I have eight people for lunch.
Last year I did three courses and had huge problems keeping it all warm.
By the time I got to plate number 8 number one was cold.
Not enough room in the oven to get all the plates in.
They were going in and out of the microwave like yo yos.
With the family singing why are we waiting I almost had a breakdown ;D
Any advice please.
I really want to get it right this year.
we use a heating trolley and table top wamer, had 16 round year before last and again this year. Bloomin' useful.
Our Christmases are always 16+ people and although we generally eat around two large tables pushed together, the food is served in large serving dishes and or platters, with everyone serving themselves and the dishes being passed from one to the next, that way the food stays nice and hot.
Have a salad for a change ;D
try and get a Hostess trolley off freecycle
Eat out
have a cold starter,do as much prep as you can in advance to avoid panic,and on no account do it plated up,no wonder you were going mad! serve it help your self style in large oven proof dishes.the meat needs to rest for 30 mins or so anyway,keep it covered in foil whilst doing so and it will stay plenty warm enough
good luck
rach
xx
I would echo what Rach has said and also: get some teamwork going!! Don't even think about doing it all yourself. I find people have much more fun if they're asked to help, even the grandchildren taking round the dips or putting out the crackers.
personally I'm copping out this year and going to my brother's in France. :-[ :-[
OMG, a Christmas thread already!!! :o You're giving yourself far too much time for worrying!
Betula planning is a good help and freezing ahead.
I make bread sauce, stuffings, mashed carrot and swede, cauliflower cheese, brandy butter, bacon wrapped sausages etc all ready and in the freezer by the beginning of december.
I also cook my pudding in a slow cooker on the day as it can go on first thing and be left, all day if necessary, doesn't steam up the kitchen and keeps the hob free.
As Elvis said cook the meat first and leave it to rest.
I prepare potatoes, parsnips, sprouts etc the day before.
I use the vacuum packed chestnuts as they take 1 minute in the microwave.
You could look for other veg recipes that are able to be prepared ahead and have them in the freezer too. I always have a few in ready for christmas then can cope with whatever happens.
And lay the table the day before.
Can someone else bring starter and/or dessert and be responsible for serving them, I have done that with my sister before now?
It depends who is coming doesn't it, and if you can ask them to muck in with you or not. At least starting this early you have plenty of time. Don't panic.
Lots of lists - I have a tick list when putting all the dishes on the table as I always find something not served afterwards!
Things like the bread sauce and carrot and swede can be heated a little early and kept warm.
Borrow another slow cooker for mulled wine?
ok, I am getting too excited about christmas now so will stop - hope you find something that will help in all this rambling - I love christmas.... :) :) :)
T.
Quote from: thifasmom on October 04, 2008, 11:09:50
we generally eat around two large tables pushed together, the food is served in large serving dishes and or platters, with everyone serving themselves and the dishes being passed from one to the next, that way the food stays nice and hot.
As well as using the cooker, we also use a 3 tier steamer so all the veg usually cooks and is ready together.
We do this and it works a treat. Have done so for over 12 years. Everyone eats hot food :) :)
Quote from: betula on October 04, 2008, 10:54:04
I have eight people for lunch.
Last year I did three courses and had huge problems keeping it all warm.
By the time I got to plate number 8 number one was cold.
Not enough room in the oven to get all the plates in.
They were going in and out of the microwave like yo yos.
With the family singing why are we waiting I almost had a breakdown ;D
Any advice please.
I really want to get it right this year.
Pardon my French but you worked your socks off and they sounded like they were taking the p*ss so tell them to ckoff and eat somewhere else!
Thanks for all the tips :)
Yes it is early,my thoughts always turn to Christmas this time of year. :)
I would love to eat out.We did it the year my dad died as we could not face the empty chair business.I thought it was a good experience but the family wanted to be at home since.
My main problem was not the food prep as I do peel and prepare potatoes and veg Christmas eve,I also cook the Turkey Christmas eve it is a I say the serving of it.
