How to not spend all Christmas day in the kitchen?

[MerryLilac]

I'm cooking my first ever Christmas dinner this year. 15 people. I'm nervous. I'm unorganised. I'm not a confident cook.

Can you share any tips on how to make the day less stressful? What do you prepare in advance to make it easier on the day?

No! They get in the way, not enough room for everyone faffing about, unless you have a huge kitchen! Too many cooks and all that! Have two trusted helpers and shoo the rest into the living room.

I make everything ahead of time except the meat obvs! I buy good quality, large, foil trays and I get all veg the weekend before, from a proper green grocer, I follow Jamie Oliver’s recipes for all veg and then freeze, I do this with his get ahead gravy too. Then, I get my foil trays out on Christmas Eve. I will have already made a list of timings that I follow. I do prawn cocktails for starters which I do in the morning.

Buy a large turkey crown not the full bird, they are much easier to cook, take up less oven space and everybody prefers the breast meat anyway.

Buy potatoes, gravy (lots!) and red cabbage ready made.

Prepared parsnips freeze well, carrots and sprouts are best freshly done.

Lay the table early, or better still get someone else to do it, making sure you have all the serving dishes you’ll need.

Make sure your plates and serving dishes are warm, because things go cold very quickly while everyone is being served and waiting to eat.

Above all, don’t expect perfection of yourself and don’t apologise for bits that you think aren’t quite right. No-one will notice!

Down tools immediately after eating. Make it known that your job is done, so everyone else is welcome to clear the table, sort out the chaos in the kitchen and wash up; and while they are at it, they can bring you a cup of tea while you put your feet up and accept all their praise for a job well done.

This, with bells on, op! And never offer again!

It doesn’t take all day, even for 15. Yes a large turkey takes time but nothing else is particularly time consuming. The trick it to avoid really fancy sides and stick to dishes that you can easily make for 15, turkey aside it’s 2-3 hours of work/cooking for 15 people and don’t be afraid to use shortcuts.

my menu is
turkey
vegan thing (bought frozen)
roast potatoes (peel, cut and leave in water day before or get someone else to do them)
roasted winter veg (carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, no need to peel but cut so all will be cooked in 45 minutes)
Mashed swede, peel cut into chunks and put into water day before
red cabbage, easy crowd pleaser, I do with apples and sultanas
brussels, I usually microwave so quick
peas for the fussy one who doesn’t eat anything else, frozen so quick no prep
stuffing, one traditional sage and onion, one with half sage and onion half sausage meat plus a handful of cranberries and couple teaspoons cinnamon, supermarket own brand mix
gravy, I know controversial but we use normal granules as actually vegan.
cranberry and orange relish, my own version, takes 15 minutes

Write out a schedule. Set the table the night before and prep everything you can the day before. It’s just a roast, but for 15 people the challenge will be volume. The oven will get very crowded - are you doing a turkey? One big or two smaller ones? Make sure if it’s one it will fit! Roasties? Aunt Bessie’s will do here but you’ll have to cook a fair few! Plus anything rise (like stuffing, parsnips) that needs to go in the oven. Turkey can rest for up to an hour and a half freeing space. And if you have just four burners they will be taken up by veg, bread sauce, more veg etc.
Ask for someone else to bring dessert (or two for that number). We don’t bother with starters, but if you want prepare something that doesn’t need to be cooked, or nibbles that can be passed around before sitting down.
Ask (in advance) for a helper.

I remember doing my first Xmas dinner about 14 years ago, I would of been 21, and it was only for 4 of us, we had an electric cooker and I didn’t realise my boyfriend at the time had turned the hob on 🤣 and I had a Pyrex dish getting ready to pour my Yorkshire mix in, at this point my veg is on the other hob, I had my roast potato’s out to give them a turn over and my meat was to the side as that was done, and then all of a sudden smash, my Pyrex dish had exploded from the heat coming from the hob 🤣 all my veg and roast potato’s was ruined as this dish had exploded into tiny little pieces and went in the food 🤣🤣 never cooked Xmas dinner again 🤣 but you will be fine 🤭 xx

Buy tubs of gravy and bread sauce and they can be microwaved and decanted.

Don’t do it. You aren’t confident and it’s a big task.

M&S do some great sides, already to chuck in the oven. I know it’s a bit of a cop out, but I think it’s alright!

Can recommend the cauli cheese and honey roast parsnips

Measure all the dry ingredients in advance.

prep and chop all the vegetables up to 2 days before.

prep dishes like potatoes and any other root vegetables the day before and then just heat on the actual day.

