How big of a turkey

badgerhowlin

Hi,

A few weeks back i thought it would be a good idea to invite the Families to the house for Christmas. That was before i started to count.
Last count was 25(23 adults and two 11 month olds).:eek:

Can some one tell me what i was thinking!!!!!
But its too late now to back out, so on i must cook.

Now i read some where that you should give 1lb of turkey per person so that 23lb turkey i need. Should i get one 23lb or two 12lb ones?

How big of a HAM should i get.

Most the rest of the trimming, Spuds, roast Spuds, potato croquettes, Carrots, brussel sprouts, will be cooked onsite too. Some might be off site but not much.

xzanti

Bare in mind that 23lb of a bird doesn't mean 23lbs of meat that's still a lot of bone and fat..

I would get 3 good sized birds if I were you.. Also find out who will eat dark meat, if there are very few who'll eat the legs/wings, I'd opt for turkey crowns, cuts out a lot of the carnage afterwards

Seriously though, What were you thinking?

Good luck with it..

badgerhowlin

xzanti wrote: »

Also find out who will eat dark meat, if there are very few who'll eat the legs/wings, I'd opt for turkey crowns, cuts out a lot of the carnage afterwards

They will EAT what they are given and like it!!!!!

Skill Magill

No need to worry about cooking, go to a carvery on christmas eve and plate up 23 dinners, lash into the boot, and whip them out on Christmas day qed

Park Royal

With such a group to cater for I would go for as big a Turkey as I could

handle also the biggest Ham....or

if you can manage two twelves go for it......

I would be aiming for between 4 to 6 ozs of Turkey and ham per person.....

with seconds for the greedy guts ...hence need for two Turkeys .....

any left overs will surely go afterwards ...nibbled away by such a host of

people......

The person doing the carving would need to know what there at and what is required to go on each plate ie between 4 to 6 ozs of both Turkey and Ham...
ie 8 to 12 ozs max per person total. A rogue carver could make all the calculations go out the door......make sure they have a good sharp carving knife .....

With all the trimmings most will leave a lot on the plate anyway........
just make sure you have everything ready as much as possible in advance and offer seconds to shut them up as regards not getting enough......dont forget to put plenty of stuffing on each plate also......Paxo is good enough.....packets of the stuff.....;)

DAZP93

Time to wipe the dust of the Denby and start polishing the silverware

moihugs

Best of luck with this but with a lot of preparation ull be fine, Big pot of homemade soup made the day before, roast potatoes ready for oven all veg prepared... !! Ive done this before have to admit went to a fab deli beside us.. got a fab honey roast ham sliced thickly by them and got them make my stuffing!! Left life a lot easier for me.. just the turkey get ready ..have ur pudding ready in plenty of time and BUY something else for the ones who dont eat it!!

carolinespring

Having in the past cooked for massive groups I would go for boned and rolled turkey breasts. Far easier than cooking a number of turkeys and will fit into the oven with less hassle. A good butcher will be able to guide you on the size to go for but I would always order extra, better looking at than for!! Plus with the boned and rolled you will have no waste.

What about doing Nigella's ham in cook. The ham can be cooked the day before just slap the glaze on and pop in the oven for 45 minutes on Christmas day after you have taken the turkey out.

Make your stuffing now and freeze in tinfoil rolls of trays, you just have to pop into the oven along with the roast spuds and parsnips.

Have all the trimming like bacon rolls ready to go in the oven in foil trays and that will cut down on the dreaded washing up after dinner.

jap gt

get 2 14lb boned and rolled turkey crowns, all breast meat, no waste with carcass and wont take up as much room in the oven

then get a full ham boned and rolled aswell plenty cutting in a ham

Posy

What does 'rolled' mean?

jap gt

Posy wrote: »

What does 'rolled' mean?

when u cut away the carcass from the turkey, all the meat is rolled together and tied with string or placed in a net to keep it together

fishy fishy

definitely go the boned and rolled turkey for that man people. No waste, no hassle, no carving and pulling off of legs. Just straight slices of lovely lean turkey, with no hassle.

I find large turkeys to be in the oven for so long they are bone dry when they are cooked. Smaller turkeys are better for cooking (10 to 14 lbs).