I have not used tureens as by the time I have eight people round the extended table plus crackers wine glasses,Christmas table decorations
there is hardly room to move.
Starting this thread has focused my mind on it and yes I do think you are right,it is crazy plating it up.
I do have an extra table in the living room.I could put it all on there and everyone help themselves.Can you still buy those little table warmers.?
Starters.........I normally give a choice of soup,pate or prawn cocktail................maybe try something different this year.........any ideas.?
Quote from: ktlawson on October 04, 2008, 13:31:40
Quote from: thifasmom on October 04, 2008, 11:09:50
we generally eat around two large tables pushed together, the food is served in large serving dishes and or platters, with everyone serving themselves and the dishes being passed from one to the next, that way the food stays nice and hot.
We do this and it works a treat. Have done so for over 12 years. Everyone eats hot food :) :)
i know a lot of people dread the large family get togethers but we love it and try to get together with our extended family (relative is a swear word to us :)) at least three times a year plus Christmas, close friends are normally thrown into the melee, so chaos is guaranteed and expected with great relish ;D.
nothing beats getting together at the same table and partaking in the grand passing of dishes over each other arms, etc :D.
and i agree with grawrc teamwork is key to a smooth get together at least in our get togethers. although the meal is planned between 4 women, only two of us are the bosses in the kitchen, but everyone at some point mucks in.
a lot of the food is also cooked/ prepared the day before. but still lunch turns into dinner, which is cool cause everyone always know to walk with a night over bag as no one really wants to go home when its all done anyway. leading the days festivities into the night and a great late boxing day breakfast...
How about heating the plates in advance, and putting them into a coolbag with those blue thingies that you can either freeze to keep things cold or heat up to keep things hot. Just a thought that suddenly occurred to me.
And I read somewhere that you can heat the plates in the microwave by putting a tablespoon of water on each plate before stacking them up. Never tried it, though.
Redclanger.............they were only joking and they do wash up everything afterwards ;D
I must admit though it was hard to see the funny side at the time because as you probally know it is hard to keep a sense of humor when you are under pressure.
Do you remember the Adrian Mole books.There is a wonderful chapter in there where mum has not defrosted the Turkey and she is sitting it in a bath of hot water while the family are arriving for lunch.Reminds me of that and makes me laugh :)
betula,i got some of those table warmers from a chinese supermarket not long ago,although im sure your food is going to be so delicious itll be woofed down in one go
r
x
Thanks for the tip elvis,we have a big one in Birmingham,will go and see if they have any :)
The Husband is sent out to cook the turkey in the kettle barbie here, 'cos we like the flavour. I have a heated trolley and it's a life saver as you can shove stuff in it as it's ready up to 2 hours in advance, and all the crocs can warm on the bottom shelf too. Any left over veg can go back in to keep warm for those who can manage seconds. ;D
The table is laid just after breakfast and anyone in the house is roped in to help. My husband usually does all the cooking when we have guests but I help prepare the vegetables and am there to assist towards the end of cooking.
We always use serving dishes when we have guests. There is not always a lot of room in the oven to warm them up so we put them with the plates in a sink full of very hot water...(the serving dishes, not the guests!). This can only be done if, like me, you have a double sink as you may need to strain some of the vegetables if you don't have a steamer. Once the meat is cooked, it comes out to stand. When the potatoes are done they are put in a serving dish, the oven is turned down and they are keep warm in there. By this time the oven usually has room to fit the vegetable dishes in.
My son or my husband carves the meat. Our dining room is just off the kitchen so once everyone has helped themselves we put the serving dishes back in the oven for second servings.
I always think cooking a large meal for guests is too much for one person and wouldn't attempt to do it without help.
This reminds me of the time that I cooked a full on chinese banquet for about 15 people at our house. We did 2 different soups, various mixed starters, roast duck with all the trimmings and 5 different main courses. Bar a couple of the starters which I got ready made from the chinese supermarket I made all the stuff from scratch. It was a complete nightmare...never again. Food was good though! I cook quite often for parties and I jsut try to do as much as possible in advance. At xmas I would pre-boil potatoes etc the evening before and then put them straight around the tukey. You could also pre-make things like sausage and bacon rolls.
