christmas dinner for 16 adults and 10 children - advice please!

papworth

I wouldn't get the food in the day before because you won't have enough fridge room - How about doing big dishes of frozen veg that can be passed around. That way you can store it easily in the freezer and there is no preparation. If you are doing several meats I would check they all fit into the oven at the same time.
I would also pick a vegetarian recipe that can be made in advance and frozen so that you don't have to make it on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day itself.

foxxymynx

Get people to bring bits along, ready prepaired veg, stuffing balls, etc etc etc.

Have all the children sat together and plate up their dinners for them. For the adults/older children, put the meat (or veggie option!) on their plates, with potatoes and yorkshire puddings and put all the veg in serving bowls and on the table. Much easier for them to sort themselves out!

Have an older child in charge of making sure all the children have drinks. Have one adult doing the same for the adults.

If you want help in the kitchen, choose one person, maybe 2, - any more and it'll drive you nuts!

Set the table the night before, with the crackers, glasses etc

Cheat with yorkshire puddings - use ready made! Use a steamer for some of the veg (or several steamers! Ask guests to lend you theirs and bring it the day before!) Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash are all good for the steamer. You can leave them in there for a short while after cooking and they won't turn to mush

Cook the meat the night before (or overnight/earlier in the morning, so that you're not cutting things fine time-wise) and carve it ready.

Make sure that you have enough cutlery and crockery, if not ask guests to bring some, again ask for it the day before.

Get someone else to wash the dishes! lol

Try not to stress and have your glass of wine in the kitchen with you, hehehe

becs

My brother is doing Xmas for us all this year and he said he didn't want people bringing different bits as my forget or whatever so he is adding up the cost of all the food and dividing it equally between us. He can then buy everything when he wants to.
We've always cooked the turkey on xmas eve then you can slice it up and reheat in the oven giving you plenty of oven space and not having to panic about it being done at the right time. If you want to make your own yorkshires you could do this beforehand and freeze them. As for the veg prepare everything xmas eve and if you can get hold of the very large pans (stockpot size) with a steamer insert then you can boil some veg whilst steaming others.
I would definately agree with others about only having 1-2 extra people in the kitchen (unless you have a huge kitchen where people can prepare things away from cooking and sink tasks). Think about what jobs you want them to do that they will be able to do without asking you constantly where things are or how you want things etc.
Not very MSE but think about using foil trays instead of roasting tins then you can put them straight in the bin and not ahve them cluttering up the kitchen as additional washing up.

Lastly definately leave the Men to do the clearing up and washing up!

RoxieW

have you got a big enough oven????

jackomdj

I agree with those that have said less is better in the kitchen & get all the food in yourself so you know it has all been remembered. Depending upon your house you could ask a few people to bring pasting tables or outside plastic tables, some of the LO's may have mini table & chairs. As a couple of other posters said it is no harder cooking for a larger number - just a question of knowing in advance what is needed & when.

Remember you should enjoy yourself too!

Nicky

floss2

We have had various versions of this:

Children on a picnic table, with their meals plated & served before the adults
Adults around MDF table top laid over smaller table, with white sheet for cloth (with a towel underneath, no-one will know ), gravy, stuffing & sauces on table with drinks, all food laid out buffet style in kitchen, give each one a plate & then they queue (like school dinners!)

Another option is a Safari Christmas - first course in one house, main course in another, pudding in another & mince pies, cake etc in another.....less washing up, less hassle - drawback is that you really need to live quite close so nobody has to drive!

kitschkitty

I think it's a good idea to do the kids first, then make sure you have a decent DVD as back up for while the adults are eating (in case there's nothing on TV or they are prone to arguing over computer games etc)!

artichoke

hi all

thanks for the replies....

i think i need to talk to all the family about what they expect re hot meal or buffet.

The meal is for family - i am one of 8 children and we nearly all have 2 or so kids, plus my parents and an aunty and uncle.

We all live in different parts of the country and so most people will be travelling over 100 or 200 miles to get to the house for the meal. So it is not possible to bring things round the day before!

In the past we have met at a different family members house who has a big range cooker and has done 2 or 3 types of meat and a traditional roast dinner.

I think i need to send a family email to see if things could be altered this year!

After doing some research yesterday afternoon i was thinking of a pot luck meal - asking each family to bring something which just needed to be quickly reheated.....

like this idea here but with less american foods:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food/holidays/thanksgiving-moveable-feast-nov06?src=edit&mag=ghk&chan=hp&link=thanksgiving-moveable-feast-nov06-HP

but maybe a buffet would be easier - but if people have driven 200 plus miles i think they will want something hot!

any more suggestions welcome!

art

floss2

Why not cook your turkey the day before, and then free the oven for roasties, stuffing, bacon rolls etc, and have a buffet-style service from the kitchen?

I see your point about not being able to bring things ready-cooked!

Re sharing costs etc, why not do an on-line shop (but not actually ordered) to calculate how much it would cost, then add on an extra bit for fuel / time / hassle / washing-up and divide by the number of peopel (half for children). Then email /ring & ask for the money in advance so you can place your order.

Steph998

We did similar last year. We only had eighteen people in total, so slightly different from your plan....but there was no one under the age of 14 so it was all adult portions.

I bought four, fairly large, ready to cook turkey crowns....the type you get in Asda in the foil tray. They start getting the bigger family sized ones in around now, and last year they did a 'buy two for eight pounds' offer so we saved a few quid. No big bird to fit in the oven. Cooked nice and evenly due to the fan assist. I think I got about fiftteen big slices from each crown, no waste, no bones, not dried out - no one bothered about a leg, everyone got more than enough turkey.

So in my main FA oven was the four turkey crowns, another foil with sausage meat stuffing (Dads recipe....scrummy...doesn't have to be in the bird to taste good) and small top oven took the roast potatoes and roast parsnips.

If I didnt have a top oven I would have cooked the turkey crowns, then taken them out and covered with foil to stand, giving me 40 mins to cook the other stuff. (Turkey always tastes better to me if allowed to stand for an hour anyway!)

My sister brought a huge piece of tender roast beef she had cooked that morning, so everyone got a slice or two of that.

My mum brought a large cooked gammon in honey glaze.

Someone else brought enough sprouts, ready to be steamed for ten mins.

Before everyone arrived, in the morning I did a big carrot and turnip mash (three bags of Asda ready diced, boiled, mashed) and mixed in some horseradish sauce and sour cream. Mix it all up, top with breadcrumbs and put in a big flat lasagna dish the oven.... 40 mins before serving if it has cooled down, ten mins if straight from the mash pan. Absolutely gorgeous.

On hob - one huge pan of potatoes to boil then mash, ...pan for the gravy...sprouts.

There was one or two who hated sprouts.... lol, so I did a wee pan of petis pois - didn't take up much room.

Someone also brought pigs in blankets and sausages etc...all fitted in the oven!

Most others brought pavlova type things for puds.

All banned from kitchen apart from me, Mum and sister.

The plates would have given our local Carvery a run for their money and there was enough meat for almost the same again on Boxing Day.

:T