Go the boned and rolled - save yourself some hassle.

fishy fishy

if you don't like the boned and rolled idea, then go for turkey crown (the turkey without the legs and wings). All white mean, nice and clean, no waste and is in the "shape" of a turkey. Do two of these.

the ham is easy, you can even cook that the day before.

badgerhowlin

Boned and rolled Turkey :mad: WHAT no carcass for the dogs, that wouldnt do. Its christmas for them too!!!!

Miight have one boned and rolled (14lb), but maybe its just me but it doesnt taste the same.
I like the legs, so with a what 17-20lb turkey it will have some legs for me. unless the father-in-Law gets at the bird before i do.

leahyl

badgerhowlin wrote: »

Boned and rolled Turkey :mad: WHAT no carcass for the dogs, that wouldnt do. Its christmas for them too!!!!

Miight have one boned and rolled (14lb), but maybe its just me but it doesnt taste the same.
I like the legs, so with a what 17-20lb turkey it will have some legs for me. unless the father-in-Law gets at the bird before i do.

I agree - there's not the same flavour from the juices as there would be from a full turkey - In my opinion anyway. The flavour from a full turkey is just divine.

Calibos

Maybe we are savages in my house but I actually just came across a note about what we got last year. 18lb ham and 24lb Turkey. Thats for 8 adults but does us Stephens' Day too. We tried boned and rolled one year and it was a disaster. I was much younger at the time so can't remember the details but do remember we said never again.

fishy fishy

i remember a plunker that I knew in the States that had about six people over ffor Thanksgiving dinner (which I think is tomorrow this year). They bought a 36 lb turkey - greedy things - anyway it would fit in the oven. 36lb turkey - who on earth would buy that Disgusting.

fishy fishy

Calibos wrote: »

Maybe we are savages in my house but I actually just came across a note about what we got last year. 18lb ham and 24lb Turkey. Thats for 8 adults but does us Stephens' Day too. We tried boned and rolled one year and it was a disaster. I was much younger at the time so can't remember the details but do remember we said never again.

42 pounds of meat for two days for 8 adults.
that would be nearly 3 pounds of meat per person per day.

lemme ask...... would you eat 3 pounds of mincemeat each in your bolognaise.

miss no stars

badgerhowlin wrote: »

Boned and rolled Turkey :mad: WHAT no carcass for the dogs, that wouldnt do. Its christmas for them too!!!!

Miight have one boned and rolled (14lb), but maybe its just me but it doesnt taste the same.
I like the legs, so with a what 17-20lb turkey it will have some legs for me. unless the father-in-Law gets at the bird before i do.

Dogs aren't supposed to have turkey if it's been in contact with onion (stuffing). They also aren't supposed to have the skin or bones at all so they aren't missing out at all.

Aside from that, a 17-20lb bird will be dry when it comes out of the oven, maybe get the bigger boned and rolled and a smaller real one (or one small real, two small boned and rolled) so that all the meat is nice and moist and tender? We had a 14lb full bird last year, did 8 adult dinners easily. Also, if you can try and get black turkey it's meatier on the breast and will go farther for the same weight.

havetoquit

Gosh! you really did take on something there, but hey, you have got lots of tips now to choose from to help you. If you can afford it, highly recommend that you buy free range to get the best flavor and am sure you want the best for your family if possible. You would be surprised the difference in flavor you will get from dressing the turkey well. Drape it with good quality streaky bacon and Chipolatas and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

If your turkey is cooked correctly following directions and the oven door not opened any more than essential, there is no reason at all why it should not be succulent, especially if you leave it to stand for the recommended time after taking it out of the oven ( covered with tinfoil) and standing it on a trivet or deep plate. This gives you time then to mix up the remaining turkey juices with your flower and a drop of wine to make a delicious gravy, far far superior to nasty dried granules! Yuck. Do that on the hob and then keep stirring until serving, or get someone to do this little job for you while you are dishing out the heated plates etc etc.

