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

My top is chill out it’s only a glorified Sunday roast!!

Get the turkey in good and early.

Follow coco chanel's advice - take off one item - I don't mean clothes :))

Two years ago I stopped the bread sauce - no one noticed
I only did two veg last year
I'm aiming to get down to a plate of spuds and a cracker by 2025.

I plan out all the timings weeks in advance and set up reminders on my phone. I do lots of prep in advance, i.e. wrapping the pigs in blankets and then freeze on trays.

Making ahead is key for me, and I only make things I know will be eaten - no more sprouts or red cabbage in this house!

Get up early Christmas morning peel veg, unwrap a large organic chicken make up paxo stuffing into balls open readymade gravey and put in microwave put pre prepared piles in blankets on a baking tray. Get all baking trays ready make Yorkshire puddings and cook first then I will reheat these later. Set the table so looks festive when DH returns. All my DC then arrive anyone else who fancies turning up and I just get up and down putting things on to par boil and putting stuff in the oven they all leave about three so I want to dish up for four so just work out timings backwards from there works a treat a always miss something but no one minds

Make ahead gravy! Jamie Oliver has a good recipe.

Start buying bits and pieces in the weeks before Christmas so less t think about and always prepare the veg the day before.

Plan in advance and use M&S food ordering service.
Write down all the timings and make sure you've got enough fridge and oven space.
Start buying things that can be frozen well in advance - just remember to defrost in time for the big day!

buy the bread sauce mix early, before it all disappears..

I leave everything to my husband because i actually want to enjoy my Christmas dinner.

Do as much preparation as possible in advance. Get the kids involved with little jobs to do (setting the table etc). Write out all the timings. Don't panic!

The main tip I keep is to keep it in perspective. It's just a glorified roast. I don't like turkey so in this house it's a chicken.

Dh makes nigellas gingerbread which is just delicious. I make red cabbage well in advance and freeze it so it just needs an hour in the oven. Plus it's tons better second time round. Sprouts are fried with bacon n garlic which makes them a sure fire winner.

We also make as much as possible in foil trays. Worth buying just so there's less washing up.

Red cabbage and gravy are made in advance. Stuffing is essentially a packet with fresh onion and herbs. Sausages wrapped in bacon are prepared the day before. Garlic and parsley butter to baste the turkey crown is also prepared in advance. We have an open plan kitchen lounge so I can easily go the rest of the prep whilst still feeling part of Christmas.

If you're planning on using one of the big disposable foil trays for the Turkey, get two and double up, it's so easy to split or pierce one and have a turkey juice puddle in the oven!

We peel and chop/prep veg on the dinner table as a family with a glass of wine/lemonade and carols on the radio to make it less of a chore. When it's done it signals hot chocolate and pjs and the night before Christmas story for bed for the children and an adult board game (cards against humanity or Santa vs Jesus) for the grownups. It maximises the cosy family feel.

Apart from that, I always say a simple meal done well is better than a huge complicated meal done badly!

I buy everything prepared in trays and then just bung it in the oven. Yes it’s lazy but Christmas morning is not time I want to waste chopping up veg!

Don’t let my dad in the kitchen.
Every year he panics that things won’t be ready on time and tries to put the sprouts on when the turkey still needs two hours more. Every year I banish him to the living room so I can get on without him flapping.

Ooh and m&s roast potato and parsnip seasoning. Makes amazing roasties.

This is the first year I will ever cook Christmas lunch and I'm 43. My husband is having an op on Wednesday and so he's prepping most... so I guess my top tip would be to marry a man who is an amazing cook! The second is to prepare everything the day before and spend as little time in the kitchen on Christmas day as possible.

3/4 boil your potatoes then roll in plain flour and a little salt place into roasting fish with hot oil from the overnight and Basel the potatoes in the oil using a spoon place in the oven for 45 min take out and baste with oil every 15 min and turn potatoes = perfect rosties

Decide on the things that actually matter to your family. We don't like turkey, but do like veg sides and lots of roast parsnips. And no fuss, so we're all about buying preprepared where it tastes as good

We have a small family so I really don't do that much to prepare. I can't be bothered to put pressure on myself by thinking of loads of exotic side dishes to cook; it's essentially a normal roast with maybe a different stuffing mix and 1 unusual veggie dish. The only thing I'll do in advance is to run the freezer down so there is plenty of room for leftovers; make sure all our normal food is stocked up so the pre-Christmas shop is just for the last minute fresh things; and do a quick list to make sure my timings are set for the day.

My only new dish this year is to find a Yorkshire pudding recipe free from dairy, egg and soya...so not sure Aunt Bessie will be able to help with that .

Keep it simple

One year I had eleventy million sides and was so stressed I couldn’t eat any of it

Pare it down - turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, sprouts

Buy the pigs in blankets and stuffing balls
Make the cranberry compote a few weeks before
Buy the bread sauce as few like it, pimp it with a little cream
Buy the pudding
Make sausage rolls and mince pies early Dec and freeze them

It’s then just a roast lunch and buffet supper
Buy the turkey off the shelf - always loads and much less hassle than “collection”
Get the rest online , delivered on 23rd

Buy lots of pre prepped/ready made things and add your own extras...

Eg...buy cranberry sauce but add some orange zest to it to pep it up.

Buy frozen roast potatoes and add a sprig or rosemary and garlic cloves to the roasting tray.

Buy pre prepped pigs in blankets and brush them with some honey and mustard before you cook them.

Definetly start prepping on christmas eve!

Dont rush the gravy, when the meat us 15 minutes from being done pour out the juices with that. Once the meat is out use the tray to finish the gravy off. Yum yum

Well, my absolutely best tip is to try and go somewhere else for Christmas dinner - at 40 years old and with 3 children of my own I still choose to go to my mum's whenever I can!

But if I'm cooking, we have a limited number of side dishes, and really good quality ingredients. So turkey with stuffing, roast potatoes and parsnips, and carrots and broccoli usually. Often I buy really good fresh gravy to save the faffing with the meat juices at the critical moment when everything else needs to be served. Whatever makes life easier!