The Ultimate Christmas Dinner Checklist
Christmas is, hands down, the busiest time here at COOK. Over the years we’ve cooked Christmas lunch for tens of thousands of families, so we’ve learnt a thing or two about Christmas dinner essentials along the way.
Without further ado, here’s a definitive Christmas Dinner Checklist for anyone gearing up to cook on the big day.
The People
Head count. An obvious one, maybe, but you need to know your numbers to know how much Christmas dinner you need to cook … and don’t forget to confirm a fortnight beforehand, as plans change. Little ones will eat less and teenagers (and certain adults!) may have hollow legs and will eat more than you expect. Be realistic but generous with your Christmas dinner essentials checklist. Too much is better than too little when it comes to Christmas dinner, especially if the Boxing Day menu is all about leftovers, you’ll need to make sure there are some!
Special Diets. Just because no-one in your immediate family is gluten intolerant or a vegan, don’t make assumptions about your guests. Diets can change over time and a firm favourite for a child one year can become their kryptonite the next. If you are hosting a vegetarian or vegan, remember that can impact how you make your gravy, the stuffing you use, the fat you roast potatoes in, and more. These are conversations you need to have. If you’re struggling to cater for dietary requirements, check out our vegan Christmas and vegetarian Christmas dinners that can be delivered directly to your door.
Each to Their Own. What do you need for Christmas dinner? Turkey, obviously. Roast potatoes, obviously. All on the list of Christmas day essentials. But bread sauce? A glass of fizz? A smoked salmon starter? A cheese board? Not everyone’s list of essential components for a great Christmas lunch will match up, so check with everyone who will be at your table on the 25th on what makes Christmas, Christmas.
The Table
Food is only half of the battle - how to set up the room is another important part of your Christmas day checklist. Unless your dining room looks like it’s from Downton Abbey, if you’re hosting you’ll need to get creative. So how do you make the most of your space over Christmas?
Mix and Match. If the number of bottoms and the number of dining chairs don’t match up, benches are always a good substitute. Little bottoms can shuffle over and make room for bigger bottoms or more bottoms. Break up the sets around the table to create a mix-and-match of places to sit (you can always say you’re going for the bohemian look!). If you’re still short of tables and chairs, ask friends or neighbours who are going away for Christmas.
Entertain. No matter how beautiful your table looks, keeping the kids seated at it, can be a challenge! A little bit of table-top entertainment can help hugely here:
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Decorate your own place mat. We like these by Marion Deuchars.
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Xylophone Xmas Crackers where each (recyclable) cracker has a numbered xylophone piece and a mini mallet. The conductor then calls out the numbers from his musical play sheet…and the din begins!
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Origami (with napkins or paper): looks great and takes up hardly any space at all.
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Place settings can be personalised and include a story that has to be told at the table: the most trouble you ever got in at school; the most embarrassed you’ve ever been; your earliest childhood memory. You can go round the table and share, making sure that all generations get a chance to join in.
Expand the Room. If you have adjoining rooms, tables can stretch between the two or you can set up a kids’ table in one and an adults’ in the other. Get a long tablecloth to cover the tables and, hey presto! A lovely, uniform look. Under a nice tablecloth, an old trestle table and a George III mahogany dining table look remarkably similar!
Buffet. If there’s no way to have everyone seated at the same time, why not go for a buffet? Either have the traditional roast, or just embrace it and set out a range of festive treats for guests to tuck into. Our delicious Christmas buffet treats should be on your list of Christmas food essentials if you have the whole family round! Prepare bits in advance, dress the table nicely, and it could be the start of a glorious new tradition in your home.
The Kitchen
This is the mission control when it comes to Christmas Lunch. Treat it with respect.
Keep It Clean. All chefs in busy kitchens know, you must clean as you go. Nominate a skivvy to help out with the washing up during the busiest times and don’t let your sideboards get swamped.
Outsource. Let’s get this out the way: here at COOK we make a cracking Christmas lunch and, obviously, we’ll be chuffed if you would try it. But, whether you come to us or not, don’t set yourself up for a frantic morning by making everything from scratch. Stuffing, cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets … what looks like a few little jobs quickly adds up to a whole morning’s work, so farm some of the jobs out.
