Help me to not spend Christmas in the kitchen please

[SugarAndLemon]

I see people here speak of a cozy and fun Christmas Eve, going for walks on Christmas morning, and I don't know how they do it. My husband does an equal amount of food prep/cooking but it feels like Christmas is spent in the kitchen rather than enjoying the day. Even the night before we are prepping food rather than relaxing. Can you help us?

We don't have many people to feed and want to do a traditional roast with sides. Ordering or relying on pre-prepared food is not an option unfortunately. Where are we going wrong and how can we better arrange our days?

Hi, I live in Santa Ana and sometimes I have that kind of problem because my family comes from all over and sometimes I feel like I don't even see them because I spend all day in the kitchen and the only time it doesn't happen is when I burn myself with the stove and they relieve me.

I love spending Christmas in the kitchen all day listening to music and drinking wine. Best place to hide from all the other shite.

Another simple but delicious breakfast - chopped fresh fruit (buy it ready chopped or use defrosted frozen fruits) with greek yogurt & honey. Sprinkled with granola/nuts.

In advance we freeze

• par boiled potatoes

-gravy

• red cabbage

-stuffing -soup for starter

Make sure you have enough trays/dishes etc.

Christmas Eve

• prep veg

-set table

On the day, have a detailed time plan. Work back from when you want to eat. Our day tends to involve

• turkey on
• heat soup for starter about 2 hours before main
• turkey out an hour before we eat

The hour before we eat is busy with things in and out the oven etc. But that's it really. All hands on deck to clean up afterwards. Take cheese out fridge for later.

Easy shop bought dessert if we're having one.

People that make cauliflower cheese ahead and freeze it. Does it not go all watery when you defrost it? I usually end up baking it Christmas Eve but would love to get it done in advance if I can

Delegate.

This year there with be 7 of us. 6 adults and toddler. Both pairs of guests will bring something, one the red cabbage and other sticky toffee pudding for desert.

We will wrap pigs in blankets and make cauliflower cheese day before. On day everything else basically roasted.

Pannetone for breakfast.
And fruit / fruit compote and Greek yogurt.

How many meals do you have and at what time of day?
We do stockings around 8am now the DC are upper primary then everyone has cereal or toast if they want it and, if I've remember, there may be some frozen croissant or pain au chocolat. Chocolate is also an option!
At about 11.30, we do loads of smoked salmon, prawns etc. When the DC were younger, they used to have beans on toast then too!
About 3pm, we have the turkey. There may be pudding or there may be a pause.
About 5 or 6pm, there's Xmas cake and mince pies.
About 8.30pm, there's cheese and probably ham.
I do most of the (minimal) prep for the salmon etc. DH does the turkey and I will be in charge of anything needed to be done in connection with the pudding.
After that, it's pretty much help yourself. I'll suggest cake, my Dad at least will instantly agree and at least a couple of relatives will usually get off their backsides, open the cake tins and get some plates. A couple of hours later, similar things happen except the fridge is raised for cheese and hams.
Much of this was instigated after one Christmas when I spent the entire day prepping & sorting and looking after other people and realised I'd hardly seen the DC and my mum had burst into tears at around 11.30am (when she'd only had half a glass of champagne) as it was the first time in something like 35 years that she hadn't hosted Christmas and had never had the chance to sit down and enjoy it. I decided I was never going to be like that.

@alrightfella

People that make cauliflower cheese ahead and freeze it. Does it not go all watery when you defrost it? I usually end up baking it Christmas Eve but would love to get it done in advance if I can

I didn't like it for this reason, which is why I used to make ahead and freeze the cheese sauce. Floret the cauliflower the day before (and store some grated cheese in an airtight container). Then on the day all the cauli needs is a quick par-boil whilst the cheese sauce defrosts in the microwave and into a dish with the grated cheese on top.

We have bacon rolls or croissants/pastries for breakfast. I don't like doing a massive breakfast as it's a lot of effort and there's enough snacking going on through the day it feels unnecessary.

We also do lunch/dinner around 3pm as that means the morning isn't crazy. We'll do smoked salmon blini and crisps around actual lunchtime. It's kind of our starter just well ahead of the main meal.

I think limiting the number of sides helps too. I know Christmas is meant to be fancy veg and things but I always feel like they just get lost in the combination. So we have simple veg sides because I'd rather ensure the roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and pigs in blankets are perfect.

The frozen croissants and pastries you can get are nicer than the "fresh" ones in the bakery section. I like getting the mini selections so you have tiny croissants, pain au chocolat and pain au raisin.

Pastries are probably out unless anyone knows of some egg-free ones. But I like some of the other ideas too, thank you. And definitely not too geeky to make lists. Probably takes away a lot of the mental stress because you aren’t carrying all the thoughts and timings in your head.

You can get vegan pan au chocolat in Sainsbury's which would avoid the egg, although I don't know your other allergies.