Husbands love to be given the honor of carving the big bird at the head of the table. I usually add the already sliced ham and pass the plates along for everyone to help themselves to food from the hot serving dishes. I only dish up if we are a number fewer than 6, as it takes too long and food gets cold. When they all serve themselves to veg, it means that generally you all eat at the same time, pull your crackers, make a toast etc, but if you serve everything, the first people served are either finished eating or their food is cold before you sit down.

As others have suggested, much of the meal can be prepared in advance. With regards to portions, there is little need to dish out the huge amount of turkey as mentioned in your first post! Nice thinly sliced turkey and ham, self served glazed carrots and brussels, chipolata, little balls of stuffing, roast potatoes and small servings of mash. This is one day, when I think that because there will be such a variety of vegetable and other additions to the meal, that there will be no necessity for even the heartiest of eaters to need mountains of any particular food.

In the event that you may want to serve a soup starter, then yipee! your dinner portions will definitely not need to be big.

Making the stuffing is much much cheaper and more flavorsome that the rather synthetic tasting dried packs. Some butchers will have home made stuffing ready to go in the oven. Otherwise, believe me there are some brilliant simple recipes on line.

With regard to you hosting all those people, I am sure that one if not more of your family will offer way ahead of time to bring along their own contribution to the meal, such as desserts, home made stuffing, or even a cooked glazed ham which just needs slicing.

There are also wonderful cookery sites that take you right through everything required for catering for large numbers, from the shopping list to the actual cooking, timing etc.

You will find it easier before guests arrive to have a nice mulled wine or punchbowl at the ready for them to help themselves and leave you free to enjoy a pre dinner glass with them rather than tearing around serving them all with individual drinks.

I also make up a couple of jugs of non-alcoholic fresh juices fizzed up with sparkling water and decorated in sliced lemons, kiwis and sprigs of fresh mint and loads of ice cubes to stir up just before they arrive.

I hope your dinner is a great success and that you can delegate after dinner and let others do something whilst you enjoy well deserved feet up time, just before the games begin! Charades will be great gas with so many people. Have a ball and let us know if you need any more tips.

paddy147

Heres a big turkey.........:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r1akLZkVe4

2 stroke

With 23 adults, you will have quite a few that look foward to leg for christmas dinner. I usualy pick up a bag of drumsticks at the butchers, he is always glad to get rid of them with so many customers looking for just white meat. Maybe 2 crowns, a dozen drumsticks plus ham & trimmings.

tayto lover

Buy a cooked turkey and ham from your butcher and cook the vegetables and stuffing yourself. Collect the meat from butcher on xmas eve. Job is oxo.
Say nothing and take all the plaudits.

xzanti

tayto lover wrote: »

Buy a cooked turkey and ham from your butcher and cook the vegetables and stuffing yourself. Collect the meat from butcher on xmas eve. Job is oxo.
Say nothing and take all the plaudits.

Do all Butchers' do this? How much extra do they charge for the cooking?

Gbear

Get tinfoil roasting trays. With that much cooking it'll be nice to throw away the dishes rather than wash them.

tayto lover

xzanti wrote: »

Do all Butchers' do this? How much extra do they charge for the cooking?

A few years ago when the other half was ill we got a large cooked turkey, ham, stuffing etc. It was about 100e if I remember correctly but if you contact this butchers who have many branches they will qoute you for any size of event.
http://www.mcardlemeats.com/index.php?contentid=bbq-time

havetoquit

I really would not recommend that she collects bought turkey, as after all the aromas from the cooking bird floating around the kitchen as the guests arrive is what Christmas is all about. It would be a shame to do that and could spoil her day, as am sure it would be noticed.

At the end of the day, she only needs to get organized, time things and there is no reason why it can't work out.

I am also sure that some family members will offer to bring along desserts, help out a little on the day and so on.

Cooking turkey, veg near end of cooking, watches food whilst guests helps themselves to mulled wine. Someone carves bird, someone stands beside and passes plates along, veg is in bowls placed along table for self service, as with gravy/sauce.

I can already see everyone having a wonderful day and helping her out. If they are the kind who sit and wait to be served all day long, then she will just have to delegate and get them off their bottoms!!

havetoquit

For most families the fun of Christmas dinner is the preparing with one or two good helpers and if this happens there is absolutely no need for stress, pre-cooked birds that need heating and so on.