Rest the Turkey. If you’re having the traditional Christmas roast – or any roast meat as a centrepiece for that matter – be sure to let it rest. As one of the main essentials for christmas dinner, you want to make sure you do it justice. Wrapping it in foil and covering will not only improve the taste and texture, it will also free up cooking space, essential if you’re cooking the lot in one oven. Even if you don’t need the space, you should let a turkey rest for at least 20 minutes, although it will still be fine for up to an hour and a half. That leaves you lots of time to sort out everything else.
Timing is Everything. You might have an oven timer, but on December 25th, you’ll need more than one. You’ll find them on most phones today, so it needn’t be an added cost. When you’re working through your Christmas dinner checklist, timings often get forgotten, so make a detailed list of what needs to go in when (and check it twice) and set those timers as you go. All being well, it will ensure everything will be ready to serve at the same time. If you’re COOKing our Christmas dinner, you’ll find a takeaway checklist in our shops telling you the order things need to go in, and come out of, the oven. When we say we’ve done it all for you…we mean it!
The Little Extras
How can you really make your Christmas memorable? Focus on the little details. Adding a few thoughtful touches will make your lunch go down in family history. These small things should definitely feature on your Christmas lunch checklist.
Crackers. The landfill sites of our planet don’t need any more plastic moustaches, tiny packs of cards or fortune-telling fish. Why not make your own crackers for Christmas Day? It’s better for the environment and you can add little gifts that will be really appreciated. Miniatures of a favourite dram, a Lego figure for the children, little bars of a nice soap, wooden golf tees, chocolates and even socks are all great options. Plus, the jokes can be an inappropriate as you dare. A good job to outsource to children (along with place cards) in the lead up to Christmas. Or, if you have friends / family coming and they want to contribute, crackers are always a good suggestion (you can’t really mess up with crackers!)
Candles. Christmas dinner is about the only time we don’t recommend pretty-ing up the table with candles - there are just too many hazards to contend with! Older generations, younger generations, party poppers, crackers being pulled, loads of food, hands / arms flying everywhere…it can turn into a bit of a minefield if you add candles into the mix. We recommend fairy lights instead, that can just quietly do their atmospheric thing without increasing your blood pressure in the process.
Drinks: an essential part of Christmas dinner, but gazillions of glasses and bottles can take up a lot of space on an already busy table. It can be easier to have a separate drinks table with corkscrew, ice, cordial etc all set up to one side to free up a bit more room for everything else.
Greenery and garlands: While you want to leave space for all the food, a square glass jar with some red berries and evergreen foliage from the garden can look lovely. Or a couple of (small) spare branches from the Xmas tree can work well as a feature down the middle of the table. Pinecones are a nice addition, too, but keep the sprigs of holly for above the pictures. Nobody wants to be stabbed while reaching for the cranberry sauce.
Temperature check: some of us are warm blooded, some run colder…but as a general rule the older we get, the colder we get. If you don’t want to run the house at furnace-temperature, then make sure there are a few blankets around the place to pop over knees or shoulders. Placing a few over the backs of chairs at the dinner table is also helpful as sitting still for a long time can get chilly for some.
Traditions: there can be a lot of pressure at Christmas to make it an unforgettable occasion, but the one thing that people rarely forget are the traditions, because they happen year after year. It might be a ritual that was handed down to you, or one that you want to hand down to others, but it’s worth giving it a little thought. They don’t have to cost a penny, but they can become very precious, because they are, after all, the things that make Christmas, Christmas.
Napkins. Turn an essential into something decorative with colourful napkins in beautiful napkin rings. Or you can keep a family member busy by getting them to fold your napkins into the shape of a Christmas tree. Seriously, Google it. It’s a thing.
Make Your Glasses Sparkle. Every bartender worth their salt will tell you: use white wine vinegar. It will evaporate so, providing you just use a little on a lint-free cloth, you won’t taste it. Or, for really cloudy glasses, use a lot then rinse with water.
