Easy Christmas Party food: please share your top tips with Lidl #SchoolofChristmas: chance to win one of 5 £50 vouchers NOW CLOSED

[ZaneMumsnet]

Ahead of the festive season the Lidl team at #SchoolofChristmas would love to hear your top tips for tip top Christmas party food - what lessons have you learnt for hosting parties at Christmas that you can share with Lidl and MN?

VDd28

Please share your tips which can help make hosting a Christmas party (for kids or adults) a dream - whether an amazing recipe, short-cut, or your nod-and-a-wink trick to ensure you get to spend less time in the kitchen, and more time enjoying the party.

Everyone who posts their tip on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where 5 Mumsnetters will each win a £50 Lidl voucher.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

If you are doing lots of hot nibbles try to get stuff that needs the same timings and temperature to reduce hassle x

Get guests to bring food for a bring & share type thing - but arrange beforehand what they bring to avoid duplication.

Keep it simple, less stress and you deserve a break as well.

Prepare ahead of time :)

one of my favourites is sausages in honey/mustard. Easy to cook, very tasty and goes down a treat with both adults and children.

A cheese board with cheddar/brie/cranberry&wensleydale/stilton usually goes down well with some crackers and grapes.

Apart from that, I buy frozen party food and chuck it in the oven.

Store drinks and mixers outside saving fridge room for nibbles - the drinks will be perfectly chilled too! A cheeseboard, or pate and crusty bread always go down well and it is effortless to do.

I try to do as much as I can in advance, and make sure I have some lovely nibbles in the freezer that I can just stick in the oven if unexpected guests arrive.

Indulge! Don't worry about the calories just go for it and worry about it on the next day

don't be too elaborate - it will put more off than it will impress.

Homemade sausage rolls are easy but much better than shop bough.

party food all the way

I've been trying to perfect my grandma's pigs in blankets but I just can't make them like she does.
I also only buy a little christmas pud as only I like it and buying or making a big one would be a waste.

I buy a selection of different cheeses and then serve with home made crackers and cheese straws, delicious!

Preparation saves a lot of panic! Have everything organised, prepare what you can in advance and stick to your timing to make sure it's all ready at the same time. You can tell I'm a barrel of laughs at parties can't you?

Make everything but the sandwiches in advance to save time and a lot of it can be frozen when made like mince pies for example.

I'd go with the "buying in route". Plenty of supermarket special offers like 3 for the price of 2 etc. Saves a lot of work and stress. Top tip is choose everything that takes similar times to cook so everything is ready at the same time!

Angels and devils on horseback are much more inventive than pigs in blankets - oysters and prunes wrapped in bacon.

Keep it simple kids hate any fussy looking x

Organise it so that guests bring a dish. It makes the table interesting, gives everyone a chance to try eachother's specialities and taste new recipes. Just make sure everyone is bringing something different :)

Thank you all for your comments. The winners are unadulterateddad voyager50 Doubtfuldaphne skyeskyeskye and SuzCG :)

Woohooo

yay! thanks!!