Preparing food before christmas

I don't have a big freezer, so can't do too much in advance.
Will make stuffing the day before, ditto brandy butter, and prepare pigs in blankets.
Might also simmer the turkey giblets for gravy stock, otherwise on Chr. Morning.
Will make lots of mince pies a couple of days before, and a big batch of my very very cheesy cheese straws.
All Christmassy cooking, whether on the day or before, is done to either Classic FM or a CD of Carols from King's, or equivalent cathedral choir. And probably a glass or 2 of something! Buck's Fizz if it's Chr. Day.

I made the lentil soup yesterday! We are having Christmas dinner at DD's but I'll supply the soup and dessert. Dessert will probably be made on Christmas Eve.

Too busy trying to tidy up the house right now to think about food!

You can make and bake stuffing balls in advance and then freeze them. Take them out an hour or two before popping them in the oven with the roast veg or on their own for 5 mins. You can also freeze mashed potatoes. I always deliberately cook more than I need as I'm on my own and freeze the rest. Put in fridge overnight and reheat in microwave. Makes things so much easier.

Thamks Juney and others for lots of good ideas. I will dig out some pyrex dishes/lids and try to get ahead with things. I usually do Delia's red cabbage recipe. My Dutch aunts red cabbage is the best but ever never been able to re create it! Do any of you use a food processor to cut the red cabbage?

I'm definitely going to have to make a plan/list as one guest doesn't like turkey and one doesn't like beef so I'm doing both with the usual trimmings. So must get the potatoes and yorkshires in after the turkey comes out as no room for everything. I'll lay the table Christmas Eve and make the trifle and prepare everything up to cooking stage. I might parboil the spuds too. All go!!!

Nothing in the freezer i'm afraid apart from some Iceland puddings. I'll make mince pies and meringues on Christmas Eve. We're having a C'mas Eve brunch and i will have baked a couple of hams and a sausage pie/sausage rolls for that. Friends for C'mas lunch and they are bringing starters and pud. We're having very slow roast leg of lamb so we can go out to other friends for coffee and mince pies. I do roast mixed root veg with garlic to go with the lamb. We're not very traditional - no one likes all the heavy dried fruit stuff.Left overs on Boxing Day when son wife and 3 children come to stay for a few days. You can only eat so much can't you. We have lots of games, a mad disco for kids and plenty of g&t !!

chelseababy I too like Delia's red cabbage recipe as try as I might, I cannot quite recreate my mother's East Prussian version!! (like you and the Dutch aunt) Do you suppose we could blame Brexit?
Yes, I use my Magimix for the slicing, it saves having blue hands for the entire festive season!
I can't remember if this is in Delia's or not, but I stir a couple of tablespoons of red currant jelly into it before serving.

Oh yes, if you have a machine to do the job definitely use it! We do a mammoth cook up of red cabbage and freeze it so that it only needs reheating. Freezes really well and always tastes freshly made when reheated.
We always have sauces, stuffing and all kinds of 'bits and bobs' in the freezer and not just for Christmas but throughout the year. DH does all the cooking and so he always does a mammoth cook up and freezes loads for the future. We have roasting potatoes and parsnips all par-boiled and coated with duck or goose fat then frozen on trays and then put as 'free flow' into a box or bag. Even Yorkshire puddings are cooked in a huge batch and frozen so that they are available whenever needed.
We are all going to DS and DIL this year so I expect everyone will just pitch in as they don't have a big freezer.
We are taking a big Christmas pudding which is the last of a batch made a couple of years ago. It is absolutely paralytic if the amount of brandy poured over and into it over the last couple of years is anything to go by. You could get squiffy just by smelling it! Just hope it tastes as good as it smells!

Yes, Anya, that's what I do with the roasties (sorry for the time delay, I've been out this afternoon), though I rough them up, coat them in melted goose fat and let them cool before spreading on the roasting tin and covering with cling film. I'm interested now in Synonymous's idea of freezing them and might try that, though my cellar freezer's a bit like a black hole - things disappear in there never to be seen again, or at least not until they're waaaay out of date.

