I was crapping myself about making a turkey and all the trimmings on my own but I dont have a bloody cooker anyway lol

[TrinityRhino]

dh always did xmas dinner from forever
so I have been panicking

but only the grill bit works on the oven and you cant fit a bird in there

so we'll have chicken breasts and a leg for dd1 (can you buy just a leg?)

and I'll just panic about the trimmings lol

sounds ok to me trinity better than being at my mawsquaw's anyway

can we swap?

Ahh Trin, wish I could send you a cooker!

You can buy legs in twos, I never buy a whole bird

(moaningminniwhingesagain in new guise)

You can just buy chicken legs yes. You can also get 'turkey platters' with all the trimmings for one and nuke 'em).

Incidentally you can always buy cooked turkey and just grill it to heat it through.

Trimmings: kids like chips and chocolate in preference to sprouts I find

lol
still gonna panic though
I always overcook meat as I'm terrified of getting poisoned by not cooked enough meat and dh always used to help me be calm

I have 3 adults and 3 kids to cook for
I'm bloody useless at the best of times

and I feel like I really need to make xmas great for the kids this year
I just haven't even started thinking about it yet
I feel like I've just started living again since iyswim
I have large gaps in my memory of the last 3 months...weird

I can do homemade chips
maybe we will start some funky, cvrazy new traditond for our strange little family this year

next year I'll be a granny

I always overcook meat too trinity (exactly for that same reason).

you know what the answer is? Gravy and lots of it. Disguises the overcooked turkey (and you can get bisto and use the kettle to make it!)

If you have a hob, you can actually get cooked turkey or chicken and heat it slowly in the gravy and it gets heated and more moist. Works well if you have overdone it too.

hmmm I would panic that its not heated through enough

ugh, I hate being neurotic

What about getting a Halogen oven here £60 but cheaper than a new oven.

have you got a nice friend who would cook your meat for you the day before?

for the trimmings,
you can cook roasties the same way as chips,
those mini cocktail sausages will do instead of pigs in blankets
veg can be boiled, or steamed in the microwave
bisto gravy

not sure how you will do stuffing, can you buy stuffing balls ready cooked?

Oh yes, What about the ready cooked chickens in Asda, £4 each.

If your not fussed about turkey, "Roast" Beef is lovely done in the slow cooker (it will be well done obv).

I make my stuffing on the hob.

Melt loads of butter
soften chopped onions
add loads of breadcrumbs
loads of chopped parsley
herbs you like
loads of salt and pepper
stir
done.

thanks guys
I dont want to buy something new at the mo cause I will need to replace the oven

but I think we will do the breasts and legs thing
seems the easiest

do you mean I can par boil and then deep fry the roast pots??
is that nice?

stuffing on the hob sounds like a plan

we have the hob woeking fine so lots of nice veg and stuffing with some lovely breasts and legs of chicken/turkey
kettle and jug for gravy

no problem

You could always go out for dinner Trinity and save on both cooking and washing up?

Then just get some easy peasy bits to make for supper...

hmmm
I dont think that christmas dinner out with the three young kids would be less stressful tbh lol

You could do the chicken in the slow cooker - put it on low Christmas eve before you go to bed. No problems with it being undercooked and it would stay moist. nice smell to wake up to as well!

trinity- roasties are lovely and crispy when you deep fry them, its what the French call saute' potatoes (I think).

If you give them a good shake when they are par boiled they will be crispier still. Try them one night for tea

Takes much less time too

AFAIK for the best roast potatoes you should peel them then leave them to soak in water for an hour, drain well (massively important if you're going to deep fry them!) and then roll them in flour or polenta then drop them in very hot fat to roast. A Deep fat fryer should work a treat.

Secret tip - my Grandma also rolled hers in marmite, just a teaspoonful in the fat she coated them in for roasting, and they always had the most wonderful, meaty flavour. In your case, I'd maybe roll them in oily marmite before the flour Trin