OMG!! My Family have invited themselves for christmas!!

louise_1981

I moved into my new house in Feb, it is still not sorted, certainly not for visitors, (the kitchen is still to be tiled and decorated properly, there are doors off everywhere, and the spare room is full of tescos and boots hauls, waiting to go into my bathroom cupboard, I have got a huge hole in my bathroom wall that goes to the outside, there is no floor and most of the time the house is freezing) and I found out when I went home my aunty and her family have invited themselves for Christmas.

My other half is not practically minded at all, and I have been relying on his lovely dad to do it but he has just gone and got a full time job, not that I begrudge him that at all, but it means less time to get this stuff done.

My family and I are very close, so that side (house being still a tip) is not a problem for them, but it is for me!, but I expect they are wanting Christmas dinner, and although I am ok at cooking, I get the timings all wrong and end up nucking some (ok most) of the food.

I really don't want to let them down.

what can I get sorted long before they come, I am expecting them on Christmas eve(cake is maturing already so that is one tick for me!


HELLPPPPP!!!!!!

pavlovs_dog

ok, well on a practical front... could you get family to bring a contribution to lunch? a bottle of plonk, or maybe your aunt makes great roast potatoes, whilst someone else can make a nice dessert. anything to help ease the pressure.

with regards to decorating and getting the house ready, focus on where you will be spending the most time. im guessing this will be living room, dining room and possibly kitchen. unless you plan on giving your guests food poisoning for christmas, most people arent going to spend more than 5 minutes at any given time in the bathroom, so its not the end of the world if its chilly in there.

sylphraven

When it comes to timings, couldnt you work out a time table & use a timer/alarm clock to remind you?

I did this the first christmas dinner I did & it worked a treat, until guests turned up rather late, lol.

& I agree with pavlovs_dogs idea of decorating where is used most, I think its the simplest solution.

Good luck.

Horace

It's a bit rude to invite themselves for Christmas, however, all is not lost - explain that you house won't be finished and that you could do with a hand to get it fixed up properly - ask them to help e.g. wield paint brushes etc - what's the betting if you do, they'll suddenly decide to be busy elsewhere over Christmas.

Becles

It's not law to have a turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas day! If the kitchen isn't ready, would they accept something else that everyone could muck in and help with?

Nobody likes turkey here, so we always have something else. Dad picked this year, so it's a huge mixed grill!

kethry

This is something i wrote out for someone else over on the merged "Christmas is coming! 2007" thread regarding timings and stuff and i think it might help..

kethry wrote:

what i would do first of all is to get Delia's "Christmas" book. Its well worth paying for - both in terms of the recipes and the countdown, even if you don't follow that exact countdown its enough to give you a basis from which to work. Its also great for getting one in the mood - i always feel christmassy after reading her book!

What i would also say is that there are three vital things when it comes to christmas:

1) Preparation! Use every tip you can - from peeling the veg the night before (and keeping in cold water to prevent them drying out) to doing the xmas cake/pud as early as possible (and don't forget where you've put them!) through to making your own mince pies (and mincemeat - delia's mincemeat recipe is gorgeous and very very easy to make) and freezing them in the tins so they're ready to just pop into the oven if you have unexpected guests.

2) Timing!! work out scrupulously how long you need to cook the bird, the veg, the trimmings. work out what pan they're going in. Check you can get everything in the oven about a week before christmas - do a dry run with the various pots and pans, without actually putting food in them i mean, in order to check you've got enough/they fit. Its amazing how many times i plan a gravy and a sauce and a custard and cream and then realise after planning for a couple of weeks on that basis that i only have 2 jugs to put it all in. Oops.

3) Notes!! I have a small A5 size clip file, and i write all the recipes i use out in there, the cooking order of all the things i cook, what pans i cook them in, what dishes i serve them in, and on the day in question i stick them all over the cupboard doors. I have a countdown of where i should be. So say, 11.10, xmas morning: making the stuffing up ready to go into a tin to go in the oven. (oh and keep these notes for the following year, don't chuck em out. You'll be glad of them next christmas - and i would write down on them, what worked and what didn't!).