When I had loads of people for Christmas lunch I got in a right state and walked round the streets crying in the morning and everyone wished me happy Christmas and I felt like telling them all to p..s off. It turned out OK in the end but I only enjoyed it after dinner was served. Ended up with baking trays on the kitchen floor and totally confused. OK if one has a big kitchen and after all that fuss the little old lady who I got in a state about sat by the fire told me off for cooking too much and was overwhelmed. Boxing day is the best as all the pressure if off. It is OK to go out, but very expensive, and the children/grandchildren much prefer to be at home. I also have the veggies and the non veggies and a small house/kitchen which makes it difficult, but they still want to come so it can't be all that bad.
I,m having my daughter and Gkids round this xmas after many years of just cooking for us 2. I intend to fill the freezer with stuff that just needs thawing then plonk loads of things on the table so they can just help them selfs after all it,s my christmas too
marg
You are brave!
Just a few thoughts:
don't give guests a choice of starter - more work for you if you do! Is there a starter that everyone could enjoy, even the vegetarians? Perhaps some sort of mini-tapas type cold nibbles that can be served on one large dish and eaten over a napkin - save on washing up too.
a lot of vegetables in a traditional Xmas meal are roasted, but that can mean your oven gets over full. Perhaps serve potatoes as mash, and blend carrots and swede also as a mash (a fav of my mums and tasty). Serving this way could also mean you could prepare in advance and freeze.
If you think you're going to run out of oven space, then why not borrow a microwave or even an oven from a neighbour who is going away for Xmas?
no choice of starter, try to arrange it so that you have 8 dishes of veg, 1 plate on each as a lid! plates stay hot, everyone helps themselves to veg, should mean less wastage. A cold dessert can be dished out in advance as well. good luck! rgds, tony ;)
We usually start either with a scotch broth sort of soup prepared well in advance and reheated or sort of smoked salmon roule (frozen and defrosted on the day) with lemon and dribbles of salady stuff. we have 2 ovens so the turkey and stuffings go in the big one, the roasting veg including potatoes in the little one. bread sauce in the microwave and also gravy prepared in advance from turkey bits and frozen. Apart from the turkey and veg Xmas is a defrost and reheat job. Normally we're all stuffed to bursting by the end of the main course so we have a break and a glass of something festive and the youngest grandchild takes round all the presents. Yes we are that self -controlled!! ;D ;D :P Sometime during this I nip off to the kitchen and reappear with a flaming Xmas pud to bring them all back to the kitchen. While all this is happening my kids clear up the kitchen, load the dishwasher, wipe the surfaces and so on.
Pete always used to prepare a third of a Stilton cheese laced with port months in advance so if anyone feels peckish as the evening goes on we roll out the Stilton and a bottle of port and of course there's Xmas cake for the sweet-toothed.
As others have said, keep the menu simple, do as much prep. beforehand as possible, and make your guests help! You can buy gel filled pads that you microwave and put between plates to keep them hot, my mother swears by them. I've always liked the Christmas supper better than the lunch, loads of salad, fish, cold cuts, pickles and help yourself!
Having a few glasses of wine during the cooking period might help you not care too much about how it is all going, although that was my downfall one year when my parents came up to us for Christmas dinner bringing with them some very acceptable Champagne...a few glasses later I thought I had everything under control until the duck slid out of the oven straight onto the floor and had to be hastily rearranged and cleaned before consumption.... :-[ :-[ :-[ I'm not suprised casualty is busy over the Christmas period...
There are always 8 here for Christmas dinner.
We never have a starter,there is always more than enough main course to keep everyone sated.We always have Christmas pud etc but it hardly ever gets eaten until Boxing day.
I usually prepare the dinner and the typical menu would be like this;
Meat.usually turkey crown
Bacon rolls
Sausages
Mashed and Roast potatoes
Carrots
Peas
Sprouts
Green Beans.
nothing fancy just a good old roast dinner.
