This year I want to relax, be lazy instead of slaving over Christmas dinner for days. But at the same time I want to prepare as much homemade food as possible. That is why I will be making my own brandy sauce, for the 9 month matured Christmas pudding from Aldi. I will also bake turkey, but I may go for frozen one with stuffing. I’m planning as well to make some roasted potatoes and veggies to go with the turkey and of course Polish Vegetable Salad (can’t have Christmas without it). And for the evening some Mulled Orange Wine for us and chocolates, fudge and cookies for kids.
I cook homemade dinners daily and sometimes I feel that I need a break. So I promised myself that I’m not going to feel bad if this year I will take few short cuts buying half prepared food. Christmas should be about having fun time with family and friends not twice more work than on normal day…
I found very helpful watching Christmas podcast from Aldi by Phil Vickery about how to cook Christmas lunch (from start to finish) in just 2½ hours! And next day you can make Christmas Leftover Pie – easy way to use all leftovers and have nice, quick dinner at the same time.
Both podcasts can be downloaded / watched here.
G’luck cooking quickly! It’s never easy but it’s feasible.
What a challenge, Margot! It depends on the shortcut you take and how much help you can get. Do you buy pre-cut veggies and a bunch of order pre-marinated ingredients?
No, I haven’t use pre-cut veggies or pre-marinated ingredients… I marinated turkey the night before and then baked it for 2½ hours. When turkey was baking we chopped veggies and baked them as well. I served with it salad and bigos ( https://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=1296 ) which was made 1 day in advance (during ads while watching CSI). Vegetables for salad ( https://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=92 ) were cooked nigh before. When turkey was baking I chopped them quickly, added corn, peas, beans from the tin, mayo and salad was ready. Our Christmas dinner was ready in 2½ hours. For dessert we had ready Christmas pudding from Aldi and ready sauce (I gave up on making my own sauce) but it was still delicious.
I totally agree that christmas is about spending time with family and friends and not about how every last bit of christmas day dinner has been made from scratch! Prepare as much as possible in advance and enjoy your day…i know i will! :)