Christmas dinner virgin where do I start.......

[OFSTEDoutstanding]

with goose fat for roast potatoes, usually use good old Aunt Bessy but am fed up with dh going on about how he will miss his mothers cooking this year! Have decided to go whole hog and cook everything from scratch, have done roast dinners before so can't see it will be that hard right! The problem is I read in my Delia christmas book that she uses goose fat for her roasts so off I trudge to Tesco to get a jar of their finest only to get home and realise I do not have a bloody clue what I do with it now. How much do I melt in a standard size roasting tin? How long does it take to melt? Please all you clever cooks out their help me out or do you think it is beyond hope and I should buy ready made ones and hide the bag!!

put a few big dollops in roasting tin whilst you par-boil the potatoes ..

they can't get too hot and you can't have too much really ... just drain some off

consider it like butter

(you do know to par boil the potatoes for 5 mins then drain and shake violently against lid to rough 'em up .. don't you? )

stick the whole lot into the roasting tin. Parboil the potatoes (cook them just enough to soften the outsides) and drain them, shake them around the pan to roughen the sides, makes them crispy. Then tuble them into the hot fat, baste them, and put them in the oven for 30. Then take them out, turn them, and put them back in for another 15 minutes.

Yes thanks magrat I imagine it is MIL head while I shake!! I remember watching my mum shaking them when I was younger with an evil glint in her eye I think she was thinking exactly the same about her MIL!!!

No don't buy ready made ugh, real are so, so easy. Par boil peeled potatoes, having chopped them to be the same size. Drain them well. Open the tin and empty it into a large roasting tray and then place it in the oven on a high heat. when it is smoking, take it out very carefully and place the potatoes in one by one as if you throw them in they will splash hot fat over you.
Season the potaotes with sea salt, rosemary sprigs and garlic cloves, put them in the oven and turn them after about 15 minutes. Cook till golden brown and crispy.

I'm doing the early shift on Christmas day so have bought DH an 'idiot proof' Xmas dinner with ready to roast goose fat roast potatoes, ready-stuffed turkey etc. he's an xmas dinner virgin too.
Don't be too hard on yourself and take the easy option where you can.
Good luck