Even the table can be done the night before, as can a punch or mulled wine, the veg, deserts and so on.

The Turkey can be dressed early morning and Bob's your uncle. The most valuable thing that day is a timer for the food and that is basically it.

I think that it will be a great day all round if the most responsible and able bodied guests do their bit too. It is surely not the case that this hostess has to do everything from start to finish alone? That would be just not nice and enough to put her off her own dinner!

I am sure that she is a well organized lady who knows how to get her helpers on the case.

I think the days are gone when one sole lady stood alone for hours on end in a boiling kitchen and then reappeared trying her best to smile lugging a great big turkey to the table, plates piled a mile high with steaming veg etc while the guests all sat looking up at her with admiration.....not!

amen

At the end of the day, she only needs to get organized, time things and there is no reason why it can't work out.

Is the OP a lady ? I don't think it was specified. Man can and do cook the dinner at Christmas (and even at other times of the year).

If you get a big turkey or even two make sure there is sufficient room in your oven and that the air will circulate correctly.

I always use the magic turkey bags. They help keep all the juices in. Follow the cooking instructions on the bag and you should have a nice juicy bird. (I've cooked 22lb birds and they have been very juicy). You do need to let the turkey sit for 15-20 mins when cooked to let the juices soak back into the meat.

If you are getting a full ham ask the butcher to cut in half and cook in two pots. This can reduce the cooking time by half.

Paxo stuffing for christmas ? Get some bread crumbs (or make your own), some sausage meat (from a butchers) and onion. Mix together and stuff the turkey cavity. Yummy. You need about 2lbs of sausage meat for a 20lb bird.

Make sure you weigh the turkey after it is stuffed and ready to go in the overn.

As for the vegs have them a prepared the night before but store over night in water. If you have a steamer wrap the veg in tinfoil by vegetable group and place in the steamer. Quick handy way to cook the veg.

Cranberry sauce. Buy some cranberries (Ocean Spray) , some sugar and make your own. Takes about 15 misn to make and about 3-4 hours to set so maybe make the day before.

Have some bread in. Nothing like a turkey and ham sambo around 8:30pm on Christmas night.

Have some curry sauce and you can have curried turkey the next day. Parsley sauce for the ham.

As long as you stored the cooked turkey/ham in the fridge they should last a week.

havetoquit

All brilliant advice, but as we are not getting any feedback from the person who requested it, we don't know if it has helped them.

All aspects of this forthcoming Christmas dinner seem to have been covered, apart from pulling the crackers now, so hope that our little tips have been useful in helping to allay any concerns the poster may have.

I wish you a successful Christmas dinner with your family and friends and perhaps at some point you could let us know if our suggestions have been any help to you, or indeed if you need any more.

badgerhowlin

I have not been on line for a while so thats why you are not getting any feed back!

Eveything here is very helpfull.

I am a MAN, my wife would not even think about doing something this big. She is hard set cook at the best of times hence why im cooking.
And besides I love cooking.

I will have no lack of people offering to help cook this and cook that, but this is something that i want to make my self. From start to finish or as much as i can anyway, but with been off work from 21st i should be able to get every thing ready on time...

Tukey bags i think will come in very handy. Never used them before but i only hear good things so might stick one of the turkeys in to it and see how it comes out.

havetoquit

Great to hear from you sir and you sound like a real star, and I so wish you a great day. Yes, you will do it and make a great job of it too.

So much of that meal can be prepared the night before and get someone to peel those veg for you and do other things which do not involve actual cooking, so that you can get on with your planning of that.

I am sure someone will just be delighted to set and decorate the Christmas table and make some punch/mulled wine/juices etc.

Is there a family member or friend who would like to help out with a cooked ham or some deserts? If so, perhaps you will think of accepting this. Usually they are delighted to make a contribution to the meal. After all, it is a lot of work for the chef and it is a small way of showing appreciation as I am sure you will agree. Sometimes people are shy to offer, but yet are just delighted and honored to be asked, so why undertake all the work, when you don't have to.