I would not mind if people gave a thought about what Christmas is all about, we got out of feeding other family members at Christmas years ago, normally we shoot off abroad but this year for a 'Bit of Class' it's Blackpool ;)
Fork, dinner sounds delicious. Not sure about mice pies and do you really, really not like Christmas cake. Christmas cake and wedding cake are my favourite cakes, apart from scones, jam and cream (if that is a cake).
A lot of good advice on this thread. Just one thing to add - you can use a pre-heated slow cooker as a handy substitute for a hotplate for things like roast potatoes that won't dry out too easily.
Bets.....way back you said this...
"I would love to eat out.We did it the year my dad died as we could not face the empty chair business.I thought it was a good experience but the family wanted to be at home since."
That's what you want, the family have designated you as the Chief Cook and, well perhaps not Bottle Washer, but you get the idea?
It's your Christmas too.
My suggestion....while you're at B'ville College, check into the Womens' Assertiveness Course.....then book the bloody table ;D
Then you can all pile round to yours for zzzzzzing in front of the tele, or whatever.
Stress-free or wot?
8)
... and hopefully everyone pays their own way... cos it's going to be expensive!!!
Quote from: Borlotti on October 05, 2008, 16:57:21
Fork, dinner sounds delicious. Not sure about mice pies and do you really, really not like Christmas cake. Christmas cake and wedding cake are my favourite cakes, apart from scones, jam and cream (if that is a cake).
Although I say it myself,dinner will be delicious ;D
No I really dont like Christmas cake or Dundee cake and things like that......but its strange that I can eat a little bit of Christmas pud and mince pies because its the currants and sultanas that I dont like in cake
Quote from: grawrc on October 05, 2008, 19:53:09
... and hopefully everyone pays their own way... cos it's going to be expensive!!!
All the veg you see on my dinner menu is home grown......so apart from what I spent on seed etc,my main expense will be the meat.
I am doing the same this year - doing Christmas dinner for everyone with just a standard oven.
However I am blessed with a very helpful family - I usually take the wine and cheese board when I go over to either my mums or sisters for Christmas. This year - my sister is doing the starter a smoked salmon and prawn roulade and she will even be bringing the melba toast. My mum is doing the puds and for the Xmas pud I can use this microwave (I'll go to chefs confession later for use of devils kitchen inventions which encourage slothful ways ;) ). My OH will be in charge of drinks and entertaining - so I only have to bother about the main course.
I would echo everyone elses sentiments - the table top hostess trolley things are a god send. Me being a bit of a spontaneous entertainer never had one - but my OH being a smooth lounge lizard sort of a chap and used to entertaining has had one of these since the early nineties. Laughed at it at first but a god send now.
;D
Quote from: betula on October 04, 2008, 13:57:22
I would love to eat out.Quote from: Hyacinth on October 05, 2008, 18:54:52
Bets.....way back you said this...
"I would love to eat out.We did it the year my dad died as we could not face the empty chair business.I thought it was a good experience but the family wanted to be at home since."
That's what you want, the family have designated you as the Chief Cook and, well perhaps not Bottle Washer, but you get the idea?
It's your Christmas too.
My suggestion....while you're at B'ville College, check into the Womens' Assertiveness Course.....then book the bloody table ;D
Then you can all pile round to yours for zzzzzzing in front of the tele, or whatever.
Stress-free or wot?
8)
Quote from: Fork on October 05, 2008, 20:51:41
Quote from: Borlotti on October 05, 2008, 16:57:21
Fork, dinner sounds delicious. Not sure about mice pies and do you really, really not like Christmas cake. Christmas cake and wedding cake are my favourite cakes, apart from scones, jam and cream (if that is a cake).
Quote from: grawrc on October 05, 2008, 19:53:09
... and hopefully everyone pays their own way... cos it's going to be expensive!!!
All the veg you see on my dinner menu is home grown......so apart from what I spent on seed etc,my main expense will be the meat.
Sorry Fork! I was referring to these previous posts and to the exorbitant cost of eating out at Xmas.
