Hosting a Stress Free Christmas Dinner: Part Three

Today, my grocery delivery came and taught me a lesson in planning vs. improvisation.  I had ordered delivery for today (4 days before Christmas) to give my turkey ample time to thaw.  When it arrived today, it was fresh not frozen. No big deal.  The compound butter was not cranberry sage flavoured, but rosemary and roasted garlic.  That will still be delicious under the turkey skin, so no problem.  Leaf lettuce was unavailable, so I will have to make a trip to the store at some point (Darn!).  I'm sure I will realise we need something else anyway. I'll probably try to go at midnight or so, since the stores are open 24 hours this week (Crazy).  Also, the sprouts I ordered turned out to be pea shoots.  The thing is though, what makes this stress free is the attitude you bring to it. Don't sweat the small stuff.  Make a few changes to your plan and make it work!

Here's what needs to be done on Christmas Eve.  There will be a party at my house that evening, but I am not responsible for the food that night.  So, I will be able to spend the day prepping for Christmas Dinner instead.  These tasks should take around 2 hours.

• Prepare the Turkey:  Peel 3 carrots, clean 3 stalks of celery, and half and peel 3 onions.  Place it all in the bottom of your roasting pan to create a roasting rack that will also give great flavour to your turkey and your gravy.  Next, get an orange and stud it with 15-20 cloves. Clean and dry a sprig each of rosemary, thyme and sage. Rinse and half another onion, and cut the top off of a whole bulb of garlic.  Fill a very small bowl with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Place your Turkey on a large plastic cutting board or piece of wax paper.  Pat it dry with paper towel.  Put a few good pinches of salt and pepper into the cavity, then shove in the orange, herbs, garlic and onion.  Next place a wooden spoon or your hand between the turkey skin and flesh and loosen it as much as you can without tearing it.  Use your hands to spread the compound butter all over the breasts and legs of the turkey, under the skin.  This is very messy but so worth it.  Lastly, sprinkle the outside of the turkey with plenty more salt and pepper, then put the lid on the roasting pan and pop the whole thing in the fridge/garage until the next morning. 

• Prepare the Vegetables:  Peel and rinse the potatoes, then cut them into somewhat uniform size (the size of a lime is a good goal), place them in a large pot and cover them with water. Next, peel the parsnips and carrots then cut them into finger size pieces.  Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, making sure they are not crowded or piled on top of one another.  Cover with plastic wrap. Clean the Brussels sprouts, then cut the bottoms off.  Cut them so that they are fairly uniform size, leaving tiny ones whole, medium ones in half, and larger ones in quarters or thirds. Place them in an airtight container.  Peel and deseed the squash then cut into 1/2 inch chunks.  Place in an airtight container. Put all of the prepared veggies into the fridge/garage until tomorrow.

• Set the table:  If you don't need the space or have young children who will mess it up, its a good idea to set the table and set out all of your serving platters etc the day before so that you don't have to worry about it on the big busy day.  Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your outlook on life) I do have curious toddlers, so I am simply going to lay out my tablecloths and press them if necessary, put out my china and silverware in piles that will be easy for someone else to sort and set out tomorrow, and choose all of my serving platters and spoons to set aside so they will be ready and available. 

• Make the Layered Salad:  This recipe is inspired by my mom's classic layered salad, as well as by a recipe for Retro Layered Salad from Jamie Oliver's cookbook Jamie's Comfort Food (2014).  Here's the link for my hybrid creation :  Amanda's Festive Layered Salad  The cheddar cheese and sprouts/shoots are to be added just before serving, so just make sure the cheese is grated and the sprouts are clean so you can finish the salad off in less than a minute tomorrow!