer bag. I do the same with stuffing balls, parsnips and the pigs.
Bread sauce and gravy is also made ahead and frozen. On christmas eve I just take everything out of the freezer, put into the fridge and then on the day I pop it all into disposable foil tins and pans to cook through. All I have to do is the meat and fresh veg.
With the mince pies I bake them completely and then warm through from frozen in the oven as and when I want them.
Last year I bought a stacked steamer so I can do all the veg on just the one hob ring. Keeps the kitchen a bit cooler and means I've got space to heat the gravy and bread sauce.

Roast potatoes. Always made on the day. freezing changes them.

And boxing day turnover... turkey and leek (though Jus-rol make the puff pastry) - everybody says the only reason we have turkey on Christmas day is so there is some left for boxing day pie...

Found out about making and freezing mince pies last year on mn. Game changer, made them a few weeks in advanced and stuck them in the oven for 10 mins on low from frozen. Tasted fine, and saved time in the madness of the last week before Christmas.

Thee brownies are bloody amazing, it has to be said! I'll be making double this year!

I'll make sausage rolls, some rosemary biscuits for cheese, mince pies, roasties, some normal Christmas puddings (individual ones) and chocolate puddings (individual), the brownies attached, gravy and roasties. Plus some biscuits / cookies.

It's only us 4 this year, so I won't make as much as usual as it won't get eaten.

Stuffing: I’d be shot if I didn’t make stuffing from scratch. There’s always too much sage in bought stuffing or the texture is wrong. Tbh the turkey’s main function in our family is to hold the stuffing. The meat is an afterthought. I jam a couple of skewers through the middle to ensure that heat is being conducted all the way through.

Christmas cake: I’ll make it next week. I don’t have many cake eaters here but I’ll happily eat it with cheese for a couple of months after Christmas.

Gravy: Gordon Ramsey has a great recipe. I love making the gravy because the bird is resting on the side, the veggies are warming, the potatoes are roasting and it’s the only thing I need to concentrate on. It’s very witchy putting a splash of this and a pinch of that. Saying that I was asking my mil how she made her gravy yesterday because it was delicious and she showed me the jar.

Custard is worth making from scratch imo as it tastes completely different to bought. But then some people like the taste of shop bought better, so...

But over the years I’ve compromised happily on loads. I buy most of the veggie sides now and potato gratin. I used frozen roasties last year and no one even noticed so I’ll definitely do that again. I find trifle sponges have a better texture than my own stale sponge. Similarly with pavlova, I’ve found a great (chewy) base so I don’t bother making my own anymore but I add the cream and fruit as close to serving as possible. I use a gingerbread house kit as my own recipe makes delicious biscuits but weak walls. If I’m in a cooking mood in nov, early dec then I’ll make and freeze ahead. I’ve found that for me personally, there’s a balance to be struck and if I take on too much in the kitchen I miss out on the family time and the fun (and I turn into the Crabby Christmas Martyr)

We make the stuffing - DH cooks the sausage meat the day before (approximately 10 minutes after the annual phonecall to DMIL to remind him how to do that! ). I always make the rest of the stuffing from scratch, chopping the onion etc, but it depends whether I have stale bread to crumb, or a bag of breadcrumbs previously made from heels/leftovers in the freezer to use, on whether I need to buy the crumbs (I usually have them).

We peel the roasties on 24th, ready to boil and then toss in hot goose fat before roasting ourselves.

We also generally do the rest of the veg ourselves as well, we spend a couple of hours on the afternoon of 24th prepping these and things for the "platter feast" that is our dinner on 24th (a groaning table of things to graze on, that are mostly not seen too often in our house). If I am feeling energetic, I might boil the giblets for turkey stock for gravy (or I might just take out the stock, or even gravy on a good year!, from the freezer that I have leftover from the turkey breast I roast for Thanksgiving at the end of November).

This year, I have made another batch of mincemeat (I put it together 2 weeks ago, need to check alcohol levels in it in another 2 weeks with a trial tray of pies), and a batch of limoncello is soaking as well.

We always make HM cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa - sometimes completely from scratch on 24th, other times we take out a half batch that I make sure to put in the freezer earlier in December to just slice and bake. It's a simple recipe, but a nice one.

Some years I make chocolate truffles, or (the golden stuff inside of Crunchy bars), or fudge - but not generally all the same year.

I've finally learned how to make proper sausage rolls (using jus-rol puff pastry admittedly!), so I might make a few of those.

And I usually make mulled wine on Boxing Day by raiding the spice cupboard (it involves star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardomam and peppercorns).

Anyone who finds grating orange/lemon peel (for Chr. Pud, mincemeat etc.) a real chore, get yourself an Oxo Good Grips Zester.

Only about £7, honestly makes a massive difference.
Found mine in local dept. store but also available online.