First time cooking Christmas dinner - HELP!

[Ineedachangerightnow]

Please be kind and help me break down what I need to do without breaking down. I only have a few people to cater for but it's the first time I've ever cooked Christmas dinner and I want to get it right.

Have you done a Sunday dinner before? It's pretty much the same. Things to consider are the size of your oven. Can you cook everything at once, or would it be better to precook some stuff. For example I'm cooking my meat on Christmas eve as I have a tiny oven, so will reheat on the day, and cook other stuff.

Look at everything you are cooking and check timings then write yourself a list of what needs to go on when.

Have you cooked a roast dinner before as it’s just the same really? If not, google for some step by step timings as there are plenty on sites such as BBC Good Food.

Make sure all your plates and serving dishes are hot.
I keep the turkey warm under foil and a towel while the vegetables are roasting.

Prep everything you can the day before, it takes a lot of hassle from the morning.
Also plan when you want to eat and work out oven timings backwards from there. I wrote it all down my first time doing it and now use that list every year with slight tweaks here and there.
The people eating the Christmas dinner will love it because you've gone to all the effort and they haven't had to, so don't worry about a burnt parsnip or a not crispy enough potato!

If you have cooked a roast dinner before it's just a same.

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A turkey should rest for at least 1.5 hours so get that roasted and then do the veg/pigs in blankets etc.

Buy what you can (e.g. gravy)

Decide what time you want to eat and then work back from there, so say you want to eat at 1pm make a list going backwards e.g. 12.50 heat up gravy, 12.45 peas on to boil etc.

Another good tip is to cook your turkey before everything else as it will save lots of space and you should really rest it for a good hour or two anyway. So I cook the Turkey, take it out and wrap it well in foil with a thick towel then placed over it and then put my roasties in once that's out.

I start by deciding when dinner is going to be served and calculate things back. So if the bird is going to take 2.5 hours plus 45min resting and you are going to eat at 3pm then it needs to go in at 11:45.

Par boil all your Vege so they can be roasted in the 45min resting time.

I do gravy the day before.

Have a cold starter if you are having one at all.

Have a mental run through of which pots are going to be in use at each time.... First one I did I ran out of pans. Oooppps! Next year I wrote things down and ran through the timings.

What are you cooking?
What are your side dishes?
How big is your oven?
How many people?
What time do you want to eat?

Thank you all! I had no idea meat needed to rest, when I do a roast I just take it out and serve it 😬

To answer these:

Turkey (I hope, it's what's been ordered in the shopping)
Roast potatoes, pigs in blankets (already in the freezer), stuffing, broccoli, carrots, sprouts, braised red cabbage
Normal sized oven, 2 shelves
4 adults 2 small children
Eating at 5pm, one of the adults and one of the children are very strict on their routines and dinner has to be at dinner time...

Get your spuds par-boiled the day before, and make your cabbage then too - it tastes better the day after. And forget steaming the pud, bung it in the microwave and serve with bought boozy cream.
Enjoy!

Don't know if it's still the same but the first Christmas dinner I cooked the gas pressure was low and the turkey was taking ages to cook.so allow plenty of time, as previous posters have said you can rest the bird in a warm place anyway. Calculate back from when you want to serve lunch and plan the timings accordingly. In my experience roast potatoes are the most sensitive to timings. And prepare as much veg as you can the day before.

And if timings are a bit out I follow my late mums advice. When she saw me shaking my fist at the oven when the turkey wouldn't cook she said 'Don't worry, we'll just pour everyone another drink and they won't care about the the delay....' Very safe advice...

Par cook potatoes on 23/24th, red cabbage can also be done earlier, 23/24th, reheat in the oven on the day, ditto par cooked sprouts with whatever bits you add. Carrots on one pan. broccoli in a steamer/colander on top. Potatoes to roast as turkey rests, sprouts, red cabbage in their serving dishes in the same oven to reheat.
Remember to take the gubbins out of the turkey first, I used to forget.

To be honest if it's your first time I would get a turkey crown and frozen roast potatoes and frozen roast veg , pre made gravy . Just cheat .

