Hosting again! If you are hosting what are your tips to make things easier, more exciting or more fun!

[Shineycat]

Hosting family again this year. Happy to have them, more the merrier etc (although I do have a secret fantasy about spending Christmas in a luxury hotel on my own 😁). Any other hosts out there with any tips about how you make the whole thing easier, special, fun etc?

The more organised and efficient, capable and competent you are the less help you get offered.

Feel your pain @Toomanysleepycats

I read an article by Delia Smith (or one of the famous tv chefs) who said everyone was too intimidated to offer her any help. Her solution was to do nothing herself but be in charge of defining and then delegating all the tasks to others.

Asking for volunteers to be on setting table, peeling potatoes, doing bins etc. duty was much easier because people could see themselves doing that kind of thing easily enough.

@Hoovesandpaws77 Theyre quite cheap and easy to do if you add them to the online Christmas food shop if you get one- I basically fill them with mostly individual bars of chocolate from multipacks, an orange, chocolate coins, and then one or two personalised things like a nice pen/ a premixed jack daniels and coke can/ socks etc. I really don't do much effort on them but they always go down well!

I find it easier to start at the time I want to sit down to eat and work backwards with my timings. As others have said the Turkey or meat will keep warm when resting so you can prepare all the sides.

I prepare all veg on Christmas Eve and I do take some shortcuts. Things like the sprouts have been already prepped, ie M&S. Two of my family insist on cauliflower cheese so that’s from Marks and Spencer. The potatoes are prepared the night before, par boiled and, as someone above said tossed in duck fat and then put in the fridge so they just go in the oven after the meats are out.

depending on what’s happening and what meat we are going for, I have roasted the Turkey the day before, carved it and put it in a tray covered in gravy so it just needed warmed through the following day. That’s when everyone liked lashing of gravy though.

pigs in blankets are prepped in the fridge and I also do James Martins Yorkshire puddings and that’s left for 24 hours before cooking too.

Our starters are canapés from marks and Spencer so those are served easy enough. My airfryer will help with those this year. Dessert is a huge cheese board with all the trimmings and port, or this year will be cheesecake from our local shop. Beyond that, there is always a magnum in the freezer!

Disposable trays have always worked well for prep/fridge and clean up after.

Thanks for the tips +DinosaurofFire* 😊

Foodwise, get a Donald Russell Christmas in a box. We are super-fussy about food and this as absolutely brilliant last year - it as SO nice and SO easy!

www.donaldrussell.com/traditional-christmas-box-with-vegetables-d5297.html

I’ve been hosting for years and I’m learning so much from this thread!

A slow cooker will keep things hot. I have a couple (I borrow my DMs one) heated and waiting in case elements of the meal finish before the other.

I also think that there's nothing wrong with cooking carrots and broccoli - al dente - in advance and then microwaving them before serving along with ready made red cabbage (the M&S one is my favourite). So a decent microwave is a must have, my last one - Samsung - was absolutely rubbish so I've just purchased a fancy Panasonic one.

Tip number one for me is probably buy a new house with a futility room, jigsaw room, space for both a wrapping and special coffee station. I think I've left the time and budget a bit short.

We cram everybody into a 3 bed semi and my biggest tip is don't forget to say yes. To time with the DC. A helping hand. A break. Make sure you enjoy it. Stop and reassess if you're stressed. Ask for help.

22 people I cook for.

The best thing we have and has been passed down from my gran to my mum to me is a hostess trolley, it keeps all the veg nice and hot so i can focus on other things. I put the stuffing and chipolatas in there too.

The main thing i still struggle with is roast potatoes....3 trays of them means my oven is out of use for 45 mins so everything is bunged in the hostess trolley whilst i wait for them to cook.

I also cater for 4 vegetarians, 2 vegans and one vegetarian coeliac.

Its pretty chaotic but i do love it!

I agree with Starlight86 about the blessing of a hostess trolley. We inherited one from Mum, it lives in our futility😄 room and is useful for storing plates and dishes year round but a godsend at Christmas and for any big gatherings. It has four glass dishes at the top, useful for veg, but mum also had four silver plated stands for these with little legs so however hot, they do not harm the table. A bit Hyacynth B but who cares?

Don’t do a starter. There’s no need as everyone just wants the main event plus pud!

In my family everyone has had specific jobs. Kids set table with help from one aunt then help the uncles with the dishes.

Walk in afternoon.

Now when I host I do games too. This year I have printed sone Xmas bingo cards off the internet. Not sure what else we will do.

Last time I hosted everyone got a piece of paper and had 2 mins to come up with as many 3 or more letter words that they could from “reindeer”. Then we turned it over and had 2 mins to write down one Xmas item for each letter of alphabet. The winner was the one who had the most that no one else had. Then everyone put the paper behind their backs and ripped it into the shape of a Xmas tree. Winner was the one that most closely resembled a tree.

Other tips:

starting putting together a play list of Xmas songs now.

Suggest a Kris Kringle for the adults now - most people prefer one good present and it makes it easier and cheaper.

Put a box of biscuits, sone nice shower gel and a bottle of wine away as emergency gifts.

I was thinking this. Our utility room is a cold damp out building. I’d love it if certain guests could be banished to it!

Fair enough and point taken. I did start my post by saying that this is what works for our specific family. We are fortunate to have a reasonably sized
house which is why all the extended family come to ours most years, and everyone is packed in, which is great, but it also involves a fair bit of graft and expense.