Boxing day, anti-anticlimax buffet, what on earth do i serve?

[MadCreamLady]

This will be to 11 adults and 5 children, so apart from a good bottle of brandy for me (i'll need it), what should i serve? They are my ILs and my mum - all used to boring traditional food, so was thinking of having something a bit unusual, but that they wont turn their noses up at either.

I was thinking of lots of french bread, a big vat of chilli, some salad and traditional party foods for the children? Also, would need an alternative to chilli in case ILs fussy.

Also, how do i entertain them and make it special. Every year the whole family descend on my MIL and FIL and they end up run ragged, both xmas and boxing day - i would have them xmas day but its not logistically possible, so a boxind day buffet where MIL would be BANNED from the kitchen and not allowed to pick up anything to put it in the bin (you know what they are like) is something i would really like to do, it would be good for my mum too.

Any bright ideas, things to do - we live by the sea, they live in london, so maybe a walk, but FIL can't walk more than about 100 yards so would mean him being left on his own - which he might actually appreciate, but might not, so that would have to be played by ear, plus they are cold wusses iykwim.

My mum always serves leftovers and chips

No very glam - but always a favourite (holidays have been delayed to occur after boxing day lunch)

leftover meat, salad and potatoe salad.

Last year I did 3 pot-based dishes to serve with crunchy bread and jacket potatoes - chilli, beef caesserole, veg casserole. I also did a smaller fish based dish (for me )Made it all in advance and just heated up before serving.

This year I am thinking of doing 3 roasts (chicken, beef and pork I think) to serve with some green salad and crusty bread.

Have done full works buffets int he last and it is a real faf IME.

We can;t do left overs as only 3 of us on Christmas Day (DH and 6y DD eat meat, I don;t) so don;t do full roast.

I was going to suggest a curry and all the accompanying bits, so chilli sounds good. How about a walk for those who want to and then hot choc and card games afterwards? You could make the walk more entertaining for the children by having a treasure hunt type thing - eg: things to fit in a matchbox; or things beginning with letters of their names.

Geocaching instead of a walk

Chilli a good idea as you can make it beforehand. My family would eat it but my grandparents would have been very suspicious of it!

cold turkey, bubble and squeak and chips

Sausage and mash

spaghetti bolognaise

shepherds pie

curry

whole salmon, salad, new potatoes, french bread.

Trivial pursuit? Mixing up the ages into 2 groups

you could poach a whole salmon? If you don't mess around making a bouillon from scratch (I just use water, white wine and some herbs) it only takes about 15 minutes to cook. Fairly traditional yet different - good for cold buffet.

Am liking the idea of the salmon - i lurrrve salmon (um, don't even know what a bouillon is though ). How do you poach it?

Also, you can tell im a bit of a culinary virgin - When you say, you cooked the chilli and casserole in advance, then reheated, - how far in advance? Don't much fancy making it xmas evening The casserole is a simple bung in the oven job though, so could do that first thing in AM i guess. But would be good to have the chilli pre made.

You could make and freeze chilli or a casserole well before Xmas.

I don't have a microwave, i have an irrational fear of them......so can't freeze, can i?

bouillon is some fancy type of stock.
I have a "fish kettle" which you can just about get a whole salmon in but you can do it wrapped in foil in a large baking tray across 2 burners on the hob.
Try this site for info.

sorry, I should have been clearer about the "wrapped in foil etc." bit - you would still need to have the liquid in with the fish, so not wrapped in foil tightly! Just using the foil as a container for the fish and the liquid, and then close the edges of the foil together to make a poaching "envelope"

If you do make them before christmas and freeze them, you do not need microwave to de-frost.

Just remember to take it out the night before and it will defrost overnight.

Do you have a big enough frezer to fit french bread in? That would be tricky to buy on Boxing Day. Or you could get those 'partbaked' rolls or baguettes that are vacuum packed and you just put in the oven for 10 mins.

You might be able to find a fishmonger who will cook the salmon for you. (My mum buys filleted sides of salmon rather than whole salmon. With butter dotted on top, wrapped in foil and baked in the oven. Can have hot or cold)

Ahhhh, i didn't think about the freshness of the baguettes - i'm pretty sure that Tesco will be open on Boxing Day so can zip up there and get some mabye.

I think i might do the salmon fillet, although they do sell it dirt cheap at the harbour, again, that is going to have to be frozen isn't it? Maybe i will give that a miss as I love salmon, my DP isn't keen, my mother hates it and im not sure about anyone else.

I am going to do the chilli (cos thats almost impossible to screw up - i hope) and a chicken casserole - will freeze the chilli and cook the casserole fresh i think.

I now have to repeat the mantra over and over again - I AM a domestic goddess, i AM a domestic goddess .

I tend to host Boxing Day also. Last year I did Nigella's ham in coca-cola which I cooked beforehand, then sliced and put back in the oven in some of the juices to warm through. I also did sausages (favourite with the DC), lovely mash with double cream in it, which I also made beforehand and warmed back up in the oven so it had a crunchy top on, and loads of raost veg, plus onion gravy. My oven was full to bursting but it meant things didn't need watching.

I would do the partbaked baguettes rather than venturing to Tesco on Boxing Day and running the risk of them not having baguettes in.

I think a couple of big one pot dishes with crusty bread, jacket potatoes, rice, salad etc is a great idea. You can make them beforehand and minimise the stress for yourself.

Why don't you get those part baked frozen baguettes and whack them in the oven on the day? Then they'll be all fresh and warm.

Do the ham in coke - very easy, with sausages and mash. I have also done home-made baked beans which were very yummy.

We have "Boxing Day pie" - all the leftovers from Christmas dinner (turkey, potatoes, veg, stuffing) mixed in a white sauce and topped with pastry & served with gravy. So it's kind of traditional but with a twist and we all actually prefer it to Christmas dinner! Might not be special enough for you, but it does taste fantastic, and am sure your IL's & Mum would enjoy it. You could always serve that with something else such as salmon as an option.

A favourite game in our house which works for all ages is to stick the name of someone famous on a piece of paper on each person's forehead, then ask questions to see if you can work out who you are. Your keep asking questions until you get a "no".

Watching this thread intently as I host Boxing Day also.

ham in coke? That sounds nice, i've had pigeon in coke, but i dont fancy rotten birds for my boxind day lunch

I always do a ham with a full roast again.

we used to have lovely leftovers but these days there aren't any left! I only cook what's needed on the day...

A good party game for both adults and kids is who can pick up the cereal box without using their hands. Just use an empty cereal packet placed in the middle of the room and everyone takes it in turns to pick it up with their teeth (hands behind back). The size of the cereal packet is reduced each time by taking off an inch of so each time.It gets quite competitive in our house!!