Old style Preparations for Christmas 2010!!

ms_london

skintchick wrote: »

I've decided that this year we will have Christmas at our house and my parents are coming, then my in-laws will come just after and they may overlap I'm not sure yet. 'We' is me, OH and 15mo DD (will be 17mo at Christmas).

I have no idea what I'm doing! I have talked to the butcher and know I need to order a turkey soon, but I need to plan all the meals, the decorations, the entertainment, etc., and I need to keep to a bit of a budget although not too much i.e. I shop at the butcher and Waitrose so not exactly cheap!

Please help me plan meals - everyone will expect puddings which I never do, and I don;t know about snacks/suppers.

Is there a Christmas thread I can be pointed to? Or can anyone help me here? I feel I need to start planning as it makes me feel slightly panicked thinking about it now!

Hello hun, how are you?

xx

Butterfly_Brain

Relax it is only a glorified roast dinner.

When we were first married and skint, we had roast chicken instead of turkey a shop bought Christmas Pud and a HM trifle because a lot of people don't like Christmas Pud (easy peasy to make the night before) and the littlies can eat the trifle too.

In the evening I just make a light salad with L/O turkey and a few mince pies, sausage rolls and cake ( people are usually too stuffed from dinner to eat much more)

Sadly both my parents are gone now but we still have the outlaws on Boxing day ( Christmas day has always only been for our little family)

We always have gammon, left over turkey, salad and mashed potato for boxing day.

I would go with everyone's suggestion of asking people to bring something to the feast and cheat away! Even though I am now an accomplished cook, I still cheat, even Delia and Jamie cheat at home so don't knock yourself out.

Prepare as much as you can the night before such as preparing the veg, stuffing balls etc so that the morning is as relaxing as it can be, put the meat on as soon as you get up and I am sure your Mum or MIL will help so don't panic get everyone to muck in and just have a great day.

By the way I do not ever wash up on Christmas day, Boxing Day or New year's day. DH and the kids or guests always do it as a reward for me slaving in the kitchen.

HTH and don't worry about pleasing anyone make sure your littlies have wonderful Christmas memories to treasure. I know that both of ours do

ubamother

I think this 'may overlap' thing needs sorting. If you're catering it would be really helpful to get times down a bit better - could you say to in-laws - Christmas lunch is at x pm - will you be here for it? That's good for you to know for catering purposes, but also good for the in-laws to know - they don't want to be embarrassed by walking in on you and your parents round the table stuffing in turkey.

Another thought - there is not much of a Christmas dinner that can't be cooked, par-cooked or prepped the day before. A lot can be cooked/par-cooked and frozen if you have the space. Also, carefully plan all your food and have the recipes to hand when you plan your shopping list - otherwise you can assume you need far too much or little of something - I ended up with 6 bars of good dark chocolate and 2 pts of double in January that I thought I needed "because I always make xxx with it at Christmas" Not a bad thing to be left with(!) but you know what I mean.

Get mothers to bring desserts - they'll be flattered to be asked.

Pitlanepiglet

I'd echo it's just a glorified Sunday lunch. Don't get too worked up about it.

We don't ever have a starter for Christmas lunch, there is enough food around anyway and it takes the pressure off trying to get the veg finalised.

For the evening I just put out cold turkey, cold ham (cooked before) cold beef (we usually have a lump of beef on Christmas eve or the night before deliberately so we've got left overs), left over roasties (make sure you do more than you need), bread, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber (all whole so people can cut what they want) pickles, pickled onions etc, lumps of cheese, cheese biscuits, left over christmas pud and christmas cake. I usually also get another cake of some sort from Costco - this year I'll try to make a trifle for Christmas day evening. Basically, I just keep producing the same set of left overs for a few days and I add in some mash potato on day two and turkey soup soon after!

Penelope_Penguin

skintchick wrote: »

I've decided that this year we will have Christmas at our house and my parents are coming, then my in-laws will come just after and they may overlap I'm not sure yet. 'We' is me, OH and 15mo DD (will be 17mo at Christmas).

Is there a Christmas thread I can be pointed to? Or can anyone help me here? I feel I need to start planning as it makes me feel slightly panicked thinking about it now!

As this has fallen from the front page of OS, I'll add it to the existing thread.

You could also take a look at the Special Occasions Board - there will be loads of threads leading up to the Festive SEason there

skintchick

ms_london wrote: »

Hello hun, how are you?

xx

Hey you! I'm good thanks. Married with a baby as you can tell! And you? xxxx


And to everyone else - some great ideas thanks.

Someone asked why I only shop at the butcher or Waitrose. in fact we do some online stuff from Sainsburys but I won;t buy meat or veg elsewhere because of the quality, and we don;t have a greengrocer in town. The market is weekly but the quality is poor and prices the same as Waitrose!