I agree!!

We hosted a family BBQ this summer and half of the people thought it was really thoughtful to stand with me in the kitchen and chat - they felt bad for not being involved. Lovely intentions, but realistically they were right in the way and didn’t help at all

Far too many chefs and all that!

Do you cook the dauphinoise potatoes and then reheat? Whenever I try this I find the cream "splits". Any tips to stop this happening?

Btw, my top tip is to rest the turkey for a good couple of hours or so, which gives plenty of time to get everything else ready.

dont so starters
buy gravy, yorkies, stuffing and PIB (and roasties if you aren’t confident)
I prep all the veg as the turkey goes in. I then cook all the oven stuff and stick it in those foil trays with lids and either keep warm or reheat before serving, means they are also hot when served.
I cook the last of the veg as DH carves and stick YP in oven.

Cooking a banquet for 15 is a baptism of fire!

When I started cooking larger Christmas meals, I armed myself with Delia's Christmas book. It is brilliant and I think stands the test of time.

You need to divvy up jobs, especially things like having someone in charge of setting the table, someone in charge of drinks. You also need someone to sort out all the non-food detritus - getting rid of wrapping paper, etc.

As for food - keep it simple! You can buy ready made sides if you really need to, but most of these actually don't make your life a lot easier, or just replace things that you can make in advance.

Our Christmas lunch is:
turkey with giblet gravy
roast (air fryer) and mashed potatoes
carrots (prepare the day before, and cook them once the turkey is out)
parsnips (prepare the day before and roast after the turkey is out)
brussel sprouts (prepare the day before and cook once the turkey is out)
bread sauce (prepare a few days before)
cranberry sauce (prepare a few days before)
pigs in blankets (buy)
stuffing. (prepare a few days before).

We never bother with starters or puddings, but you might need to if you are feeding 15. You might also need a second meat (ham).

If you need a veggie centrepiece, this needs a bit of thought as I don't find they lend themselves to being made in advance, unless it is something like a nut roast (Mary Berry).

Don't turn down any help!
Make a spreadsheet of what you need to buy.

That’s not ‘Christmas dinner’, though…

Buy as much as possible ready made from M&D:
A ready-stuffed turkey crown and follow the instructions. Get it cooked and then stick it somewhere warm, covered in foil and tea towels to keep warm.

Then whack in whatever else needs cooking:
Aunt Bessie’s frozen roast potatoes
M&S ready made cauliflower cheese - decant it into your own serving dish to cook it in

Buy M&S microwaveable punnets of carrot and swede mash

Ready-peeled baby sprouts - bring to the boil for a few minutes and drain when you’re ready to serve
M&S ready made fresh gravy - put a splash of wine/ soy sauce to juj it up
M&S fresh cranberry sauce and bread sauce - into nice dishes on the table

M&S Christmas pudding - microwaved and serve with cream

I think I’m done with turkey. Buy a beef wellington from the butcher.

Keep it old fashioned and basic - nut loaf or roast - ready in it’s tray (foil) a day or two ahead in the fridge.

potatoes, carrots, parsnips, peel morning or day before, keep in cold water. I can’t fit mine in the fridge so I use the garage. Stuffing made ahead.

one green veg or red cabbage do any veg trimmings before.

cake and pudding and trifle made ahead.

make a list of oven timings

cheese, crackers, mince pies, satsumas, nuts, chocolates.

Done. Add in anything extra people bring.

morning of, turn on the oven, put in the roast, drain veg, massage with fat, salt pepper and herbs.

put in potatoes and nut roast and stuffing all timed to an hour before eating. Everything is slower in a full oven - but should be done by half an hour before.

cook the green veg and gravy while chatting to “helpers” make someone else set the table.

serve.

We might do appetizers later but more likely Christmas eve and boxing day. Christmas day we just do the main feast and cheese and stuff. I think I’ll need an extra oven this year with almost 20

This is what I do every year. I hate cooking and it stresses me out. I buy the lot and shove in oven. Job done.

My biggest tip is to remember that everyone will be grateful that you're doing it! Ask for help, delegate some tasks (like putting someone in charge of drinks or asking someone to provide a pudding etc), do as much as you can before the day and know that no one should be judging you for the food.

Get others to bring stuff, allocate pigs in blankets to Aunty Pru, roasties to Cousin Dave, stuffing to Uncle Fred, and so on. Then you do the turkey, gravy, and the veg, and the veg can be prepped and cooked the day before and reheated in the microwave.