Christmas dinner - I want it to be stress free!!!

suki1964

I'm with meer 53 on this, for me it's just a roast dinner

I get up for the dog around 7 and that's when I take the turkey out of the fridge and prep it for the oven and put the gammon on to boil. Two hours later I remove bacon from the boil, put the oven on and put the turkey on to cook

Around 11 hubby helps prep the veg, mother lays the table. I glaze and bake the gammon and by 12 it and the turkey are ready. The turkey is wrapped in foil and tea towel and left to rest. I also parboil the spuds for roasting and make the gravy. 12.15 and it's away to the pub for two hours

Come back around two, chuck the roasties and stuffing in the oven along with the pigs, put the veg on, carve the turkey and ham, reheat the gravy and dinner is served at 3

Washing up is done as I go

A glass of wine ( or 3) and junior choice on the radio, and all is calm

Even the other year when my thermostat died when I left the turkey in the oven whilst in the pub and I came home to a charred mess, still managed to get a lovely meal together with the gammon and trimmings

My cheats for easy life are ready prepped red cabbage and shop bought stuffings and using the microwave

And yorkies don't get a look in

MallyGirl

I am another one from the 'its just a big roast' school of thought. OH loves leftover turkey so even though it is only 5 adults and one teen we always get a massive turkey (7 or 8 kg). It still only takes a couple of hours to cook. We used to get it from a fab game butcher but they closed just before Xmas last year so had a Gressingham one from Ocado which was pretty good. Will probably do the same again unless OH has time off to go to the farm shop. Waitrose for nice stuffings and pigs in blankets, roast spuds and parsnips, sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts, shop bought bread sauce as I am the only taker, broccoli, gravy (probably shop bought plus meat juices). I get the MIL and SIL to prep veg although I can't watch as they are not used to properly sharpened knives! OH and DD sort the wine and lay the table.
Mum makes xmas pud to the old family recipe (involves Trex!) but we don't have room for that till quite a lot later.

Sally_A

Sorry to intrude but cauliflower cheese is a must here.

Don't rate turkey much, so cook a beef joint on Christmas Eve, slice and reheat in own juice, and cook a large chicken on Christmas morning.

A gammon joint is also cooked Christmas Eve for cold meat for Christmas tea and boxing day.

Agree..it is just a big roast dinner. What could possibly go wrong?

nearlyrich

I think Christmas dinner is the easiest meal as it's the same every year I have a double oven an extra level on the steamer and my Hostess trolley and I can do a meal for up to 20. I used to do lunch and then a buffet for the rest of the extended family the biggest problem was having enough room in the fridge for all the extra food. I use Delia Smiths plan and get the butcher to write the weight on all the meat packaging which I work out cooking times from. DH puts the oven on whilst making my tea in bed and when I get up I just put stuff in when it needs to go in.

Kim_kim

While I agree with "it's a big roast", we have a lot more sides at Xmas than a normal Sunday. We have carrots, sprouts, parsnips & red cabbage (4 veg, normally 2, 3 max), we have pigs in blankets & stuffing too, I wouldn't normally do them.

We have starters, a choice of 2 puddings, a cheese board, all washed down with coffee & mints!

Certainly not something we do on a normal Sunday :-)


And it's the one day when you want to be with your family & they want to be with you (that's what mine say to me) rather than in the kitchen all day.

duchy

Until three years ago I used to work Christmas morning and still cook a full Christmas dinner (I work from home but when working am anchored to a desk).

I honestly don't understand the drama - it's a roast with lots of sides so it's all in the prep and timings.Turkey,Gammon or a ham, 4 veg, pigs, yorkies, roasties, good gravy for us plus a starter - never room for puddings til later though

My OH now cooks Christmas dinner but I'll take over when I finish as he'll get in a last minute panic of the timings of all the sides (I have a window from my office to the kitchen so can see what he's doing )

Jagraf

I'm just a bit concerned over how many joints people are having on Christmas Day!!! :rotfl:

Jagraf

How does everyone keep it all hot? Or is the stress really that my mother touches the plates to ensure I've warmed them and tells everyone to dish out quickly ..... Ah I've found my answer. It's my mother, nothing to do with Christmas dinner!

SingleSue

I just treat it as a Sunday roast.....with 3 growing boys, the sides are pretty much the same too.

We go to mum and dad's for Christmas day and because they now find it difficult and too tiring to cook the dinner, I have taken over. I don't get in a flap (as mum used to) and everything arrives at the table lovely and hot although everyone (and I mean everyone), is given something to take through to the dining room, or given the task of setting the table up (with ASD children, everything matches and is perfectly measured) or getting things in or out of the oven as I can no longer bend or carry things.

One thing I won't repeat this year is giving youngest the job of preparing some veg, he took an age last year as he insisted absolutely everything was of the same size and shape and absolutely perfect.

For us, the secret to a successful meal is for everyone to chip in with assistance, no excuses, even my 3 year old niece is given a job...they don't call me the sergeant major for nothing!

tea_lover

We cook pretty much everything on Christmas Eve - which leaves all of Christmas Day for eating