Festive but extremely quick and easy Christmas lunch ideas

[LazyCrazyAndStupid]

Have at the last minute invited some friends for Christmas day for lunch. I'm a lousy cook and also have two very young children so very little time to prepare anything. I'd still like to dish up something tasty and special. Any ideas? I'm a vegetarian so have got no idea how to cook meat but wouldn't mind offering meat dishes for our friends.

I'm also happy (in fact very, very happy) to use ready made food or any short cuts if anyone can recommend anything but nothing insanely expensive, please.

*sparkling with orange juice or cranberry juice

something chocolate or even a victoria sponge for pudding. 😛

I would make Delia’s roasted butter nut squash soup

(sorry can’t link but Google; it’s very easy, delicious and goes a long way if you serve it in small espresso cups or similar)

WTF? Sorry, I just can't get over the weirdness of this. Of course it goes a long way if you're doling out amounts so ludicrously tiny that people will spend the next ten years saying "Remember when we went round Bertie's for Christmas lunch and she served us a spoonful of soup for a starter and a sausage roll for the main course?" If someone served me soup in an espresso cup I'd be a) confused about how to manoeuvre my spoon in there and b) disgruntled about only getting 80ml of soup. Even my recovered-anorexic mum with funny anxieties about portion size serves up butternut squash soup by the bowlful.

@FurryDandelionSeekingMissile must've meant the soup as a starter? 🤷‍♀️

Even as a starter that's an extremely tiny portion, served in a really strange way.

Little people? 🤷‍♀️ 🤣

If you want something quick and easy but festive, i do Christmas bagels. (Im veggie too, but these go down VERY well with others)

Toast the bagel.
Mayonnaise on the bottom
Some crumbled stuffing
Some turkey or chicken slices
A few slices of bacon
Cranberry sauce on the top

You could always serve with soup or chips.

They are very filling anf yhe older kids could help you put it together.

Sounds like op wants something close to a traditional menu. Get oven thermometer first though to check your oven. A (small) ham that’s already been cooked (so can be eaten cold) and all you have to do is heat it through. A cranberry relish would be festive and is so easy. Throw a bag of cranberries in a pan and add sugar then cook, at the end stir in a little bourbon or brandy (2 tablespoons), so good. Many recipes online. So,

Simple cheese board 2 cheeses and grapes and crackers (totally optional)
ham, heated through an hour before meal
cranberry relish, make a day or two ahead and chill
bought rolls heated up, 15 minutes before (cute butter shapes? 😀)
tray of roast potatoes, bought or make with easy baby potatoes no peeling
tray of vegetables, you are good at this
bought cake or pie, simple
Christmas punch, very festive and easy
Christmas crackers at each plate

You can do this!

Not read many PP - but you do know you have to defrost any frozen meat/turkey/chicken before you cook it? Some items will need 24 hours to defrost or more if a whole turkey. Is that why your chicken took so long to cook?

I'm sceptical about this thread. hard to believe OP is genuine

But, I'll bite anyway

Christmas bagels above looks good

And lots of crisps

In honesty, if it took 2.5hours to cook a chicken breast in your oven I wouldn't be putting a turkey anywhere near it unless you want to give everyone food poisoning for christmas!
I would stick to what you're used to cooking or do a buffet of ready made stuff.

If no-one is expecting Christmas food AND you’re a vegetarian, I would do massive jacket potatoes with a big bowl of beam chilli, another big bowl of veggie sausage casserole and piles of cheese and sour cream. And a jar of cranberry sauce for people to dollop on top if they want to feel festive! 😁

Those espresso cup soups would make a nice amuse bouche but not a full starter!

If you are that bad a cook tell the adults coming to bring a menu item each.

@Slimjimtobe
Can you tell me where you get it from please and how many it feeds
Thanks

OP, do you have a slow cooker or a really big pot you can use to cook on the stove?

If so you could maybe do some kind of stew with crusty bread?

It sounds like your oven might be fucked.

Do a massive tray of roast veggies, some roast spuds, pigs in blankets (buy a pack and follow instructions), vegi sausages (or nut roast) for you and maybe some yorkshires and gravy. Yum!
im a meat eater and find big joints of meat etc are overrated. Kids only really like sausages etc!

Imagine how long the baked potatoes will take!

Stop suggesting oven food! He oven doesn't work properly.

Er, thanks for calling my suggestions “wierd” FurryDandelion.

I was thinking of food that would appeal to children - they often don’t like a massive bowl of soup. Just a tiny cup. Followed by a sausage wreath along with a salad for the adults. I have a lot of experience cooking for children btw.

Butternut squash is sweet tasting and sausage rolls aren’t “threatening” foods for youngsters or teens. And my comment about it going a long way was in response to op’s request to it all not costing a fortune.

But it’s all hypothetical anyway as you need a functioning oven to make both.

I think a big slow cooked stew, chilli or mild curry cooked on top of the stove is probably a better option if you want to avoid potential food poisoning.

Good luck op!

Nah I stand by it. It's weird for a starter for adults, and you didn't specify it was just for the children. Most of the people at the party are adults. You might get away with it as a canapé?

Given that you say your friends aren't expecting a Turkey roast, and that your oven is a bit dodgy I wouldn't go with any of the oven ready meat choices suggested . I think a buffet is by far the safest option - and you can do some traditional Christmassy things such as roast potatoes and pigs in blanket as part of the buffet.

Hit the freezer aisle for your meat, get a turkey crown or 3 bird roast. Buy ready prepped food

😆😆. What do you mean “nah” as though you are the rightful judge and jury on all subjects culinary Furrydandelion?

Hardly got the energy but … whatever…
… you are entitled to your opinion.
And I stand by my menu.

Pps, including myself, are suggesting a variety of ideas that the op is free to consider to accept or reject as she sees fit.

I didn’t state it was specifically for dc precisely because there are mainly adults in attendance but if you read op
posts she is asking what teens and dc like, so she obviously wants it to appeal to them.

And soup is a perfectly standard starter for adults.

Each to their own.

No, it was "nah" as in just "nah". Same as if we were chatting in person. It indicates disagreement in a colloquial way, pulls down the formality level a bit, and makes the statement following it a bit less bald. It's really not that deep.

We do at least agree that soup is a perfectly normal starter, though.

Yes, the avoidance of food poisoning is definitely wanted!!

I really wanted to make some meat options for the older kids. They have specifically asked to come to ours so I want it to be special. We've had them for Christmas previously and the food has always been quite rubbish. Lots of Quorn oven snacks kind of things and jalapeno poppers and pasta.

I'm planning to go shopping on Friday, which is the earliest I can do it. Supermarkets will still have stuff won't they?