What cooking corners do you cut at Christmas?

Allira

Well, I'm very appreciative that someone else now does the cooking.
And Mum? Mum makes the gravy trifle.

Lucky you, my Mum doesn’t make anything at any time of year.She used to, of course but now says she’s a lady of leisure 😄
I still do all the cooking here tho DP tries his hand with an omelette now and again.

I buy cranberry sauce

It's very easy to make, Primrose53

Frozen cranberries, brown sugar, orange juice.
Simmer until Cooked.
Keeps well in the fridge.

We like it with a glug of cherry brandy added as well 😉

I prepare and cook everything from scratch.

Five of us for Christmas Dinner (6.30pm ish)

19 or 21 here on Boxing Day, for a Buffet lunch, mixture of hot and cold dishes.

A lot will be part prepare and frozen by the end of November, that way I can sit back and enjoy December and all its festivities.

I used to make everything myself, except bread sauce. It’s revolting.
Now, not only am in my own but I go to DD’s whose family is vegetarian. No turkey, no chipolatas, no forcemeat balls , etc. Ok, so I just get on with it.

I used to make and ice a Christmas cake but I only eat it so I gave up. I once made mince pies and they were awful. Both my mothers-in-law were excellent pastry cooks so they provided enough for their son. I don’t like them.
I used to make sauces and stuffing but as I no longer host Christmas I don’t need to bother. I cook as little as possible, though I am good at co-ordinating timings of meat, veg etc., with a little help from Aldi and M& S.

I think over the last 42 years I have not hosted for 10 or more 3 or 4 times . As DS and family this year going to her parents I am over the moon !
Always cooked everything from scratch but this year can't be assed. That said DH loves mince pies so will make a batch or two. Kellys turkey breast ordered , takes no time to cook and veg from local farm shop. This year I am going to the pub at lunch time , happy days !

grandMattie

I used to make everything myself, except bread sauce. It’s revolting.
Now, not only am in my own but I go to DD’s whose family is vegetarian. No turkey, no chipolatas, no forcemeat balls , etc. Ok, so I just get on with it.

GM - bread sauce is the best bit! I use freshly grated nutmeg instead of cloves and add plenty of butter and cream.

My best short cut is the discovery of frozen roast potatoes. And in recent years I cook the ham/turkey the day before and reheat. Makes for less time in kitchen....

I don't cook anything because, luckily, my daughter loves doing it

Where I’m going to raise my game is the everyday meals from Sat. 19th. Not necessarily eating high on the hog but I’ll freeze some of our favourites, make sure there’s a decent cake at teatime etc.
When I was a child my mother was always icing the cake or making stuffed dates and meals were a bit humdrum. Prob guilty of the same thing myself when our grandchhh

…when our grandchildren were young (sorry)

JackyB

Here in Germany the concept of a roast turkey dinner is not necessarily connected with Christmas so I am not committed to a turkey "and all the trimmings" - even if a whole turkey was available anywhere.

The family have come to get used to it over the years though so I do a roast, but it can be beef or chicken or game. There's nothing simpler than a roast anyway. I serve as many sorts of vegetable as there are guests and that's where I cut corners: sweetcorn, haricot beans, peas, etc, all come out of the freezer and are done in the microwave with some butter and salt.

No one really has time or room for pudding so that is usually just ice cream. Germans don't understand hot puddings.

It's more about eating and chatting together than what the actual food is. So, while I pride myself on my cooking, and my daughters in law and my sister in law have complimented me, I prefer to put work into the choice of wine, decorations, games, ambiance and atmosphere rather than spend time cooking.

“germans don’t really understand hot puddings”.

Beg to differ on that one! My late MIL was German and her German SIL was a professional cook.

They would spend hours preparing mouth watering desserts like fruit tarts, strudels, poached fruit, gateaux and just about everything was served with cream.

We still have relatives living in Germany and are always staggered at the amount of food and alcohol they get through in a day.

grandMattie

I used to make everything myself, except bread sauce. It’s revolting.
Now, not only am in my own but I go to DD’s whose family is vegetarian. No turkey, no chipolatas, no forcemeat balls , etc. Ok, so I just get on with it.

I adore bread sauce. The aroma of an onion soaking in boiled milk with a couple of bay leaves and pepper is, for me, the scent of Christmas.

I m catering for about 15 of us this Christmas…
I will cook a large ham on Christmas Eve, and some of that will be reheated to go towards dinner on Christmas Day. On the day I’m going to cook two turkey crowns rather than on giant bird, as we all prefer breast meat. I’m asking one lot of guests to bring a dessert, and my son is bringing an M&S Christmas pudding. I might make a trifle the day before. I’ll prep the veg the day before too. I won’t make a Christmas cake as few of us like it, but I have a nice carrot cake recipe I might make a couple of days before Christmas. It’ll be fine…

I’m cutting all Christmas cooking corners this year. Taking a Xmas holiday to son and daughter in law’s in Canada, 😆 🇨🇦 🍁 🎄

When we had large numbers for Christmas I made everything myself bar the pudding although even that I have made.
No we are much reduced in numbers and I am the only one who likes bread sauce and cranberry sauce so I buy ready made bread sauce from the chiller and a jar of cranberry sauce. I have bought mince pies instead of making them for the last few years as well.

grandMattie

I used to make everything myself, except bread sauce. It’s revolting.
Now, not only am in my own but I go to DD’s whose family is vegetarian. No turkey, no chipolatas, no forcemeat balls , etc. Ok, so I just get on with it.