Last time I undertook a large family gathering, I asked two or three family members if they would like to do the soup and dessert and they were so delighted and got all excited about making it really special. They arrived on the morning of the dinner and dropped off a huge saucepan of the most delicious soup and two different deserts to feed the throng. One brought a deliciously refreshing fresh fruit bowl, with fresh cream to accompany it and the other brought apple pies and ice cream. These would go down well at Christmas with those who find Christmas puds too heavy.

Very few of my family like Christmas pudding, so for the couple that do, I simply buy minature ones from M&S, decorate it with a little sprig of holly and serve it hot with either cream, or rum butter.

Yes, I agree with your idea of the cooking bags to collect the juices..great idea and then easy to transfer to a smaller pan to which you will add your flour and a little wine and seasonings to make a delicious gravy.

I am used to hosting medium sized get togethers for family and friends, so if you need any more tips about any area of your planned dinner, just let us know ok?

You are probably a far better cook than some of us who are writing in, but hey, it doesn't matter does it? At least you know we care enough to want to offer any tips we think may help you.

dzer2

Get a 24 to 26 lb free range turkey on the bone cook it in a Turkey bag with a few blobs of butter on the breast and the legs. you will have plenty of meat and it will be juicey and you wont have any left overs if you feel there is not enough meat on it you could always stuff it with a pheasant and then the pheasant with a small chicken you will have loads there. A full ham will be required try to get it fresh as it will taste better. As for the rest just to loads of veg you can always make soup from the left overs after and it tastes great.

havetoquit

Still think that to get best flavor from any turkey, even free range that you do need to dress the bird with streaky bacon and it is nice to have a couple of chipolatas to serve with dinner and looks good sitting beside the stuffing.

If you are cooking stuffing balls seperately, as opposed to in the bird, then a couple of onions and lemons will need to be placed inside the cavity to send some flavour round the inside and which will permeate through the flesh.

Rub the bird with butter if you wish and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

amen

Ohh important thing. When you get the turkey check both ends to ensure that the giblets/neck etc are not left inside in a plastic bag. If so please remove before cooking!

havetoquit

Am so ashamed to admit that I did this the first year I was married!! Oh the stink that came from that oven was unbelievable and how red faced was I trying to impress new husband, who thankfully saved the day with his brilliant hot curry!! That was a Christmas I prefer to forget I can assure you.

I swore that from that day onwards that I would learn to cook and was thankfully able to redeem myself with my in-laws the following year!! They were I am sure, beginning to wonder if I would one day poison their adorable son.

tayto lover

OP don't forget to get in plenty of Taytos to enjoy while watching a nice film on Christmas night while the others are doing the washing up.

havetoquit

Nice box of choccies, lights dimmed and a great film, but somehow think with so many guests that it will be more a case of Charades and other games to fill in the afternoon and then the film at night when they have all departed full and entertained!!

If you have dogs, make sure to send the ones who need the exercise most out for a walk with them!! Dogs so often get forgotten on Christmas day don't they. I tend to walk off my dinner by taking them down to the beach and then they sleep peacefully at my feet whilst I watch my Christmas films, speaking of which; wonder what our national broadcasters have in store for us this year?

badgerhowlin

tayto lover wrote: »

OP don't forget to get in plenty of Taytos to enjoy while watching a nice film on Christmas night .

Mutli pack box already got :pac:

Your not talking about looking at it on any of the Irish channels i can tell.
I would be surprised if they have any Christmas movies.

Sure for Halloween they had romantic movies so for Christmas who know what they will have!!!!

havetoquit

Ha, you could be right there, but sure you can find yourself a great DVD and you if you anticipate that things might get too loud around you to be able to enjoy it properly, hey there's a great idea for a Christmas pressie if you don't already have them; Good headphones that plug into your TV. I know, it does sound a little anti-social, but we are talking late Christmas evening when most of the guests will have dispersed, you hope! In your case, having created a wonderful festive dinner, you will be forgiven for that little indulgence!

I know we are just having a casual chatter here and not being totally serious, as am sure you will be sitting round a warm fire with your family reminiscing on Christmases past, having a good laugh, or as I said before playing some new games or going back on some old ones to avoid boredom and sleep setting in.!

