Those who entertain at Xmas and/or do a Xmas meal for a large number of people - any tips or hints

[ZiggerZag]

Hello all! Have posted this in the Xmas section so it doesn’t offend :)

We have a blended family and do one Xmas meal usually the weekend before Xmas to have my family plus all the kids and partners around. We also invite any of the kids’ friends who are spending Xmas alone or have no plans so they don’t feel lonely.

Looking at numbers, pre the friends, we are 19 people. I would assume maybe 2 extra people will come so 21. In my family we have 2 vegans and 1 milk allergy and in dp’s family we have 2 vegans.

Last year we did
1 turkey, 1 beef and 1 mushroom wellington (for the vegans). We made all the veg vegan friendly because it was easier.

I think I over complicated pudding - I had prepared lots of elaborate desserts but in the end, all anyone really wanted was ice cream and mince pies :).

I also handmade all the crackers (WHAT WAS I THINKING!) - and promised I would never do that again 😂 so will be buying them this time

anyone else do a big meal? Any other ideas people have?

i want to be super prepared this year as I travel for work and I’m out the country 1 week a month till Xmas and time will go by very very quickly!

I do a large early Xmas the first weekend of December. I cook an extra large turkey crown, a large beef and Yorkshire puddings and DH does his lentil loaf. We use 2 of the hot hostess dishes to keep everything piping hot. That gives me 6 hot trays. I put pigs in blankets and sausage meat, carrots, peas, roast potatoes in 2 and mashed potatoes. I carve a tray of turkey and beef. Everything else just goes in serving dishes and everyone helps themselves. Gravy into 2 large gravy boats and often refilled too. I buy desserts so no cooking there. I buy crackers so no additional work there. I do put dishwasher on with saucepans and cooking things so it washes those things whilst we eat.

A second hot tray is an investment. I have 2 and when DS cooks for us all he borrows them ahead of the day. All good is kept piping hot.

Whenever we had big family Christmas we always shared out the work: one person would bring the veg ready to cook, one person would bring the starters, another couple of people would have to bring desserts, someone on crackers, wine, even down to serviettes and decorations

We host for roughly 24 each year with another 12 joining us in the evening for buffet.
Dh spends 2-3 days in the kitchen before Christmas, he absolutely loves it and is in his element so don’t feel sorry for him!
We do rib of beef, a ham and a turkey crown for the older relatives who like it, and pigs in blankets as the meat options. There are thankfully no faddy requirements and no allergies so that makes it much easier.
The meat is served up to save table space and then everything else is put on the table in serving dishes. I take plates to people and they start serving up their sides - this helps make things a bit more streamlined.
We have 4 pudding options and 4 cream
accompanients (double cream, clotted cream, ice cream, brandy butter).
It’s busy and bustling - Covid Christmas was my personal favourite as it was just the 5 of us but no one else in my family wants to do that again!

I love reading about these enormous Christmas gatherings and meals as they've never happened in my family! I suppose nobody ever had enough space and we didn't live near family so accommodation would have been an issue as well.

Anyway. In case you are struggling to think of a good vegan main course, I would suggest a goodwill pie, if you think lots of people might try it (to justify the amount of work). We are not vegan or vegetarian but don't eat that much meat. We all enjoyed this, it looks very spectacular and the leftovers are good too, always a bonus in my view. Very easily tweaked to add or omit bits you don't fancy or guests couldn't eat. It can also be made in stages and most, if not all, the components can be frozen so you could get it done little by little over the next few months and then it's just an assembly job on the day. https://bensfarmshop.co.uk/recipes/rainbow-goodwill-pie/

The author says this was his starting point: annajones.co.uk/recipes/goodwill-pie
and his nut roast recipe (an element of the pie) comes from here: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/dec/19/felicity-cloake-perfect-christmas-dinner-recipes-turkey-gravy-cranberry-sauce-nut-loaf-sprouts-roast-potatoes-red-cabbage-bread-sauce

Sarah Brown's cashew nut and mushroom roast is very good and a lot simpler: https://www.shoestringcottage.com/layered-cashew-and-mushroom-roast/

Another excellent nut roast type recipe is this one, which tastes wonderful and looks really lovely. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/jewelled-squash-chestnut-mushroom-wreath

Good luck!

Like others, I start to run down the freezer around end of September. Then I try and do I thing a week based on what we are having to eat that day. So week 1 is likely to be butternut squash mash. I roast 2 squashes, eat some, the rest gets frozen. I also make the stuffing and freeze it. I cook for large groups and one of the greatest time savers I discovered a couple of years ago was to roast and freeze the potatoes a few weeks before. Then on the day they only need to be reheated whilst the meat is resting. They also turn out crispier.