I am a list maker, and I plan to do that, I suppose I just wanted some ideas and reassurance! I don;t think I can ask people to bring food as they live 2 hours' drive away, but I don;'t plan on going overboard like my mum usually does!

I guess I should make my lists and then come back with questions - does anyone have a list of what I will probably need?

Winged_one

You don't need to ask them to bring food that needs care, but things like crackers (for snapping, or the type for cheese), serviettes, wine, soft drinks, biccies for later etc are all fine to travel. In fact, Christmas cake or pudding coudl travel fine too.

I've often travelled with other things if we are using them that day - like a pack of smoked salmon, or cheese (nicely chambreed then to room temps! ) would be fine. And "fridge-y" things can travel too, if the travellers have a coolbox/picnic bag and an iceblock to keep them cool - perhaps not ice cream but cream, veggies, pre-cooked ham - all sorts like that.

Check with ILs if they plan to arrive for dinner or later.
Once know numbers, plan your menu.
Keep it simple - and whatever you can do in advance, DO.
Also, once you have your menu, you can decide what you want each guest to bring - perhaps Mum brings something for dinner, and MIL for teatime?

Have as much done before Christmas Eve as possible - prepare veggies, potatoes and freeze. Make and freeze mince pies (for teatime?). Use pre-made custard (it's absolutely fine - I use powder sometimes but cartons are soo handy too).
Do the big shop early if possible, and have a "last minute list" - make that detailed so you can send DH out with Lil'un on Christmas Eve.
Clean out and set fire on Christmas Eve also (need to not light for man in red anyway - and saves times next morning!).
Make a couple of extra trays of ice on Christmas Eve as you take things out to defrost.
If people are trvaelling 2 hours, will they stay over? Make sure you have plenty of non-alco options if not.
If you don't get to prep and freeze veggies in advance, DO prep them on Christmas Eve - leave potatoes and carrots soaking just covered in cold water. Brussels sprouts don't need to soak, once covered (airtight tub or clingfilm). Make your stuffing as well, so it's cold to put into bird next day.
Make sure that you have enough time and space to work next day. Try to think of a couple of useful things others could do.
Perhaps Mum could set table (if not done day before) or Dad could take charge of drinks, or DH could be "chief masher" of potates etc. Or someone in charge of nappy changes?
Make sure DH is ready to help with washup - others will probably offer (and say yes!), but you shouldn't have to face it all alone. And try to keep up with it as you go along on Christmas Day - rather than having a mountain after dinner, wash prep stuff and pots as finished with earlier.

Overall, relax!! Tis great fun when you don't stress!

jintyb

Hey Skintchick.

Just thought I'd pitch in!

Please dont worry about asking folks to bring things - your Mum will be delighted to help if she normally goes OTT!
We have dinner at my sister's usually, there will be 8 adults, sis & bil + 2 teenagers, M&D and me and OH.
This is what we've done for the last 20 yrs, in fact since my eldest niece was born.

Sister - starter, table decs, crackers and nibbles, coffee and cheese.

Mum - turkey, veg, gravy, kilted sausages( that's Scottish for pigs in blankets!) cranberry etc After Eights

Me - HM Christmas pud, Christmas cake and cream, and one other ( shop bought pud) mince pies
We all take a bottle of something too.

This all started cos we felt it was unfair to expect my sis to cope with Christmas Dinner and a new baby at the same time plus the cost and we've just continued. I'm sure your family will feel the same way. Dont be afraid to ask for help! Also we're all here to help!:D

A little tip though - when it was my turn to do Christmas dinner I had a little notebook where I wrote my shopping lists, kept a note of what was in the freezer and also the cooking times for the day itself. I kept the book and used it year after year! Invaluable!

HTH

Eenymeeny

Lots of useful info here thanks to everyone. Can I just add that a lot of luxury-type items (prepared veg etc) are in the shops by the beginning of December. Not very MSE I know but I count these as MY Christmas treat. I buy them early, stick them in the freezer and tick them off my list:D
As Shirley Conran famously said "Life's too short to stuff a mushroom!"

ERICS_MUM

skintchick wrote: »

........

Someone asked why I only shop at the butcher or Waitrose. in fact we do some online stuff from Sainsburys but I won;t buy meat or veg elsewhere because of the quality, and we don;t have a greengrocer in town. The market is weekly but the quality is poor and prices the same as Waitrose!.......

I'm exactly the same with meat, fish, fruit, veg and salad and always buy from M&S. On the odd occasion I buy elsewhere I am invariably disappointed in the quality. My local greengrocer is the exception and I do like to use local shops, but it is more expensive than Marks and there isn't such a choice.

Changing the subject to Christmas. My sister has all of us round there, 8 adults in all and she refuses to let any of us help. This year I've told her that I'm making a trifle and cupcakes because she doesn't really bother with a dessert (I'm the only one to like Xmas pud )!! It's years since I made a trifle so I've set myself up for a big challenge now !