Roast potatoes can be started the day before. Parboil the peeled spuds then drain. Put into a hot fat/oil in a roasting pan (pre-heated in the oven or on top) turn until covered in the oil (ideally keeping the oil up to temp on the hob) then allow to cool, cover and refrigerate. This can save a bit of time on the day. Think you can do this with parsnips as well but go easy on the parboiling.
Quote from: Borlotti on October 04, 2008, 16:25:22
When I had loads of people for Christmas lunch I got in a right state and walked round the streets crying in the morning and everyone wished me happy Christmas
Oh Borlotti bless you. I want to give you a hug now! The thought of someone being so sad and stressed on Christmas Day :(
I cooked my first 'big' family Christmas dinner last year and I felt it was a disaster. Not only was it for 8 people (I'm only used to doing 3 lol) but it was in my sister's kitchen which I'd never cooked in before. What could have gone wrong, went wrong and I hated it!
don't know if it helps, netto has the table top thingies in on thursday, reduced to 14.99 from 24.99, larger stores only :)
Dear Fork, did you get it you said MICE pies. Please don't talk about Christmas now as I am quite happy, but am sure I will panic again this year. I am retired and at home so should be able to cook, buy presents etc. but am afraid it is just too many expectations on me. I think I will hide at the allotment until it is all over. I do think the advertising on TV of a perfect Christmas hide the reality and a lot of people are sad at Christmas.
oh Borlotti, do think you are right and we have lost the thread of Christmas a bit, you have to let your family know if you want an ' alternative ' Christmas, I can't imagine a Christmas without them - but
they may be doing what they think pleases you most !
We have all got together and for the first time have booked a holiday in warmer climes, don't know
how it will turn out, we will all probably miss the ' traditions ' we are used to - a barbie on the beach will seem a bit wierd to say the least !
Has anyone else had this experiance ? Please tell me how it went !
Please tell your family if it is all too much, they love you and will understand.
floss xxx
Defineltley I would think that it is your turn to go to somebody elses house!!!
I would plate it up I can't bear all that passing around the food and being polite. I like to get it on the plates and then I start to eat what ever any one else is doing messing about with drinks etc let them get on with it as long as I have my dinner!!!!
Cold starter and dessert. If your family starts to complain etc just look em in the eye and say your turn next year then and that will be enough to shut them up I would guess!!!
Really we are lucky so lets enjoy it.........
Quote from: Hyacinth on October 05, 2008, 18:54:52
Bets.....way back you said this...
"I would love to eat out.We did it the year my dad died as we could not face the empty chair business.I thought it was a good experience but the family wanted to be at home since."
That's what you want, the family have designated you as the Chief Cook and, well perhaps not Bottle Washer, but you get the idea?
It's your Christmas too.
My suggestion....while you're at B'ville College, check into the Womens' Assertiveness Course.....then book the bloody table ;D
Then you can all pile round to yours for zzzzzzing in front of the tele, or whatever.
Stress-free or wot?
8)
Oh heck,yes I would prefer to eat out but I can understand why the others do not want to.Beleave me If I did not want to do it I wouldn't.Nothing wrong with my assertiveness.I just want to do it in the correct way to make it as stress free as possible.
With our busy lives I enjoy a one day chance of getting together.My mum has done it for years but her fingers are to arthritic now to grip properly and it is not safe for her.I did however always do the roasties and the fancy bits and take them over so I will be delegating some work this year.My problem is I can't stand other people in the kitchen when I am cooking.It drives me crazy.
I do love Christmas though and I did not mean the thread to be a moan just advice for dealing with the more stressful bits.
Thanks for all the advice and ideas :)
I can never wait to start cooking Christmas dinner and the more the merrier....bottle of champers, Nat and Dean crooning away and I am as happy as Larry.
Mind you I did give the family a laugh last year that of course they still giggle about now. I got everyone seated, served up lunch, and then suddenly went skidding across the kitchen on goose fat landing flat on my back and my face was as red as my Christmas jumper ::) :-X