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Christmas Dinner (preparing in advance)

I am trying to plan the cooking for Christmas Day and was thinking, apart from preparing the veg on christmas Eve, whether I could do anything else in advance.
Could I do things like mash swede, make gravy and make up stuffing balls on Christmas Eve, and maybe even freeze yorkshires to use on the day rater than buy frozen ones in.
Also, my family like to eat a steamed suet pudding with a roast dinner. Would i be able to make that in advance too and freeze it to use on the day without spoiling the flavour or texture? Or can you do these in the microwave?
Just wondered whether any of you do this successfully as it would save being tied to the kitchen all morning!
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Comments

  • RichyRich
    RichyRich Posts: 2,090
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    You could mash taties and swede and warm up in the microwave next day without too much trouble. Yorkies will freeze just fine and heat up in the oven in a matter of minutes. Same with stuffing balls. No probs with making gravy the day before - you can keep a stew for a few days can't you! Can't help you with the suet pudding I'm afraid - though I'm sure there'll be a microwave recipe knocking around somewhere.

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  • Pink.
    Pink. Posts: 17,675
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    Hi motherkitty,

    You can make your roast potatoes in advance too. Have a look at this thread:

    frozen HM roast potatoes

    Pink
  • ivyleaf
    ivyleaf Posts: 6,431
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    Thanks for this, Pink-winged, I shall try this myself!
  • ragz_2
    ragz_2 Posts: 3,254
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    I am trying to plan the cooking for Christmas Day and was thinking, apart from preparing the veg on christmas Eve, whether I could do anything else in advance.
    Could I do things like mash swede, make gravy and make up stuffing balls on Christmas Eve, and maybe even freeze yorkshires to use on the day rater than buy frozen ones in.
    Also, my family like to eat a steamed suet pudding with a roast dinner. Would i be able to make that in advance too and freeze it to use on the day without spoiling the flavour or texture? Or can you do these in the microwave?
    Just wondered whether any of you do this successfully as it would save being tied to the kitchen all morning!

    I have made up my stuffing balls, baked them and frozen them so that I can just put them in the oven for 10 minutes on Christmas day.
    Also made up cheesy leeks and frozen them in oven dish to go straight in, roast potatoes are roasted and frozen, planning to roast and freeze parsnips and boil and mash carrot/swede but I need to make room in my freezer!
    I just didn't want to spend all of Christmas day cooking!
    Though I would like to know if anyone does their meat in advance, I have a duck crown that will need to be done on the day, a gammon joint which I think I can do the day before and a beef joint that someone mentioned somewhere could be cooked on low overnight?

    Feeling all organised now!
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  • i had a crisp butty last year- cuts out all preparation time
  • DianneB
    DianneB Posts: 884
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    love_lifer wrote: »
    i had a crisp butty last year- cuts out all preparation time

    Were they roast chicken flavour??http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_images/smilies/laughing-smiley-014.gif
    Slightly bitter
  • Will somebody make me a crisp butty now? I'm poorly in bed with flu and haven't even got any crisps in the house... I'm just starting to feel a bit hungry.
  • lilac_lady
    lilac_lady Posts: 4,469 Forumite
    I cook the turkey on Christmas Eve and slice it into a large ovenproof dish then add the gravy to it and cover with tinfoil. I put it in the oven on a low heat and when it's served it melts in your mouth. It saves everyone saying "Is it ready yet?" every 2 minutes!
    " The greatest wealth is to live content with little."

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  • Olliebeak
    Olliebeak Posts: 3,167 Forumite
    Every year I spend Christmas Eve prepping my veggies while listening to the midnight choir programme on tv.

    This year will be a break with tradition - I'm going to cook my carrot&turnip ahead and freeze in chinese takeaway container in advance. Not too sure if I fancy doing the sprouts this way though. Also going to do some spicy parsnip soup and freeze that in advance. Good idea about the stuffing balls - so that's something else that will happen. I've got some frozen chicken stock that can go into the turkey gravy, so I'll save the water drained from the c&t as well.

    Looks like Christmas Lunch should be a doddle this year - thanks for the idea OldSylers :D.
  • Skint_Catt
    Skint_Catt Posts: 11,548 Forumite
    We cook the turkey on Christmas Eve too as it tastes better cold. Well thats the theory anyway, except Mum got her dates mixed up last year and cooked it on the 23rd. Still tasted great though ;) :rotfl:
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