M&S Christmas Food To Go

Lifeforms

No problems with M&S for us this year. We did the goose, and gammon the night before. An hour before we were due to sit, everything was opened/trayed/prepped and put in the oven. Had tescos finest spuds in goose fat, aunt bessies parsnips, and then 3 x stuffings, 2 x pigs in blankets, 2 x trays of the tatties/parsnips, and idk what else on top. All fit in the oven with a squeeze, turned it down by 20/30oc from the highest temp needed, and just cooked it lower for longer. They all came out the same time perfectly done.

This was all bought from in store, cost about £25 for the lot, gluten free, high meat contents, and most come with their own cooking trays. No other way for us now.

Had we not done the meat the night before, then we'd have serious issues with space though.

PetuliaGristle

My reply to Christmas - as easy as possible please we got the M&S £60 meal for the past two years, really good, though I always get my own roast potatoes and save the pre-packed ones for other meals (no good reason, just me being fussy ).

I strongly recommend working out and writing down the timings beforehand, then if you have one of those posh phones, program all the timings into it with notes and put it on high volume. Then you can do all your hosting and chatting without worrying about missing a vital task.

lvm

Thank you all so much for your comments...even if you have left me totally puzzled with what to do now.

The dinner is only for 4 people.

I would love if I was so mega-prepared that I could do everything myself with meticulous planning!

We don't do turkey for dinner (always find it too dry), so we opt for Beef Wellington (from scratch).

Going out for dinner is certainly something to think about although I always like the relaxed atmosphere of being at home.

Maybe I should do a practice run...if anyone fancies a trip to Edinburgh for a "Come Dine With Me" Crimbo special! :-)

Mrs_Bones

lvm wrote: »

T
Going out for dinner is certainly something to think about although I always like the relaxed atmosphere of being at home.

When our family dwindled due to the nature of passing years we started to go out for Christmas lunch and yes it is different and to start with I wasn't at all sure I'd like it but I found I did. It's not the same as the big family do at home it's true but when there is only a small group of you, all adults, I think it's actually preferable. It is normally only a couple of hours out of the day so plenty of time to cosy and relax at home afterwards. There is no stress of cooking and you get the fun of just taking time in the morning to dress up for the occasion.

Now my families expanding again as they do with marriages and births and we are back to lovely big family home celebrations. Both alternatives have their plus points and minus.

I'd love to come for dinner and be a guinea pig for a trial run but sadly the distance is a bit far for me.