Is there anyone on here who actually needs advice on cooking Christmas dinner?

We got married just before Christmas and I didn’t have a clue how to do anything much. We didn’t have a phone and dh spent much of Christmas Day rushing up and down to the nearest phone box to call his sister and ask her how to to do things like roast potatoes and make gravy.

My mum never used onions and so I also clearly recall peeling an onion and taking off the next layer and the next layer until I ended up with this tiny white bulb. I think I’ve improved a bit since then!

I've found different ways on how to cook a turkey recently.

In wine with vegetables.

Never hears of such a thing!

My friend always says that she 'can't' cook. What she means is that she can't be bothered to try and prefers to eat out!

IMO a lot of younger people hardly ever make a roast at all, so they get in a flap if they're cooking Christmas dinner for the first time. So all the advice doesn't surprise me.
In particular there seems to be endless angst about making the gravy.

What amazes me is the number of side dishes some people do - so many different veg, 3 kinds of spuds, and Yorkshire puds on top. How on earth they manage it in an ordinary kitchen - at least having everything ready at the same time, I don't know.

I cooked my first turkey dinner shortly after we were married and living in the Middle East - and we invited guests. Luckily I had a GH cookery book which had been a present - it had a whole Christmas section, which was a lifesaver.

That book is still my 'bible' for Christmas. I still make the timetable of when to do everything - starting backwards from when we want to sit down to eat, and then writing it out in time order.

I do a very trad dinner - far too much rush and faff on the day to complicate it - at least for us. Loads of pigs in blankets!

Oh MOMB that sounds delicious ??

Tedber, I don’t know it all, and your point about new generations is valid but I shouldn’t think that we have many of them on here. My question related to us. Seems to me that if you can’t roast a potato by now then you never will.

I can understand the interest in new, innovative ideas but so much of it seems to be same old, same old or so complicated why would you bother?

Jura I couldn’t cook either- angel delight was my speciality!
Oh and those useful things that they taught us in DS- scotch eggs and the like.

Even if you are a confient cook it's good to get new ideas for meals, also there are lots of young people who need to know and learn.
I've had an interest in cooking since we did domestic science at school and started a Tried and Tested book of recipes in 1967, and I am still open to new ideas.
The fact you can know check something out on the Internet is great for people who are unsure.
What's not to like, we all benefit from good information.

Er ? Ok Pamela - get your drift that most of us HERE know how to make a Christmas dinner but we don’t actually “get” hints and tips on here unless asked for? Your Original post was referring to newspapers and magazines in general - which are read by many newbies to the mysterious - Christmas dinner. So your point about “we know it all now” is invalid. Surely?