Christmas Dinner tips and tricks: share them with Aunt Bessie's - chance to win £300

[AnnMumsnet]

The team at Aunt Bessie's would love to know all about your Christmas Dinner tips and tricks - what makes your festive roast dinner go down well with your family? Do you prepare in advance? What really makes it special in your household? What's the main dish - do you have a turkey or goose? Or something else? What about vegetarian dishes? What about accompaniments like bread sauce, cranberry sauce and stuffing - do you make your own following family recipes, buy it in or something else?

Aunt Bessie's say "Christmas Dinner is about more than just great food – it’s about gathering the family around the table and enjoying the moments that we have together. So we’d love to hear how you make the most of this time by telling us your quick tips and tricks that make room for the important things."

Add your tips for the best Christmas Dinner below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one person will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions Apply

Prep as much as possible in advance. My bacon wrapped chipolatas, sausage meat stuffing balls, and Jamie get ahead gravy are already peppers and in the freezer, as is the joint of topside and a butter based turkey crown. A whole turkey is a faff - a turkey crown is much easier to cook, carve and nicer to eat too, or that's what my gang think anyway! We do beef and turkey, so everyone's happy, and lots of roast spuds, carrots, onions and parsnips. I'll prep the root veg on Xmas eve, and also make the pud (this year it'll be tiramisu and warm chocolate brownies). I ask my family who are visiting to bring stuff to spread the load a bit. Looking forward to it!

Cut corners! We've got frozen honey roast parsnips and pre made gravy this year! I just want to cheat!

The roast potatoes and gravy are what makes it in this house, nobody would even notice if anything else was missing because that's all we concentrate on!

We make sure it goes well by all helping with preparation and then 2 people pulling it all together with the help of a timeline of when things should be turned on and what needs doing next, it takes the stress out of it all

Use as much prepared stuff as you can so roasties and parsnips etc.
Disposable oven trays
Crown of turkey not a whole bird
Fresh gravy
Peel veg the night before

It’s only one meal and I don’t want to spend the whole day making it - I want to see the kids!

Peel the veggies the night before. It's all about the prep!

I have a master list of food that we buy each year. From about mid-September the list comes out and I start monitoring the supermarket offers for things that are non-perishable. By early December we have everything bar the fresh food.

We always have Aunt Bessie's frozen parsnips because we prefer them to fresh. I do make roast potatoes but we still keep a bag of Aunt Bessie's frozen roasties in just in case.
Cranberry sauce is already made and in the freezer, will just need warming through. All the veggies will go in an electric steamer to free up space on the hob and we have an electric plate-warmer too.

We have canapés through the morning and don't bother with a starter. Timings are all worked out in advance but I don't stress if things are running ten minutes late, just keep everyone's glass topped up.

Write a list of times that all the different Christmas dinner ingredients need to go in and out of the oven. Makes it a lot easier.

Buy fresh cranberries. Add them to a pan with water and a few teaspoons of sugar then boil them down, stirring occasionally, until they pop and turn into a lovely rich sauce. Easy!

Add fresh cranberries to a pan of water, with sugar if liked. Boil them down until they pop and turn into a lovely rich sauce. Easy!

Writing down all the timings in advance is key for juggling oven space and making sure nothing gets forgotten.

The best individual tip is to make the gravy and put it in a flask so it stays hot for hours. Then you can just pour it straight into a warm jug at the last minute.

Otherwise I run it like a military operation. I do a lot of prep weeks in advance and freeze. Everything is timed out. Then Christmas morning is spent opening presents, watching Carols from Kings (from the night before) catching up with people etc. It just means every now and again I get up to put something in the oven etc.

I cook the meat the day before. Proper roasties on the day, I may get some oven ones to use with leftovers.

Everything is prepped the day before ready to go. Then I draw up a list of timings and put it up on the wall so I know what I'm doing. Ds likes doing that bit.
We have turkey with streaky bacon on to keep in the moisture, pigs in blankets, stuffing, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, lots of gravy, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, sprouts, carrots and brocolli. Sometimes I make a red cabbage casserole.
We don't usually have breakfast. The children eat a bit of choc out of their stockings and we have lunch at 12.30 to 1.00. Then we head down for a walk on the beach in the afternoon.

If possible, ban electronic devices for everybody and include children at the main table.

I always start the onion gravy (our favourite bit of Christmas lunch) the night before while I'm prepping the veg. It has cranberries, red onion, veg stock and gallons of wine in it so permeates the house with festive happy smells and ensures that at least one thing will turn out perfectly. (The fact that that perfect thing has the ability to reheat any other badly timed components is another huge bonus!)

I used to experiment with veggie alternatives until I realised it's the trimmings we love. Now I just keep everything simple. Big foil trays for roasted tatties and carrots/parsnips. Simple honey and sea salt glaze on the carrots and parsnips, sesame seeds added at the end. Chuck the Brussels through with them at the end and tumble them all onto a giant platter with stuffing balls, tatties, Aunt Bessie's yorkies and veggie sausages.

The gravy is the magic ingredient which brings everything together. That plus a battalion of sauces (mint, apple, cranberry, onion) guarantees everyone will leave the table with a big overfed grin on their chops and ALWAYS I ensure I've overcatered so I can enjoy the leftovers for breakfast on Boxing Day. Which is own my favourite (weird) seasonal tradition!

*my own favourite

Well it's already been said but preparation is key. Clean and tidy the kitchen and any dishes the day before so you can start from a clean base, then get everything out that you will need pots, pans, jugs, utensils, and make sure you have foil in etc. This stops any last minute stress over finding the gravy boat or the right wine glasses, and even gives you chance to nip out for anything you've overlooked. Prep what food you can. On the day go easy on the fizz until cooking is done. Have a glass or two with water inbetween. I prefer Bisto gravy and it saves time. My mum prefers real though! Set alarms on your phone so you don't forget to check on things - it's easy to get carried away talking to people and playing with little ones. Best tip is to ask for help if you need it. It shouldn't just be mum stuck in the kitchen on Christmas Day!

Do what you can the night before.

Check in advance everything you need to do eg - I am making a cheesecake this year which has to chill overnight - so that you don't forget anything.

Make a list of everything you need to prepare and timings for the cooking and stick to it.

Don't let anyone else 'help' unless you want them to.

Try and remain calm and let someone else supervise the children if possible.

Use slow cookers to keep food warm, saves space in your oven too :)

Put everything into the middle of the table and let everyone plate for themselves. It gets everyone talking, even if it's just to say 'pass the Brussels please'! It also means that no-one has anything on their plate that they don't like, so no moaning from the children/teens.
Serve lots of different veg so everyone gets at least a couple they like.

Set and decorate the table night before
All veg prepared the night before

Croissants and buck fizz for breakfast

This year all shopping reminders on Alexa
Alexa will also remind me to put the Turkey in the oven
And put sprouts on.

shame she can't actually cook

Top tip don't stress about xmas day dinner as odds are you've probably got enough food as backup bursting out the fridge.

I try and prepare as much as I can and write a list of what needs to be cooked and when so I don't forget anything

get everything you can prepped on xmas eve

Top tip is remember its just 1 meal! I don't get the months planning for what is essentially a Sunday roast! Cook a simple meal and enjoy time with family!

Keep it simple, it is just a large roast dinner. We prep the veg the night before, the rest is simple to do on the day. We have lunch at 2pm which allows time for present opening in the morning.