Can we come too, please?
We are both veggie, but I have a wonderful recipe for nut roast and even non-veggie friends come back for seconds. And it's a microwave recipe! A few days before Christmas it's a trawl round the supermarkets for offers on sprouts and parsnips which DH can't do without. (Not sure there will be any offers this year, though .) Because I'm dairy free and DH reacts badly to sunflower products, we have to do a lot of our own preparation, but I do buy stuffing and gravy granules.
DH dislikes Christmas pud and cake, so it's usually Aldi or Lidl for one for me, plus Lidl do wonderful vegan mince pies. A pity our local Lidls are now sold out till possibly next year .

PS. It's not Christmas without bread sauce, but I think I'm the only one in my family who likes it.....

Oh Dowsabella - would you share your nut roast recipe please?
Generally speaking, I've rarely met a corner I wouldn't like to cut...and not just in cooking, either

I bought about six Tesco Finest Christmas £10 puddings in the post Christmas knockdowns for 50 pence each.

Sadly they are so delicious there are only three left. I will have to make sure there is one left for the 25th as there won't be time to make one.

Everything else I will make myself as I enjoy cooking.

🤣🤣🤣

Always make mince pies, usually freezing half of them uncooked, bread sauce, stuffing and cranberry sauce. We're not keen on turkey so usually get a good sized chicken for the two of us and have it with lots of veg, roasties and all the trimmings. I've never found my home made chicken gravy to be very tasty so I now buy M&S turkey gravy and add redcurrant jelly to that. So much easier than faffing about with gravy at the last moment. One year I followed Jamie O's recipe for Christmas gravy involving roasting chicken wings and veg then pushing everything through a sieve - as I remember. Next year and ever since - M&S. We used to buy lots of M&S 4 for the price of 3 "bits and pieces" when DH's mum used to come and stay but generally found them to be a bit underwhelming. Haven't bothered since although I'm always open to temptation.

None at all.

I love cooking Christmas dinner and making sure there is food in the house for the other days of Christmas and the New Year.

All right, I don't butcher my own meat or milk the cows myself, or cure ham myself, but apart from that everything is home-made.

I cook my turkey crown in advance and slice and freeze it. Defrost what we need when we need it.
I buy frozen roast potatoes and parsnips, frozen Yorkshire puddings, and everything else is shop bought. The only thing I make is the mashed potatoes. I just don’t have the energy, as a menopausal woman with ADHD, to do it all myself. I’d rather spend more time with the family than the oven.

traveller61

I’m cutting all Christmas cooking corners this year. Taking a Xmas holiday to son and daughter in law’s in Canada, 😆 🇨🇦 🍁 🎄

Fantastic! Have a wonderful time.

I have cooked 47 Christmas dinners. I would love to go away one year. I do get lots of help. OH and daughter prep all the many veg the night before. Son always sets a beautiful table. They all load dishwasher and wash saucepans by hand.

My Aunt and Uncle had 4 kids and loads of grandchildren. Every year she wished for a Christmas away. They finally went to a very posh hotel in the Canaries. My Aunt was very homesick, missed the family and kept ringing them up just to hear their voices. 🤣

00opsidia

I buy Christmas pudding , Mince pies and Christmas cake to offer to people. We don't eat it ourselves as we don't like it. We will buy cranberry sauce too.

We prefer gingerbread or cheese cake, so we will make those. Maybe even a gingerbread cheesecake! Fresh veg , we make our own pigs in blankets with luxury chipolatas and smoked streaky bacon as then I know they're good. We make our own gravy too and home made stuffing.

In years gone by we've spent a fortune on a fresh turkey but one year it was a real disappointment with an aftertaste and we vowed to buy frozen in future.
Every year now we get a cheap frozen turkey from Aldi or the like and we marinade it for 24 hours in a home made brine like this www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/juniper-brine-355429 Honestly, it takes a cheap frozen turkey to wonderful! We then put butter under the skin and butter baste it, stuff it with lovely home made stuffing and put strips of bacon on the top criss crossed. After all of this you literally cannot tell that it wasn't a fresh free range turkey, it's super tender and tasty.

I used to make gingerbread houses but it depends who's going to be around to eat it.

I too buy a frozen crown and like you I brine it for 24 hrs and then cook it in the slow cooker with all the trimmings and it is marvellous. I know how it feels to spend nearly £60 or more on a fresh crown to find it is no better in fact not as good as the frozen one, which generally are a third of the price.

Loved reading all the posts.