If you are short on freezer space, use large ziplock bags and flatten out the contents so you can stack them up. Makes defrosting times less too.

Don buy a new hostess trolley, start looking on eBay or marketplace. We often have them donated at our fete!

Thanks - some great ideas here! I’ve started stalking second hand hot plates etc on eBay.

Dp also loves cooking and is in his absolute element.

thanks for the vegan recipe - we do struggle to find a good vegan option. The mushroom wellington was good last year but a bit wet - that goodwill pie looks great, I will investigate.

also love the xylophone idea - my sister and her husband are music teachers and their 4 dc are all musical so I think this would work brilliantly 😂

We do 11 people so nowhere near the same amount but we have had manic meals and refined what we do and when…they key is being prepared and creating a plan.

Any veg prep before the day saves ages. Day before I peel all the sprouts etc and put them in zip locks. Prep carrots and peel them etc.
We make dishes we can also do the day before - dauphinoise and cauliflower cheese as we make the cheese sauce from scratch.

Starter we keep simply and make day before as sauces we make from scratch - prawn cocktail or melon.

We used to do pudding but people got too full. So we ordered M&S. Never got eaten. Now we keep that simple and last year people opted for cheese and crackers a few hours after dinner - if at all. Saves money and effort and just do cheese/mince pies and mega easy stuff.

We use tin foil tin etc to make clearing up easier for cooking.

Depending on your family we also outsource tasks. We make someone else responsible for puddings for example. Also my mum sorts the gammon and brings it over in the morning - helps with juggling oven space etc too then. We sorted cauli cheese when my sister hosted and took that round. We prepped the sausages and bacon the day before and put in tinfoil tray for cooking.

You can also get crackers with numbered bells and song sheets.

Red cabbage is everyone's favourite here!! My MIL makes a god awful one that tastes like vinegar but I make a slow braised one with loads of port and orange zest and cranberries that always gets eaten.

Agree with others, prep is your friend, chop and parboil everything relevant in advance, Yorkies freeze brilliantly. I also use a big plastic storage box in the garden with a lid (and a weight on top for good measure) to keep things cold when we run out of fridge space. Cauliflower cheese I also do in advance.

Decide what's important for you to make and what you're happy to outsource, I don't make our stuffing, I buy it in packets, I also buy all the desserts from M&S and Sainsbury's. I make the trifle but that can be done in advance and my 8 year old does it pretty much unsupervised at this point. I then tend to get something chocolatey, something fruity and something traditional to keep everyone happy.

We also eat a bit later which makes it easier, I aim to get Christmas dinner on the table sometime 3:30ish, I give chatgpt the quantities and dishes and it creates me a timetable to get everything hot and ready at the same time.

Absolutely get yourself a hot plate too, we have 2 they are life savers.

@ZiggerZag

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/vegan_christmas_recipes

We also do something similar a few days before Christmas. I 100% agree that fewer dishes is a better option - less complicated. I don't have a lot of suggestions for a vegan main but for the meat eaters I usually do a massive joint of something that benefits from long, slow cooking so that I can focus on the other dishes. Lamb shoulder is good. Or something like a beef rib which if you do a big one is very forgiving.

Then I think abou tsides in the context of what people will eat, oven space and what I can do in advance or earlier in the day. Last year I did a sort of meditteranean vibe with lots of sides/salads like tabbouleh, tzatziki, baba ganoushe and flatbreads. One year I did more traditional sides for a roast b ut with the beef it didn't feel too onerous - so I had some yorkshire puddings, a cauliflower cheese, and then piles of steamed greens. This also works quite well for the vegan and dairy free types of you get something nice as a centre piece for them.

I never do starters. Lots of snacks and nibbles - often shop bought. Pates, bread, smoked salmon and charcuterie, olives etc. Sometimes I buy things pre-battered like prawns that can be cooked in the oven but depends on oven space.

Dessert I either do one sort of show stopper than I can make in advance - like a cake or fanc tart or meringue - or I buy in ice cream and simple tarts. I did get those catering mini tarts thing from (I think) waitrose one year and put them all out on trays like you iuse for high tea and they went down a treat as everyone nibbled on whatever they fancied. Cheese is also a good option. Or both! :)

One of the best ideas I’ve seen on here is to set up a separate drinks station away from the kitchen and put someone in charge of it. Keeps people out of the kitchen. Person in charge can come in to grab bottles as needed. Also have somewhere to put the empties (hallway???)

Also just to add I bought a second table top oven last year. It was ok to metro things hot but slow to cook. Think I would have been better with the 2 hot plates idea. I have one and it was good so 2 might be a good idea.