In our house breakfast is fresh pastries, from the just roll range, quick and easy to prepare and dairy free

Lunch is nibbles, prep minimal as it goes from fridge/ cupboard to table

Dinner is a roast, veg prepped day before and in boxes in the fridge, everything timed out and a lost made, gravy made from meat juices after meat is cooked and is resting, can make Yorkshire batter in advance as well

I think I maybe spend a hour 'cooking' at most, DH spends more than that cleaning up :)

Tesco stock vegan frozen Pret croissants.

Christmas Eve afternoon myself and my DC peel and cut the potatoes, parsnips and carrots and prep the Brussel sprouts. Doesn't take very long as there is only us.

At around one (after having done stockings, breakfast, main presents and spending time with my DC) I'll cook the potatoes, then put everything in the oven, make the stuffing and then put that in. I'll go back in a bit later to put on the vegetables that need steaming. When it's cooked I'll make the gravy (Bisto). I don't spend much time in the kitchen at all. We eat around 2.

@TheOneWithTwoParties

Tesco stock vegan frozen Pret croissants.

Unfortunately those and many other vegan foods aren’t suitable for people with egg allergies as they may still contain egg. I appreciate the info though and will check out the Sainsbury’s product mentioned as well.

There have been so many suggestions here though that we will not be short on breakfast ideas.

@SugarAndLemon

Pastries are probably out unless anyone knows of some egg-free ones. But I like some of the other ideas too, thank you. And definitely not too geeky to make lists. Probably takes away a lot of the mental stress because you aren’t carrying all the thoughts and timings in your head.

Lists are brilliant. And it is mega satisfying being able to tick off your prep tasks. Plus it allows for delegation as well.

On the pastry front, I can't check the croissants etc (normally I have a tin but they got used last week), but Jus Rol's puff pastry doesn't appear to have any egg in the ingredients. Their croissants or pain au chocolat tins take a tiny bit of work (pop tin and roll pastries, rather than just grab from the bag and cook), but it means YOU decide what to baste them with, so while we often do egg, I have done it with milk plenty of times or often left no glaze at all before baking. So might be worth checking ingredients on those.

CottonSock

Those who freeze roasties, do they get coated in oil before freezing?“

No, just freeze as they are after the roughing up the edges in the pan stage, singly on a tray then put in a bag or container once frozen.
Then put them in the hot oil as you normally would and roast for extra 10/15 mins.
Only did this for first time a couple of years ago, wish I always had. Super crunchy

I found we were doing so much prep on Christmas Eve and still spending most of Christmas day cooking, we tried having our big meal later afternoon in Christmas eve and it was a revelation.
Kids much more amenable to a big meal that day, Christmas day ends up being much more laid back we have cold meats, 'boxing day sandwiches' with the leftovers, cheese and crackers baked camerbert and part baked baguettes, loads of treats we usually bought for dessert but never seemed to have enough of an appetite to eat. People just eat as and when they want.

It works really well for us

I buy a bunch of foil trays, freeze everything in the trays - so they are ready to go straight in the oven on the day.
I name and number the trays so I know what I am doing. And write up a timetable of which goes where at what time (counter/fridge, over, grill etc).
Then on the day I just need my list (make a few copies). Drink my bubbly and just swap trays around. No thinking required.

(This is on the years when I am organised!!)

We prep all the veg on christmas eve and leave in water overnight. I put disposable roasting trays inside my roasting tins to reduce washing up. I have a clear written plan of what food goes in and out of the oven at what time. On the day all we really do is move dishes in and out of the oven.

Eating later, much later is the key I think!
I would HATE to be eating a large meal at 1pm on Christmas Day. SWe never eat until about 7pm.

We have coffee & mince pies / cake first thing when opening presents.
Then brunch at about 11.30 / 12 - this is cooked breakfast OR pancakes, crispy bacon and maple syrup OR homemade waffles with bacon / fruit etc with more coffee and champagne either straight up or in bucks fizz.

Then we cook in the afternoon and eat dinner at about 7 / 7.30pm. We've always done it this way and we love it. Set the table really nice and light candles, play music and relax over a leisurely meal.

We have turkey - if we have family staying a while one, if just us, a crown
Ham which we boil and then glaze and bake on Christmas Eve. We eat it hot from the oven for Christmas Eve supper and sliced thinly and served cold on Christmas day.
Roast potatoes
Marrowfat peas (family tradition)
Roast herbed carrots & parsnips
homemade sage and onion stuffing (prepped for oven the night before)
Steamed broccoli (for teen who loves it)
Cauliflower cheese (M&S sometimes, homemade other times)
Red cabbage (always bought in M&S)
gravy
Cranberry sauce

@UniBallEye

Opposite here. I love Christmas lunch about 1ish,
And then I put a load of snacks bits and leftover on coffee table about 5/6
Tidy up
And then settle down with a hot chocolate under blanket with the children (single parent) by 7pm. Absolute bliss