A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 First time cooking Christmas Dinner.

Okay, I have 18 adults and 3 children coming to my place for Christmas dinner. I'm not overly concerned about my cooking as I enjoy the kitchen but I have never cooked a turkey dinner for that many people. I'm stressing!! I lay at night and go over the timing in my head..
"when to put the turkey in, when to put the ham in...when to start the potatoes, do I make the salad the day before or that morning.....oh lord, how will I have time to do all that in the morning and clean?? Oh..the pies....can I bake them this week and freeze them or should I wait and do them fresh that day???"
These are just a few of the things running through my head. Why am I so nervous?
Does anyone have any hints, tips, suggestions as to make this go smoothly? Anything at all would help me so much. I'd like to get as much done before so I can also enjoy the day and visit with my family. What can be done beforehand?

Thanks, Christina

Valium

Seriously, Christina, with 18 adults coming surely people will offer to bring stuff. Choose the things that you really want to make and dole out the rest. For example, have someone bring pies, bread/rolls, vegetable like green bean or broccoli casserole, etc.

If you are making mashed potatoes the potatoes can be peeled and cut the day or two before but must be stored in a bucket completely covered in water in the refridgerator, Salad can be prepped the day before except for dressing............

Christina...if you are stressing about this...you will not enjoy it. So first of all..realize that this is a time for fun and family...it does not matter if things are perfect.No one is coming to inpect your home...or critique the food.
Most anything you want to do in advance you can...dressing can be made up and stored in the fridge, roll can be frozen, salads can be made in advance and so on. YouDO want to do as much in advance as you can...you do not want to be in the kitchen while your guests are there...as before..you need to enjoy this time.
So...start early and do your cleaning..you can do a "tidy up" the morning of the event. Then plan your menu...so you can mark things off your list as you get them done. Set your table the night before...and have the itemd ready to set on the table. If you need more help let me know your menu and I will try to help you plan. And...as Mel said...no one would mind bringing items that would help you...

~V~

My thought exactly! Shaun and his Sweetie had me over for Thanksgiving dinner and they were both so worried about impressing me and making me happy that I think they ended up not enjoying dinner like they should have. As far as I was concerned, everything was absolutely perfect, so just do your best without fretting about it and your dinner will go great! Take a deep breath every once in a while, then move along to the next step. When dinner is served you will see nothing but smiles!

Thank you Bill for throwing that in...I have cooked many a meal in my day ...and not enjoyed them because I was so worried about one thing or another OR I ended up in the kitchen the whole time..and everyone had fun but me. But...what it all boils down to...is people come to have a good time, to visit and have fun. I don't worry about the dust bunnies anymore...we all have them...they are our friends. I don't fret about the food items anymore...we all eat food..and there WILL be something they like. It's all about fun and making memories...if you are stressed...then they wont be good memories...


~V~

I do tend to focus more on perfection rather than completion..one of the many things I so wish I could change about myself.
What does everyone here put out for "munchies" before dinner? Every year, we've gone to my Dad's and his wife puts out sooo much food beforehand that no one seems to have an appetite for turkey. That and the money spent!

Vanessa: I love the check list idea. I have so many mental notes going on in my head, it'd really help to see them on paper. I just wish I could learn to relax or better yet, a dollar for everyone who's told me to "chill"!
Christina

I'm chillin'...
...I'm having a can of tuna on Christmas!

Appetizers is a good place to start. If you are planning on both turkey and ham plus all the sides, that is a huge meal. Keep the apetizers simple. A nice veggie tray is always good and you can prep all the veggies ahead of time and simply lay out the tray in the morning. Another good one is spinach dip. Also can be made in advance and stored in the fridge and then placed in a sour dough bread bowl prior to guests arriving. We also like to do clam dip with chips. Another thing that can be done ahead and if you like that idea and want the recipe, let me know. Stuff like that is enough to feed people while you chat and relax yet not fill them up before the meal happens.

Christina,
Here is what I do and I usually cook for about that many. First Neil helps me. We enjoy cooking the meal together.
Make a list of what you plane to make. In one column put the item with location of recipe, in another column put the ingredients you will need (this makes grocery shopping a breeze). I follow those columns with the time it takes to finish the recipe so I have a time line of sorts.
Can you tell I am a list person?
Try and do as much as possible before hand. As for the clean house I tidy up before we go to bed the night before and anything after that is just going to have to stay that way.
I ask my guests to bring a family favorite dish if they offer to bring something otherwise I don't ask.
I have an open kitchen policy. If someone wants to help-come on in:) I usually have some nice calm music (like Enya) playing in the background. As for snacks I don't do much. I do have something available to drink.
I usually end up using the front porch as a fridge. You would laugh to see it. Anyways things are pretty relaxed because I want to have fun and if something goes wrong it will be a conversation piece for next year.
Relax and have fun. If you want some easy but looks like you worked recipes PM me I would love to share.
Nancy

For appetizers I like to put up a pickle/olive/cheese and crackers platter. A soup going in the crockpot is nice too. Right before dinner is served we have a fresh fruit cup with a scoop of sherbert on top. Melon,apples,pineapple chunks, and grapes are nice. The apples will need a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown but the whole bowl of cut up fruit can be done the night before, stored in the fridge. I like Nancy's porch idea as the fridge gets pretty loaded up!

Thanks so much everyone for all the ideas and most of all thankyou for understanding.

For those of you who have brined your turkey...have you stuffed it and made gravy or would it be too salty? I'm still debating whether to do the traditional roast turkey or a brined one?????