We tend to sometimes get the younger group to play their own board games and we oldies give some of the old faithfuls a bash. All good fun, as well as playing with the younger ones toys!!!

The one we use to get them all involved is very simple but yet fun: Place number of small items on a tray, let everyone see them for half a minute and then send them away to write down as many as they can remember. The one who remembers the most gets a prize...no not my box of Ferreo Roche!!! Each year I look up new interactive games that we can all play for a laugh and have to say it can be great fun. The younger ones also love to be asked ahead of time to devise their own. We have our own little Bingo game for the seniors and always make sure they win a little something, so everyone is involved and does not feel left out. These have to be played before drowsiness sets in of course!!! ha ha

I have one rule and that is no young family member is allowed to be anti-social and spend time in their rooms alone on either laptops or any with other passive or virtual activities. They had to learn to be to interact and make a contribution of their own to Christmas day and to show respect for family and friends. I am sure this will come across as harsh to some, but it worked so well that the young ones even enjoyed themselves and felt really included, not so much as though they were another species!!

One young girl of 15 told me recently that she often spends all day Christmas day in her room, as nobody seems to care where she is or what she is doing. That is very telling isn't it?

Ok, sorry another topic entirely, but it is at least related to the Christmas theme and could be something for us all to ponder on long after the turkey has been digested.

Posy

Speaking of turkeys, how do you guys stop yours drying out? I always find turkey is pretty dry despite basting with gallons of liquid and using a tonne of butter rubbed all over it!

dzer2

Posy wrote: »

Speaking of turkeys, how do you guys stop yours drying out? I always find turkey is pretty dry despite basting with gallons of liquid and using a tonne of butter rubbed all over it!

Buy a free range one

havetoquit

Yes, go free range, make sure to dress the bird with good streaky bacon. Rub the butter well into the bird and you could even make little slits in the skin and put a little in there. I think that having the oven too high after the first half hour makes it dry, so best to turn it down, otherwise the top will dry out and become hard. I sometimes cover the bird in foil and remove it for the last 40 mins, which also helps.

Each to their own really, but Jame Oliver's turkey recipe is online and highly recommended if you want to be sure that it will turn out delicious.

Also, make sure to let turkey stand for 10-15 minutes covered with foil before serving, just as you would with a chicken or any other meat.

Best of luck.

havetoquit

Hope our suggestions have helped, but it would be hard to beat Jamie Oliver's succulent turkey recipe, although I think you will be fine doing it your own way. It is just that I think in these instances you can receive so many varied posts all with very well meaning suggestions and so on that it can be confusing and with no set recipe to follow especially.

I can see your lucky guests sitting down to the best Christmas lunch they have ever had on 25 Dec 2012! Hope that someone else volunteers next year and gives you a chance to sit off as a guest.

Cherrycola

For the last two years we have gotten our turkey and ham cooked from the butchers, so handy! No waiting on the oven to do the roasties, I just slice up the meat, portion them out on a tray, slice of ham on the bottom, stuffing, turkey on top, a drizzle of water, cover in tinfoil and bung them in the oven for about 15-20mins to heat up, they steam heat so stay really moist, then place each portion on its plate, add veg and spuds, pour over gravy, lunch is served! And I can tell you I was never so glad to have done this as I was the year the water pipes froze! We didn't need anymore stress that year!!

nhg

I usually cook a 20lb turkey a 10lb ham for about 16 people (over Christmas Day & Boxing Day) & we always have plenty for leftovers. I always put loads of butter in under the skin of the turkey up on the breast & baste regularly, it stays lovely and moist.

After I have boiled the ham and got rid of the first lot of water I cook the ham in apple juice (I sometimes do the same with a bit of bacon) & when cooked I put it in the oven to bake after I pour a can of bulmers over it 😘 - my MIL raves about the ham (she doesn't drink)

To carve the turkey, I let it rest for at least 15 mins & then cut the complete breasts off the bone gently and lay them down on a carving board and slice through, then everyone has the exact same turkey as each slice has some of the outside, middle & inside rather than some people having the outside & others the inside & the meat seems to goes a lot further (saw this done on a Jamie Oliver Christmas special a few years ago)

I always cover the leftover ham & turkey in parchment paper & them wrap that in tinfoil as tinfoil tends to stick to the meat if it touches it.

