Hit me with your Christmas Day running orders/tips!

[FloraMaguire]

My second time hosting this year. Last year was chaos, ran super late, I forgot to use my lovely table decorations etc. in U.K. defence we’d moved house 5 days beforehand but it wasn’t the event of my dreams!

This year I'm prepping in advance as far as possible (freezing parboiled potatoes/parsnips, buying foil baking trays etc) but does anyone have any failsafe ways of keeping things on track and ensuring cleaning up etc isn’t a giant pain at the end?

Yes I always prep my turkey on Christmas eve afternoon , that way if you unwrap it and something is wrong , you have time to arrange something else . My turkey is always prepped and basted ready to in oven on Christmas morning .
It goes without saying to peel veg night before too .

Delia and Mary both have really good time plans in their Christmas books too

Thanks everyone that has helped with timings! For what it’s worth, my extended family and I love making massive multi-course meals (growing up we had a 9 course Xmas dinner) so I definitely err on the poncing/doing it all from scratch side.

We’re having porchetta rather than Turkey or beef but it’s pretty straightforward to cook I think.

I’m making a Black Forest pavlova tower for pudding but again that can be all prepped and just assembled on the day quite quickly I hope.

Prep ALL veg the day before. It can sit in the pan it's going to be cooked in, in water overnight.
Make sure the pigs in blankets are prepped and on a tray ready to put in the oven the next day
Work out what time you want to eat and work back timings from there
As my kids are adults now the day is much more relaxed and we aren't as fussed by how the day goes. We've always eaten dinner early evening as we have a large breakfast.
Try to enjoy the day as much as you can as it's your day too

the Taming Twins timetable is great.

https://www.tamingtwins.com/christmas-day/

Every year our Christmas is the same. I'm uber organised on Christmas Eve and set the table, prep all the veg, do all the meal preps like pigs in blankets etc and be as organised as I can.

Christmas Day, I have a glass of prosecco and it all goes to shit

Me and my son prep all the veg on christmas eve. Roasting veg goes in freezer bags with oil and seasoning ready to tip into roasting tins, other veg in pans of water. Stuffings and pigs in blankets ready to go in the oven and cranberry sauce made.
On the day it's just a matter of getting things cooked and kept hot. Pre warming the plates in the dishwasher or microwave helps.
Using a slow cooker/microwave/air fryer for keeping things warm can help too.

Lol my husband opens the bucks fizz too . Maybe that 's why I do all the prep on Christmas eve ! But then again I do the prep while listening to carols and drinking sherry .

Do everything on Christmas Eve
Delegate starters and puddings to other relatives
We have a big gap between each course so that I can sit and enjoy the food and everyone else can digest before the next one.
Remember its just a fancy roast dinner and don't get too stressed
Anyone not cooking cleans ups

@FloraMaguire please share your Black Forest pavlova tower recipe! Or at least the Black Forest bits anyway 😊

@stclair I haven’t actually made it before! But looks very good:
https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/baking-and-desserts/black-forest-meringue-tower/

What’s the need to be so rude? That poster is just giving a run down of the food timings not everything she does over Christmas 🙄. It doesn’t sound stressful at all to me, just organised! We do pretty much the same aside from prepping all veg the day before and have a fabulous time cooking, interspersed with champagne, presents and chatting with our guests - no stress involved and a lovely home cooked meal which is really important to us.

It’s the job of the guests to ensure dogs are walked, topping up drinks and keep on top of the dishwasher, which leaves plenty of time for the cooks to relax and enjoy the day.

Your day sounds way more stressful to me to be honest with the constant in and out of the house for walks despite the constant repeating of how unstressed you are!

@FloraMaguire that looks amazing, thanks!