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?

One year OH was ill on Xmas Eve. I calmly and quietly got on with preparing the whole Xmas meal in advance. I was on my own and just cracked on. It was a revelation. First year of my life when I didn’t spent the day a sweating, exhausted, resentful mess. For some reason I haven’t learned from the experience and still leave most of the food prep and cooking for the day itself.
Do as much as you can the day before. Or buy as much as you can ready made.

My timetable means that the only things to be done on Christmas Day are stuffing the turkey and peeling the potatoes.

Plan:

• 2 weeks before cranberry sauce (Delia smith’s - it’s gorgeous)
• 1 week before make red cabbage
• 3 days before, soak milk for bread sauce with an onion with cloves in
• Blitz bread for stuffing
• Christmas Eve, parboil carrots and parsnips and lay them out on baking trays
• blend the sausagemeat and chesnut stuffing
• prepare devils on horseback

• Christmas Day prepare the bread stuffing, stuff the turkey with both types of stuffing, peel pots and parboil. Then assemble the veg prepared the day before along with ready trimmed Brussels sprouts and all the other trimmings.

Shove in oven to time.

Oh we have shop bought puddings, but you could easily make some a few weeks ahead and freeze.

@Ionlydomassiveones

“JamesWilbysAbs 2nd meat?? cauliflower cheese? Yorkshire puddings?? It would never have occurred to me to have any of these with Christmas dinner.”

Totally agree. Or friggin frozen Brussels? Yuck - either fresh or don’t bother.

Its meant to be a special feast not wartime mass catering.

I have cauliflower cheese and Yorkshire puddings because we have beef.

I then do a whole new turkey roast on boxing day!

For me, the key to keeping it stress free is keeping it simple and not fretting if that means you don't have a zillion sides or if you have to buy items pre prepared.

We have:

Turkey...... prepared crown rather than a whole bird, easier to cook and carve. Cook that Christmas Day then take it out, double wrap in tin foil to keep warm and oven is free for veg.

Roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips. You can peel these the evening before and keep in pans of water on the hob, or prep and freeze. I keep parsnips and carrots in big pieces so they get prepped and cooked all together with the roast potatoes to make life easier.

Red cabbage I make weeks ahead and freeze in tupperware then just microwave on the day. Or if I fancy something different I buy pre prepared carrot and swede mash as it's nicer than I could make and just microwave that. I don't do both to keep it easier.

Stuffing balls/pigs in blankets prep ahead, freeze and cook straight from frozen or just buy ready made and whack in oven.

Sprouts a quick steam on hob.

Gravy I buy ready made and just microwave.

Cranberry sauce out of a jar.

I save cauliflower cheese/yorkshires/other meats for other roasts throughout the year and nobodies' Christmas is ruined because of it.

What, pray tell, is a devil on horseback?!

A prune wrapped in bacon. Delicious.

[quote LeaveYourHatOn]@SugarAndLemon
Unfortunately those and many other vegan foods aren’t suitable for people with egg allergies as they may still contain egg.

I think you'll find that anything VEGAN most definitely does not contain egg.

But yes to what everyone else has said - cut down and make ahead.[/quote]
Lots of vegan food packaging advises that it may contain traces of egg. This is from Sainsburys for vegan chocolate cup cakes. Welcome to the world of allergies, where you have to read the small print.
A&E on Christmas Day isn't so very funny.

We have pastries for breakfast (super easy)

Go to church

At lunchtime we have a posh brunch like eggs and smoked salmon, then lots of nibbles.

We always eat around 5pm, break and then desert at 7.30ish

I prep in the morning after opening presents/shower - has to be done by 11am as I collect my Mum. DH cooks, I help him last 30 mins. That way, one of us is mostly free for DD/guests.

Dinner is roast potatoes and parsnips, sprouts, carrots, turkey, stuffing, gravy, and we cook one salmon fillet (and hollenaise sauce) and one veggie meal (either bought or personal who requires this happily cooks their own). Afters is xmas pud and brandy sauce, or chocolate sponge.

Oh, I forgot the sausages in bacon.