All this means that by the time the pudding has been served, i have been living like a clockwatching military dictator for the previous month (and am so so tired), but by god, with the preparation it means that the fridge is groaning, and there is so much leftover food (cold meats etc.) in the fridge that OH and i can graze for 2, sometimes 3 days after xmas day from the fridge and i can have a complete break from cooking, which is worth it.

If you can keep a handle on timing and preparation, then you should - barring complete disasters - be okay. In this way you can increase your confidence and repertoire of christmas "stuff" and be one of those women who shine at christmas in a real homebody, perfect housewife kinda way!! This year will be my third proper christmas in my own home, assuming i'm still here (as opposed to visiting relatives) and it does get easier every year. I would also - since this is your first christmas at home - give some thought as to traditions that you want to start. you don't say if you have children or not but there are some lovely ideas out there that may not fit with what you or your OH's families used to do for christmas, but may fit in with yours. For example: nigella has a lovely recipe for christmas breakfast muffins which is just enough to take the edge of hunger, but not so much that you're still stuffed by the time lunchtime rolls around, and they can be made the night before and just popped in the oven when you get up. Some people like to buy expensive christmas baubles for the tree - something you choose with your OH, one each year, so that over time you build up a lovely collection.

hope that helps!!

keth
xx

sethsgran

Any chance your family could feed you and other half. If you're close explain the situation I'm sure they will understand. If you're not close tell them not this year and what the heck.

kethry

ok had some more thoughts about things you can do in dec rather than at the last minute..

mince pies: if you can be bothered with making your own, then make them well beforehand but *don't* cook them. put the tin (with the pies in) into the freezer, freeze, then when they're frozen, take them out of the tins and put them in a bag. When you want to cook, pop them back in the tin (as many as you need) and just cook as you would normally - 10 minutes extra.

Other alternative is to make something like delia's caramelised mincemeat ravioli, which can be frozen after you've cooked them, then heated during the caramalisation process.

you've got the cake sorted.. christmas pud can be done beforehand (see here for a recipe if you want) - the best thing about it, it can be nuked. No faffing around with steamers on xmas day! brandy butter and rum butters can be made a week, even two, beforehand, very easy to make, links on the page about the christmas pud above.

Christmas lunch: meat - whatever you decide to do, there's no law that says it has to be turkey. You could go for 2 smaller joints if you're feeding a lot of people. they can also be served cold (i.e. cooked the day before, even 2 days before) as long as the veg is hot (gravy poured over it will soon warm it through anyway). Go with something you feel comfortable cooking.. or.. heh.. get someone else to cook it for you (thinking of a rotisserie now). If your family are descending on you for a couple of days you may want to think in terms of say: a bird, a leg of something like ham or lamb, a joint of beef - and then when people say they're hungry, you can point them to the fridge. I would suggest you plan for three meals: christmas eve (a casserole of some kind?) christmas day (traditional lunch) and boxing day brunch (fryup).

veg: sprouts can be bought ahead of time and prepared, then frozen. ditto pigs in blankets. Spuds: you can go for aunt bessie's roasties, or make your own - easier if you've got a cold joint and you don't have to worry about the oven. stuffing, just make it up, pop into a tin or make up rolls and put on a baking sheet and put in the base of the oven. delia's braised red cabbage is nice and can be done the day before and reheated.

other than that: accept all and any offers of help!!

good luck!

keth
xx

pavlovs_dog

keth, you are a legend! im tired just reading that

queenpig

Could be a different matter for you but what we did on Christmas Day last year my 3 kids 8 to 2 (or course now all one year older lol!!!)
But what we did is had a buffet I let my children come and go as they wished andeat what they wanted off the buffet, maybe no the idealist, idea (is that actually a word lol) but as it was christams day i didnt to drag them away from there toys (christams day is for my children is the way i see it). and family coming in to visit discracting (sp) wouldnt have helped either.
or as another poster said, could you not ask the family members to help out cooking food wise.
Anyway am probably babberling about rubbish here so will shut up lol

EDITED to we had our Christmas dinner on Boxing day the only thing i missed was smelling my turkey cook on Christmad Eve.

sethsgran

Excellent idea queenpig might try that when more granchildren around.