Christmas Day hosting tips

[PurpleSpottedLeopard]

Hi,

This year we will be hosting Christmas for the first time and I’m a little bit nervous! I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice to help the day run smoothly and keep everyone happy. I’m particularly concerned about cooking for everyone. There will be 8 adults and a toddler eating.

It’s been a difficult few months and it’s the first Christmas for the two youngest guests so I really want to make it extra special. Any advice, however small, will be very gratefully received. I’m a complete Christmas lover but novice host!

I prep all veg the day before; write out my schedule with careful timings (working back from the time I want to dish up), I buy ready made gravy and bread sauce, pigs in blankets and stuffing. I always cook the same sides etc and get my wider family to bring certain elements: pre-dinner nibbles; wine; puddings.

Thank you so much for all of the advice everyone! I really appreciate it. Planning on having a proper read though everything and making my own little schedule. I’m normally a fairly confident cook so I think it’s just the pressure of the fact it’s Christmas dinner and having extra people that’s making me so nervous.

Set the table early, and check through your dishes, glasses, cutlery, table cloth etc a few days ahead. Christmas Day is not the time to realise there’s a layer of greasy dust on the good glasses or the table cloth needs ironing.

Stock up on batteries and put them with screwdrivers and scissors somewhere handy (yet toddler safe). So many toys come cable tied, and without batteries.

Communicate the schedule - you don’t have to be a dictator about it but it’s important to let people know when you’re planning on serving up, or if your boiler can’t handle ten people showering at once and you need to stagger that. People can assume Christmas dinner is at 4 because it was for the last twenty years, and then they’re under your feet looking for a snack or gone for a walk when you’re about to dish up at 2 which is when you’ve had dinner in your family for the last 20 years. 😂

In my family all the older generation have various health issues and bringing a dining chair into the living room for someone who struggles to get up, or seating someone where they can easily get out to the bathroom can be the tiny thing that makes a difference to how relaxed they are. It’s easier to have the capacity to remember those things if you’re not overstretched and overwhelmed trying to cook an impressive meal. Don’t try and emulate a professional celebrity chef or even your mil on your first try. It’s far better to serve frozen roasties and be relaxed and cheerful. A stressed host puts a dampener on everything.

DC won’t sit for long at the table, so think about what happens afterwards. It’s often the point where crankiness and tantrums set in after a day of over stimulation and over indulgence. Ask your dh to step up at this point, especially if you’ve been cooking all morning and it’s your first chance to sit down.

1. The big one - everything takes longer than usual when the oven is full so add on extra e.g stuffing balls and pigs in blankets are more like 40 mins than 30 when it’s packed full of other stuff.
2. write a list with the times everything has to go in beforehand. Then on the day you’re shuffling trays rather than working stuff out.
3. have a think in advance what goes in what tray, put them in the oven, check they fit
4. don’t put pigs in blankets on the same tray as stuffing balls (learnt that one)
5. people want to help but don’t want to interfere. They’ll be glad of instructions - making drinks, laying the table etc.
6. no need to do lunch or fancy breakfast. Tell people help themselves to pannetone etc if they want anything before Christmas dinner.

You’ll be great. x

Make sure you know exactly what is going in which serving dishes - you don’t want to be trying to work that out while you’re serving up.

Unless you’ve got a huge fridge, use a lidded plastic storage crate for chilling beers and soft drinks and leave outside the kitchen door.

Work out what needs to go in the fridge and what doesn’t- meat, fish, dairy - in the fridge. Veggies, salad- in cool bags in the porch or somewhere else cold.

Work your timings out and work backwards from your chosen fishing up time. Write everything down and, yes, allow a little longer for pigs, stuffing etc if your oven is full. DH is a better cook than me but I do Christmas dinner because his sort of cooking is very free and that doesn’t work for Christmas- you need to sort out your timings.

While the turkey is resting, keep it warm - we use an old beach towel over the foil. Chuck it straight in the washing machine when you’re done.

We can’t set the table well in advance as we use it for breakfast, but you do need to be firm and get people to clear the table if they’ve been doing jigsaws or Lego on it. I had to be very firm one year when one relative thought I was being awkward- he seemed to think it could wait until 5 minutes before dinner.

We always leave the booze on the cold patio outside the kitchen door, cold enough to drink as if from fridge, whilst freeing up fridge space for other stuff