How do you plan Christmas dinner? - first time host!

[sparklins]

This year we are hosting for the first time ever. 7 adults, 4 children (5-10yo)
MIL is bringing dessert but otherwise the drinks, appetizers, main meal is all on me and DH.
No one in the guest list really enjoys turkey so we've opted for duck and chicken instead and then all the other traditional sides.

My question is - how do you schedule this through the day? Most of the foods need to go in the oven so how do you make sure everything gets cooked and is hot to serve at the same time?

Any tips and ideas from any seasoned Christmas dinner hosts would be really helpful to us, any appetizer ideas/side recipes would also be very welcome!

My best tip is to call everyone to the table in plenty of time. - it takes forever to get drinks pull crackers sort who is sitting where - (teenagers suddenly decide to have a shower!) kids playing with toys!

Have a plan for serving up so everyone knows their role.

they can sit for 15 minutes at the table (normal in a restaurant)
if necessary but the worse thing for a cook is the food getting cold whilst no one comes to the table!

"My best tip is to call everyone to the table in plenty of time. - it takes forever to get drinks pull crackers sort who is sitting where - (teenagers suddenly decide to have a shower!) kids playing with toys!"

Teenagers deciding to have a shower during Christmas dinner? I must be on another planet. I've got a huge family and I'm old, that has never happened

This. 100%. Work backwards. Include everything from sitting at the table to turning the potatoes, to turning the oven on, to whatever else you may need to do.

• Aim to get people to the table before you start bring food out.
• Get all your serving dishes ready in the kitchen before you need them and put post it notes in them so everyone knows what goes where (potatoes on the platter, sprouts in the round bowl, carrots in the oval bowl etc). Doing this is the only way I have managed to not run out of serving dishes.
• Use disposable cooking trays
• if possible (doesn’t happen in my house, unfortunately) lay the table the night before

I don’t really plan but then I’m from a huge family so I was raised to do this. I’ve got a double oven and whoever’s coming helps to top up the lec. I also keep my caravan across the road I the field and it’s got hookup. Get a turkey in Iceland and either a duck or a goose or a something of lamb/pork/beef/gammon etc from the yard. Those go in first. I clip the skin and smear beneath it with salted butter and seasoning. Those go in slow in the morning. I do them in roasting bags and the veg goes in too. I do sprouts with pancetta in ham stock in the caravan and I prep the cold things like prawn cocktail trifle in the caravan to bring across the road.

kids below highschool sit at the wee wee table older kids at the wee table and adults pick their own and eat on their knees.

Get a notebook, title it Xmas dinner.

Start with a list of what you want to eat.

Then try every item if you are not used to cooking it. Not all at once, but maybe do roast potatoes this week and a sauce the next.

Write down the timings and remember it will take slightly longer when the oven is full.

My usual roast dinner starts with the meat in the slow cooker - I wouldn't do the duck in there though because there will be a lot of fat.

Veg like sprouts, carrot, potatoes if you are doing mash as well all go in the steamer - this can be prepped the day before.

I agree with using the duck fat for the potatoes. I would cook the duck directly on the wire rack in the oven with a large roasting tin under to collect the fat.

An easy canape / started

dried apricots
streaky bacon
brie or other softish cheese

soak the apricots they well plump up and look like egg yolks.

there is a slit in the apricot where the stone has been removed, put a bit of brie in the slit, wrap in bacon, 1/2 a rasher per apricot

bake in the oven on high for 10 mins

I after many years am now firmly in the no starter camp - no one will starve without a starter and ready made canapés ( lots of supermarkets do them If you think needed will suffice whilst people chat and wait with a glass of wine ) Given up with champagne too expensive along with everything else - Guests can have a glass of whatever wine we are going to have - or a glass of Prosecco or a beer - All drinks go outside in Nature's larder in a bag as our fridge is not big enough for drinks and food.

I have also long given up making pigs in blankets - ready made one are perfectly fine. As is ready made stuffing.

I must admit I buy foil roasting dishes for carrots and parsnips - peeled the night before - parboiled on the day then a bit of olive oil - perhaps honey then stuck in the oven after the turkey / duck / chicken is out. I also do stuffing separately as it makes checking whether the fowl of whatever sort is cooked properly easier.

Sprouts - I buy ready peeled slice finely & whoosh round in a frying pan with some single cream preferably chestnuts and sometimes bacon. But as my Dh said - you are just trying to disguise sprouts there :)

Yes to taking out the Turkey / duck what ever and wrapping it and letting it rest. & yes I agree - see how they long take and work backwards.

Gravy for us is now just the meat juices with a bit of cranberry sauce and a spoonful of cream fraiche and perhaps a slosh of wine - takes no time .

Bread sauce once onion and milk infused - ready made breadcrumbs - again v quick.

Having someone on table setting duty whilst it all comes together is great or , I agree , set the table beforehand.

I have long given up making Christmas pudding / cake - in our family - no-one eats it. I buy the tiniest Christmas pudding I can in case someone wants it Also I have given up on making sure linen napkins all washed and ironed - too hard - I buy nice paper napkins which can all be binned .

Having a later meal time for eg 4pm helps you with the timings. As pp suggested work backwards from your designated meal time.

Serve starters at 12/1pm with drinks as a mini buffet for hungry tummies and it helps soak up alcohol for the adults.

Get a walk in between the main course at 4pm and pudding to give everyone some digestion space.

If you serve dessert with coffee and chocolates after 6:30pm, you can get away with not having an evening buffet.

