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Christmas Day Preparation Guide
4th December, 2018

As promised, here's the prep guide to making your Christmas dinner simple!

The week before

Time	Dish	Store
Week before	Langoustine & Fennel Bisque	Cook and Freeze
Week before	Pavlova Base	Bake and keep in air tight container when cool
Week before	Roasted Cherry Soup	Cook and Freeze
Week before	Basil & Lime Sorbet	Freeze
Week before	Lemon and Rosemary Sorbet	Freeze

Two days before

Time	Dish	Store
Two days before	Cream of Potato Soup	Cook and keep covered in the fridge
Two days before	Cranberry Sauce	Cook and keep covered in the fridge
Two days before	Ginger and Christmas Pud Cheesecake	Bake and keep covered in the fridge
Two days before	Bread Sauce	Cook and keep covered in the fridge
Two days before	Sausage, Apple, Sage and Cranberry Stuffing	Bake and keep covered in the fridge once cooled

The Day before

Time	Dish	Store
Day before	Goats Cheese Mousse (not the fried breadcrumbs)	Make and prep the mousse and keep covered in the fridge
Day before	Mushroom and Cranberry Nut Roast	Cook and keep in the fridge
Day before	Mushroom, Shallot and Chestnut Parcels	Prep and keep in the fridge
Day before	Veg Prep	Prep veg and place in salted water overnight so it's ready for the morning
Day before	Pigs in Blankets	Prep raw and keep covered in the fridge
Day before	Defrost frozen bisque/Cherry soup	Remove from freezer and keep in the fridge

Christmas Morning

Time	Dish	Store
Christmas Morning	Bird (Turkey, Goose or Duck)	Remove from the fridge, uncover and let it come to room temperature
Christmas Morning	Bread and Onion Stuffing	Prepare and keep uncovered to one side
Christmas Morning	Pavlova Cream Topping	Whip up cream and keep covered in the fridge
Christmas Morning	Gravy	Cook and keep covered in the fridge
Christmas Morning	Fried Breadcrumbs	Cook and keep uncovered to one side
Christmas Morning	Mashed Swede	Cook and keep covered in the fridge

Tips:

The first thing you need to do in the morning is get your bird out the fridge and allow it to come to room temp. This can take a few hours so make sure it's the first thing you do

Your oven is going to get hammered today so don't forget that the bird will need resting time and this will give you plenty of time to finish off the side dishes

If your running out of hob space; it's perfectly fine to use the microwave to reheat certain elements like the mashed swede

If your serving sorbets then don't forget they also need a bit of resting time out of the freezer to soften

I know it's tough but do try and keep a few spaces clean and tidy. I find it vital so rope in a few guests to wash up and share a tipple as a reward