Christmas - As easy as possible please.

wallbash

Another tip , HOT plates , putting warmed up food on cool plates ,,,,,,,,:eek::eek:

If you can hold a plate in your bare hand its not hot enough , have a pile of napkins to hand.

This romantic vision of the 'head' of the house , carving the turkey at the table , results in tepid food. Passing serving dishes back and forth ........'after you with the sprouts Mum' .......food gets cold.

My answer , fortunate to have a large kitchen . All the serving dishes are kept on heated hostess trays/ trolly . Family is called to the kitchen and handed a HOT plate ( napkins )and help themselves like a cafeteria. Result everyone back to the table , food is piping hot , in record time.

Ps Some else clears up
But to make things easy I would have used some disposable roasting trays . And the dish washer will go on a number of times.

wallbash

I also have a really carp cooker this year - single oven.

Lucky you , my double oven did pack up Christmas morning last year.
And yes you would have seen me run back and forth across the road to a strange ! kitchen kindly lent by neighbor ( lent .....when I told them , when they returned in the new year. Cat sitting so we had the keys)

Pont

wallbash wrote: »

Lucky you , my double oven did pack up Christmas morning last year.
And yes you would have seen me run back and forth across the road to a strange ! kitchen kindly lent by neighbor ( lent .....when I told them , when they returned in the new year. Cat sitting so we had the keys)

Lol - and I thought I was 'hard done by' on the cooker front!

However, have previously had a 'whip around' for chairs when 6 extra guests arrived for Christmas lunch! You would have seen me, with my apron on, knocking on doors up and down the street asking for dining chairs - then trying to carry said chairs back to my house after a couple of sherrys - not a pretty sight!

Nobody stress - it really is about the people you share with, rather than a 'Nigella isque' perfect meal. Eat, drink and count your blessings - Happy Christmas everyone.
:xmastree:

wallbash

When I tell people about the oven am normally given a disbelieving look. Seems to much like the beginning of comic sketch .
It happened about 11am , was suddenly aware the oven which was warm was getting cooler , not the fuses as the lights were on and I checked the wiring. Cooking for 12.
Had the keys to two houses where the occupiers were away for the hols. Which kitchen to invade, easy choice , the kindly elderly couple would have been delighted to be of help , but I guessed they would have worried that their very clean kitchen was ( wrongly) not up to the task . .Any working oven was better than my dead one.
The other house/kitchen was occupied by a much younger family, far from tidy , but I knew they would be more 'laid back' .

Best Bottle ( thank you ) I gave out last year.

nearlyrich

My second oven packed in twice on Christmas day it was an electric oven and I only used that one at Christmas I replaced the whole thing for a gas cooker with two full sized ovens a couple of years ago. Nothing worse than a dead ovcen and 15 or 20 people waiting for lunch.

bluenose1

Peeled my potatoes and parsnips. Prepared pigs in blankets and trifles.
The table is set.
My cooking times list is prepared.

Going to put glasses and cutlery in the dishwasher to freshen them up.

My MIL is coming at 11am so want to get ahead of myself as much as possible.

[Deleted User]

I wanted to apologise if I came across as some sort of perfect know-it-all as that is not the truth for sure!

I think I painted an idealised picture of the perfect family Christmas but the run up to Christmas etc we all STILL end up exhausted and often tetchy and stressed so I wanted to let others know that I do not have the perfect family , it has actually been the WORST YEAR EVER in history for us all & we are just about pulling through it together...

We had Autistic Grandson in tantrums and refusing to walk when we went to the market to pick up the veg and lamb etc today ... I would have stayed behind with him but I wanted to come along to help carry the shopping for my daughter , so it was soggy&stressed.com in the rain together today!!! lol

We have the lamb nicely seasoned ( thanks to daughter ) and the duck is defrosting ready for me to season & roast but the stress did get to us today as my daughter lost her job just before Christmas , well things weren't going well AT ALL at work so she decided to leave anyway before they even tried to get rid of her so she is very stressed at the moment bless her!

I am also having my worst year in history , but somehow , we do pull together , sort everything out together as a family and we love each other dearly so tough times at the moment but all is ready and waiting for a great Christmas together despite our circumstances and just simply being together and loving & supporting each other is worth it , but sorry if I sounded like Mrs Perfect as I didn't want to be a hypocrite and paint a rosier picture than the real thing and fact is it is a miracle we are actually going to be together this year as my circumstances at the moment nearly meant this Christmas together nearly didn't happen , so appreciate your loved ones while they and you are here ( and if my sprouts are soggy I don't give a damn as long as I see my daughters & Grandchildrens faces and smiles & can show them my love! ) xx

PetuliaGristle

cazzap06 your family sounds lovely, it's great to hear that you all pulled together and aimed to have a great Christmas after a very difficult year. Sorry if this is something you already know, please make sure that your daughter checks the turn2us website and checks out what she is entitled to.