People will be too full to eat by then and could always have crackers, cheese, cold meats and Christmas cake if still peckish.

Oh one more thing I cannot speak for is roast potatoes as Dh has for some years now decided he the The Expert ( & I am happy about that. ) He uses a Tom Kerridge recipe. Mashed potatoes if you want that as well can be made way ahead and heated up in the microwave.

If you have an air fryer then use that to cook your roast potatoes. It makes them really crispy and frees up oven space for other items.

Delegation is key, make someone else in charge of drinks, another person to set the table.

I do mash/veg/cheese sauce/red cabbage the day before and just warm up in the microwave.

Have you got a double oven? How are you going to do duck and chicken at the same time?

Place marking for later 🎄

Some fantastic advice here! DH is kindly making the dinner on the day itself but I'm in charge of prepping the veg the night before - when I've peeled everything (carrots, parsnips, potatoes) do I leave them on the hob in a pan of water? Or what else can I do with them? Im worried the potatoes will soak in too much water that's all

@sparklins - The one thing I would say - not recipe related - is try not to be too stressed and if mistakes happen - they do. By and large people are happy to meet with family and friends so do not let perfection stand in the way of the good.

2 examples - we once had a massive turkey which I got up early doors to put in the oven . Dh mistakenly turned the oven off instead of down - Christmas dinner delayed by a fair while but we had enough to keep the wolf from the door during the interim. My great Aunty once bought a ready made Christmas pudding and brought it to the table saying - Oh look how lovely they have done it with the cream already on top - she had put it in the oven upside down in the white plastic bowl it came in which had melted. She shrugged when we pointed it out and handed out some mince pies instead - I laugh about it to this day - but in a nice way.

I have a buffet warmer (they're about £30 on Amazon) and I don't think I could do a big dinner without one now. I use it to keep the veg warm and it means I can cook the dinner in stages.

Next time you're having a roast, make extra gravy and freeze it. On Christmas morning, add meat juices from your chicken to the gravy from the freezer

I'd typically make stuffing snd pugs in blankets the day before and put in the fridge ready for cooking the next day

Then on the morning of, tackle your meat and sides and keep the sides warm in the oven. Last job is veg and you can keep them warm in the buffet warmer. I usually put everything out buffet style on a long table so that people can choose what they want.

One of my proudest moments was arriving at DM's house at exactly the time specified with 14 side dishes, veggie main course and pudding, all warm and ready to eat, at exactly the t

Posted too soon.....
At exactly the time we'd agreed.
(DM cooked the meat, unless you have a double oven cooking meat and all the veg might be tricky, especially if you have veggies and need to cook the meat and spuds seperately.

The trick is to cook and prep as much as you can In advance. Spuds and parsnips can be perked, par boiled and frozen weeks in advance, and roast from frozen beautifully. Nut roast is already in the freezer for this year!!

Bread sauce, gravy, red cabbage - all cooked on Christmas Eve and warned up.

Other veg, prepped and panned to cook ready.

The potatoes will lose their starch in water so will be crispier. My mum always added some milk to ensure they stay white but I tend to prep on the day.

With guests who do not live with you, check, double check and triple check any allergies, dietary requirements, and food hates.

I hosted one year where 1 guest had been diagnosed coeliac, 1 had become vegan (was veggie previously), one could not tolerate onions and another had a lactose intolerance. No one thinks to tell you... it is all, "oh, by the way...."

I have a veggie daughter, so have to make choices... is it worth the hassle of goose fat roast potatoes AND veg oil roasted or do I just do them all veggie... etc... so our Christmas dinner has changed even before taking into account other guests.

But whatever... Good luck!

@sashh - does losing some starch make the potatoes crisper? I never knew that. i'll try it.

Yes, and if you want to relive Victorian life (or my school days) you can use the water to starch clothes.

It works for crisps too. Make sure the water is cold and dry them with a tea towel before putting them in oil.

Firstly work out your menus, keep it simple wherever possible remembering your oven and hob capacity!

I don't do starters or nibbles because that's what selection boxes and tins of roses are for . If you do go down the appetiser route stick to things that can be cooked the day before and served at room temperature or don't require cooking (blinis and smoked salmon for instance)

For the main event write everything down with cook times working backwards, also what pan is required etc so you know exactly when it needs to go in and that you have enough cookware. Meat should come out ahead of serving giving sufficient oven space for Yorkshire puddings, vegetarian options, pigs in blankets or other bits.

Keep the number of dishes requiring the oven down (been there!) and use your microwave to steam veg/reheat if you can cook something ahead like red cabbage

I also buy ready made things, and make people bring things.

I am having kittens currently as stupidly I've invited 11 to lunch and haven't got round to installation of the new kitchen yet - single oven!!! An excuse for another kitchen gadget me thinks

This ⬆️

Honestly I would probably just stick with the chicken, Duck is a nightmare to cook for a group of people in my experience with having to open the oven and draining off fat often Also most ducks do not stretch very far.

I'm all for simple.
Less is more.
So my meat whatever it is, Turkey, chicken, beef, lamb I care not, goes in slow cooker. Leaves my oven and hob free for everything else.
Most things can be bought ready to chuck in oven. I think m and s had a whole load of things like Swede mash, pigs in blankets, parsnips, roasties etc that went in the oven at same temperature just slightly different times. Might have been tesco actually.
And then hob is free for whatever veg you want or like and gravy.
Dead simple, no fuss, no worrying about timings particularly.