My mum brings the trifle & my 8yr old makes a chocolate cookie desert (cookies dipped in 7up & layered with cream & a flake crumbled over the top) & I buy a few different frozen deserts (mini eclairs, creme brulee cheesecake etc in aldi which we usually have about 2/3 hrs after dinner is finished

Witchie

Good luck OP but believe me its not as traumatic as it sounds. Our family Christmas for the past 31 years have been like yours with an average of 20-26 people for dinner.

My mum does the turkey and as a veggie I really dont know if it is good or not but everyone seems to love it. She just makes sure to baste it regularly. She has always gotten a free range one, generally a 32lb one or thereabouts but last year she got 2 large turkey crowns instead and they seemed to go down well with only one of my aunts complaining coz she was missing out on a leg! I think this year we will do a medium sized turkey and a crown so that there is some brown meat for those that want it.

We do a big ham and I usually cook it by boiling first and then rubbing a mustard glaze into it before roasting and everyone says it is the biz.

The only real advice is to prepare as much as you can the night or day before and then concentrate on making sure your turkey is cooking well.

Also if you have any veggie guests dont forget them. I usually do a nut roast wellington for myself, my sister and her fiancé or a lentil pie.

My favourite part of the dinner is the Bread Sauce so make sure you make some!

Enjoy!


Oh and dont let people fall asleep in front of the tv after, have some charades arranged to play and another good game to get the party started is Animal families. (If you dont know it, you write the names of different animals on paper in groups eg Daddy Duck, Mammy Duck, Baby Duck, Daddy Cow etc and put them in a bowl. Everyone picks one out and you have to make the noise of your animal until you find your family members and Daddy sits down first with mammy and then baby on top, first complete family are winners! Sounds a bit silly but really breaks the ice and gets everyone into the game mood)

If anyone can sing or play guitar, get a sing song going coz that means the party will be in full force all nite!

Witchie

Good luck OP but believe me its not as traumatic as it sounds. Our family Christmas for the past 31 years have been like yours with an average of 20-26 people for dinner.

My mum does the turkey and as a veggie I really dont know if it is good or not but everyone seems to love it. She just makes sure to baste it regularly. She has always gotten a free range one, generally a 32lb one or thereabouts but last year she got 2 large turkey crowns instead and they seemed to go down well with only one of my aunts complaining coz she was missing out on a leg! I think this year we will do a medium sized turkey and a crown so that there is some brown meat for those that want it.

We do a big ham and I usually cook it by boiling first and then rubbing a mustard glaze into it before roasting and everyone says it is the biz.

The only real advice is to prepare as much as you can the night or day before and then concentrate on making sure your turkey is cooking well.

Also if you have any veggie guests dont forget them. I usually do a nut roast wellington for myself, my sister and her fiancé or a lentil pie.

My favourite part of the dinner is the Bread Sauce so make sure you make some!

Enjoy!


Oh and dont let people fall asleep in front of the tv after, have some charades arranged to play and another good game to get the party started is Animal families. (If you dont know it, you write the names of different animals on paper in groups eg Daddy Duck, Mammy Duck, Baby Duck, Daddy Cow etc and put them in a bowl. Everyone picks one out and you have to make the noise of your animal until you find your family members and Daddy sits down first with mammy and then baby on top, first complete family are winners! Sounds a bit silly but really breaks the ice and gets everyone into the game mood)

If anyone can sing or play guitar, get a sing song going coz that means the party will be in full force all nite!

badgerhowlin

Witchie wrote: »

If anyone can sing or play guitar, get a sing song going coz that means the party will be in full force all nite!

I will get prople to sing when i want them to leave. No one in my family can hold a tune!

badgerhowlin

So i have a 20 lb turkey free range turkey ordered. Getting legs boned and rolled and stuffed. Roll on christmas dinner.

Posy

Wow, 20lb!! I have made sure to get free range too this year after hearing so many recommendations for them.
I have a 4kg turkey ordered and I am already dreading the fact that I will have to cook it!! :eek:

There are only four of us though, so I think 4kg will do us grand.. assuming I don't cremate it!!