Christmas day dinner tips anyone?

[mumchie]

This will be my first year doing christmas so please feel free to share any tips.

don't stress...treat it like any other sunday lunch and you will be fine

Prepare as much as possible in advance.

I peel all veg on Xmas Eve and sit them in pots of cold water overnight.

If you're doing a ham, cook it the day before, too.

Don't panic about timings. The turkey can sit for a good 30 mins-an hour underneath some foil while you get veg and last minute bits ready (in fact, a good half hour to sit will make it much tastier, as all the juices and fat from the skinseep into the meat).

Use a good fat - like duck or goos fat - for yummy roast potatoes.

Cut corners where you can if it's your first time cooking Xmas dinner. M&S do lots of lovely ready-to-eat stuff.

Buy it all from COOK!!!

Prep all veg the night before (or even better get t'other half to do it or the kids if their old enough....really good way to get them to bed early ).

Make sure that your turkey fits in the oven.

Boil ham the night before and stud with cloves if doing that.

Offer plenty fo drink and also ahve a few yourself that way no will mind anyway.

I cheat I do all the veg the day before slightly underccoked and then just warm through on the day. Also do as much prep the day before i.e peeling potatoes and par boiling - ready for roasting the next day. Then give the kitchen a good clean it's easier to do it all the next day if the kitchen is tidy etc. Make a timeline and it avoids some panic on the day.

m&s take orders until december 12th

that's my tip!

see the thing is sunday luches and me don't go well together...just haven't got that nak it seems!

Second - everything ready prepared from M&S, or even better - get someone else to cook it!

It will be fine

Do all the veg the night before, if you are making stuffing make it ahead and freeze it.

I wrote a list of what to do at which time. A bit OTT maybe but I did it last year after working a night shift and it worked for me.

If you feel compelled to provide a starter, make sure it's something which is no fuss at all, and have it ready beforehand.

Unless your family are avid Christmas pud eaters, don't bother with it and have a cold dessert - much easier to just serve up.

As others have said, prepare any veggies you can the day before - leave in cold water or put in the fridge if there's any space.

If you're getting a frozen turkey, make sure you know how long it will take to defrost, and leave some extra.

And just don't stress - if there's some food on a plate, people will enjoy themselves, you don't need dozens of side dishes to have a good meal, so keep it simple.

Give yourself just enough sherry or champers to have a warm happy glow (my Grandma was a master of this... though occassional had the extra glass or two too many [hic] - much to everyone's amusement... this tended to delay the dinner)

Give everyone a peeling task and a sherry (there seem to be a theme building).

Prep sauces the day before (or even earlier and freeze) - and pin up a reminder somewhere.

Use gadgets if you have them (an electric steamer can be left on without worry of boiling over)
Microwaves are handy for heating sauces.
A dishwasher is a godsend - otherwise ask a friendly guest to help keep things washed up as you go along.

Don't forget a turkey / roast benefits from resting before carving - giving the perfect time to use the oven to warm plates, keep veg and stuffing hot etc.
Often the alpha male/female likes to do the carving - great - let them get on with it!
Hot gravy helps if the meat has got cool.

If you have non meat eaters that will eat fish, wrap a whole trout or salmon fillet in tin foil (season with a little olive oil, lemeon joice, salt & pepper) and pop into the oven c 25 mins before serving. You can whak them on top of the roasties so no need for an extra tin/tray.

I'm sure there will be loads of other great ideas form other soon.

I find that the turkey is easier to carve if it's been resting for a while, both of us are useless at carving slices!
I also have a small oven and can't fit potatoes in at the same time as the turkey, so I cook the turkey 1st, and while its in the oven I put all the other bits ready to go in their respective pans and dishes. I take the turkey out and cover it,and have a clear up. Then I stick the potatoes in, and I know I have about 3/4 of an hour to make the gravy and put everything on at the right times. I microwave most of the veg, I cook it while waiting for the potatoes but a minute under what is needed, so I zap them for the extra minute to cook/heat through before serving.
This year I'm going to pre wrap the bacon and sausage and freeze them, also yorkshire puds. before I first did christmas dinner for other people a few years ago, I used to have loads of roast dinners leading up to it to practise on!
Also m+s bread sauce is amazing!