Jamie's idea of roast veg megamix is good for a smaller group - lines of different veg in the same big tray, each prepared with different oils and flavourings. Again all the work's done the day before so it's just to pop in the oven. It went down very well here and saved a lot of pan/oven juggling.

I prep the veg on Christmas Eve and parboil the potatoes. I will probably cook the gammon as well (or curse it ala phoenix ) I've cheated an got ready made pigs in blankets in the freezer, but I have also frozen home made cranberry sauce.

I'm making my cranberry sauce tomorrow, some general baking during the week and Christmas Eve will prepare the vehicle(with help))

Love the idea of cooking everything the day before and then transferring it to foil trays to be put in the frIdge and washing the pans as you go along. Less pans on Christmas day!

In our house the DH does the veg on Christmas Eve listening to the Carols from Kings and then on the day the DD makes pigs in blankets and stuffIng. Since we go away on Boxing Day and do not need leftovers except for sandwiches I do a medium turkey crown roast which takes two rather than the five hours the turkey used to take in the old days. For me then, all that is really left to do is to make the gravy, get everything finished at exactly the same time, and have the Christmas pudding ready to microwave while we eat the dinner. A written down running order helps.

While it is still quite a lot of work I do it on automatic pilot after so many years.

I lost my husband one year ago yesterday. I'm to have half my left lung removed early next month.(Btw I'm a non smoker.)
Four of my family arrive to stay on Tuesday till the 28th, joined by three more on Wednesday. It'll be lively! Delegation skills will be fully honed and at the ready.

I am a bit on autopilot too Lilyflower, but I get pretty tired by 3pm doing it the same way every year.
The tips on here should help that now though.

MeggyMay. Sorry to hear about your husband. And hope your operation and recovery goes very well.
Isn't delegation a wonderful thing?!

I'm with Ankers! Probably peel the veg the day before. Might make the stuffing, but that's about it.
I hope to do as little as possible on Christmas Day.

Happy Christmas everyone?

Picked up a tip from a 93 year old woman today. You can buy your sprouts now and they'll keep fine if you keep them outside.

Makes sense. How did I not know that before?

MeggyMay

I bought a sprout stick the middle of last week and stuck it in the garage. It's perfectly okay and will be next weekend.

Does an online order to M & S count as preparing food in advance??

kate and me. Picking mine up Friday 7.30 pm

meggy very best wishes for 2017.

I have bought two large foil roasting trays and a couple of smaller ones. I plan on cooking everything in them then throwing them into the recycling. No piles of roasting tins to scrub.

MeggyMay very best wishes for a lovely Christmas and good luck in 2017.

When I was working I seemed to cram a lot more in on Christmas Eve after leaving work at lunchtime. All veg prepped, turkey cooked and cooled over night, dessert sorted as far as possible. These last couple of years are far more chilled, this year I have already cooked the gammon and carved it. Think next year I will cook the turkey a few days in advance too. Have always heated the meat in gravy on the day, it's what my Mum did so feels right.

We have a fairly simple lunch; roast turkey, roast ham, stuffing, roast potatoes, sprouts, parsnips, and gravy. Followed by pudding and a cold sweet. I prepare the whole meal the day before: I also have an oven with a delayed start timer so that the turkey goes in the oven overnight and the oven turns itself on at about 8.00am.

I do not go near the kitchen for lunch cooking purposes until 12.00, when I put the pre-prepared veg in the oven and then again not until 12.45 when I cook the sprouts and busy around putting food on serving dishes and making gravy.

Once the meal is served I do no more food preparation until the following lunch time. There is cold turkey, ham etc, plenty of salad and plenty of bread and cheese and family members can eat when and if they want to.

It means I have a relaxed day enjoying myself with my family and nobody is made to feel uncomfortable by me rushing round martyring myself while they are not allowed to do anything.