Make your red cabbage this week and freeze it or keep in the fridge until Sunday then it reheats fine in the microwave.
You need a pen and paper and write down cooking times and work backwards from when you want to eat.
Cook turkey, cover in foil and tea towels and leave to rest.
Par boil spuds and crank up the oven thermostat.
Drain and leave spuds to dry for a short while.
Heat oil for the spuds.
Add spuds to oil, coat and roast. Give them maybe 15 min head start on the pigs in blankets and stuffing going in the oven.
once the PIG / stuffing go in I'd wash the potato pan to use for the other veg and put the carrots on a low light with the sprouts and brocolli above to steam if you have a steamer. If not, put them on once the carrots come to the boil.
Ding red cabbage in the microwave followed by the gravy if you're buying it ready made.
If you don't have space in the oven to heat serving dishes then boil the kettle and fill them with hot water for a few minutes.

Write out a time line working backwards from when you want to serve it (and add an extra 10 mins as everything always takes longer. Dont forget to add when you need to preheat the oven and time to warm the plates and serving dishes. Work out if you can fit anything else in the oven when the turkey is in there and put the shelves in the right place. Allocate serving dishes and utensils for each food and label them
Buy disposable cooking trays to reduce washing up (only day of the year I do this) and a empty tin to pour hot fat into. Make sure you have all the ingredients you need and tin foil/washing up liquid/bin bags
Set the table (if you can) peel the potatoes and soak them in cold water, prep the veg and store them in the fridge in sealed bags the night before.

make the stuffing now, cook it and freeze it…then defrost the night before and reheat on the day.
Look at deliaonline.com as she has an awesome christmas countdown

what are you planning for desserts? Can you do something make ahead?

I love Mumsnet. Thank you all.

Dessert is some premade chocolate mouse bombe thing and cream. I've already thought it would be best not to risk making that.

If you aim to eat at 5pm.....do your timings for 4:40. Then you have some contingency.

(Havw emergency starters in case you get late.....e.g. bag of posh crisps to stick out)

Don't try to do everything.....I would reduce veg but 1 item....either red cabbage or brocoli. Do you really need it all?

I cook my roast potatoes and parsnips and stuffing on Christmas Eve, then just crisp them up in the oven on the day.

Prep all the other veg Christmas Eve.

Red cabbage I make in advance in the slow cooker and keep in the fridge.

Make a time plan, which just means counting back from dishing up time. Write it down as a list, so if the meat takes 3 hours, put it in the oven four hours before you are dishing up, then when the time is up, put it on the serving dish, cover with foil and towels to rest and keep hot. That will free the oven for roast veg. Parboiled potatoes take just under an hour in a very hot oven, and parsnips take half an hour from raw. If you're doing Christmas pudding it can be reheated in a slow cooker, which saves hob space, and a set of steamer pans is great for veg.
Don't bother with fancy recipes for the veg. Plain veg, cooked beautifully, is enough.

Forgot to mention, you can't roast potatoes with turkey fat, you need goose fat or something that will take a high heat. Maybe this time allow Aunt Bessie to take the strain, make sure the bags go to the bottom of the bin!

Watch Mary Berry's festive cooking on TV (tonight in England, tomorrow in Scotland).

My tactic is a written timetable listing what goes in the oven/pan at what time;

and several kitchen timers.

Anyone who did not cook or assist, is on washing up/clean up after dinner.

If you’re worried about gravy, Jamie Oliver has a recipe called ‘Get ahead gravy’ that you can make today/tomorrow and freeze. You can then just bring it out of the freezer first thing Christmas morning and reheat it in the pan.

I always prep the veg that needs peeling on the evening of Christmas Eve and leave in pots with cold water. I also cook my turkey as soon as I get up, then leave it to rest under foil and some tea towels and it stays warm for ages. Leaves room in the oven later for pigs in blankets and roast veg.

Most of your menu will happily keep warm if you fall behind on time. I’d be waiting until everything looks good to go before putting on the sprouts and broccoli which can turn mushy if kept waiting in water.

Good luck and enjoy a well deserved glass of fizz with dinner!

OH is our cook. He cooks the turkey Christmas eve and carves it next day and reheats, he thinks it carves easier when cold. We used to par boil and then roast the potatoes but now just get frozen roast potatoes. Starters are prawn cocktail and toast with pattie. I never really liked sprouts and he used to say they had to go on in August (he was joking) fortunately he only cooks them lightly with bacon and they're actually quite nice. He did say that the ones we have now are bred to taste differently to the way they used to taste.
Just don't fret, as other say it's just a roast dinner and the kids will be full of chocolate.