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Christmas Dinner (preparing in advance)

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  • Glad it worked out so well for you..............pre-cooking works well for me too. The first time I did it was when I was worried about running out of oil with the Aga so cooked everything a day earlier in case I was only left with the microwave. However, I didn't run out of oil but the pre-cooking method stuck as I so enjoyed Christmas without spending ages in the kitchen. This year for one reason or another I didn't get to pre-cook and Oh Boy did it remind me to get better organised next year!
  • zippychick
    zippychick Posts: 9,364
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    Just read this for the first time and thought I would bump it for those who haven't seen it! Off to read the thread about pre roasting spuds now :D
    A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men :cool:
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  • jinny
    jinny Posts: 1,889
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    I've been pre preparing xmas dinner in advance for two years now and nobody notices either. Its money saving too, as you aren,t caught out when the food prices shoot up treble on 1st December.
    So far I have the stuffing balls and bacon wrapped sausages in the freezer. I just have to blanch and freeze the sprouts, mash potato, turnip, roast potatoes and parsnips this weekend. It makes such a difference. If you open freeze on plastic trays, they then can be put into empty bread packets so they are free flow and can take out what you want and put the rest back. Its the best tip I ever got from this site. I quite like cooking the turkey on Christmas Eve under the influence of a couple of glasses of sherry! The smell of it cooking makes me feel so Christmassy, but you could cook that in advance too, even the gravy would freeze, make sure its reheated through properly though. I also use tin foil trays to line all my baking trays to save on washing up as well.
    ”Pour yourself a drink, (tea for me now)
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  • Hi all,

    I am planning on making the Delia bread sauce, but wondered if I can make it ahead of time and freeze it.

    Trying to limit what I do on the run up to the day!

    thanks
  • Essex-girl_2
    Essex-girl_2 Posts: 3,503 Forumite
    :xmassmile I have read loads of tips on OS here & there about pre-preparing stuff for Xmas day. I wondered if it was ok if we could have a thread just for this - apologies to BG's if there is already one :D

    I cook my ham on Xmas eve and prefer to cook my Turkey on the day.

    I am making stuffing balls for the freezer this week which I will defrost & cook with the roast. Now what else can be done and frozen before hand.

    Could I par boil the roast potatoes the day before?

    Also I have read on another website about making mashed potato the day before - putting in a buttered oven dish then reheating in the oven for an hour on the day (this was actually from an american website for thanks giving) has anyone tried this?

    Could I make the bread and onion sauce the day before and just reheat.

    Sorry for so many questions but I really want to make life stress free as much as possible this year.:D
  • ubamother
    ubamother Posts: 1,190 Forumite
    I'm having to be mega-organised this year as I am physically less able than other years, but plan to have as much 'real' food as possible to feed all my guests. My freezer is bulging - so far i have frozen: cooked mashed potato, par-boiled parsnips and par-boiled par-roasted potatoes, sausagemeat stuffings - one for the turkey, one separate and a veggie one for veggie daughter, poached flaked salmon for a salmon mousse, all the cheese I need for various recipes, grated, weighed and bagged, all the shortcrust I'll need made to breadcrumb stage, rough puff made and frozen raw. Undecorated cakes also frozen. Mincemeat in jars, Christmas cake made and stored. I also have a full project management plan for what I need to cook when in the days leading up ready for Christmas. So yes, there is plenty you can do ahead - this is only the frozen stuff!
  • knithappens
    knithappens Posts: 1,850 Forumite
    oh thanks for this thread, with a new baby this year i want to make christmas day as easy as possible, thinki will parboil and freeze my parsnips and roasts.

    Quick Question, do I just take these out the night before or cook from frozen?
  • I cook my roasties from frozen, straight from the freezer into the hot oil - they come out lovely and crispy :D
    Squares knitted for my throw ~ 90 (yes!!! I have finally finished it :rotfl: )
    Squares made for my patchwork quilt ~ 80 (only the "actual" quilting to do now :rotfl:)
  • I always cook the turkey the day before, have soup made and in the freezer, xmas pud made so just needs a heat up in the microwave ,have the veg cleaned and prepared the day before and any other pudding as we always need more than one already made thinking about trying a pavlova this year so just have to fill it with fruit and cream i wonder if they are difficult to make , must go look for a recipe, hope its simple.
  • Pink.
    Pink. Posts: 17,675
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    Hi Essex-Girl,

    There is actually an existing thread with lots of useful tips that may help:

    Christmas Dinner (preparing in advance)

    So I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

    Pink
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