If you don't have a grater attachment for a food processor I would buy grated cheese.

I would boil the eggs and potatoes for the potato salad the day before and assemble it on Christmas day.

The meatballs I would make the balls the day before and cook them on the day. I once saw a YouTube video where an Indian street fool seller was rolling three balls of sweets at once. I can't do three but two is fairly easy. Have a go, because it makes rolling balls of things much quicker. :-)

The mac and cheese can be made ahead and reheated on the day.

Obviously the cornbread on day 1 of cooking.

Olive bread on Christmas Day.

The dip whenever, the flavours will meld more as it sits in the fridge.

You could slice the potatoes for the scalloped potatoes the first day and hold them in a bowl of water until you're ready to assemble them casserole.

Boil the eggs for the devilled eggs on the first day.

I'd do the shrimps and the pull apart on Christmas Day.

And tell your mother she is amazingly lucky to have you willing to put up with all of this.

For Mac & cheese, look up Modernist method using sodium citrate..

Otherwise make ahead will not give you good results.

dcarch

Colleneez I would agree on the cheese but I feel like whatever that starch is that they coat pre shredded cheese with to keep it from sticking together messes my mac recipe up. I will call my sister and see if she has a grater attachment I can use..

I did make macaroni and cheese yesterday and baked it today. It was assembled and refrigerated overnight, then this morning I added a splash of cream and some more cheese and baked it. It turned out fine. I didn't eat it, but the pan was finished off, so it must have been fine.

I agree about the pre-grated cheese here. I made au gratin potatoes and mac and cheese and grated 6 pounds of assorted cheese with the food processor, it went pretty fast that way.

I'd made the cornbread, boil the eggs, make the dip and the meatballs ahead of time. Veggies can also be chopped ahead of time, and the potato salad can be done a day ahead too.

Have fun and Merry Christmas!

Annie

You need a cuisinart that will slice, grate and chop....but that'ss till a lot of stuff!

I would cook and dress the patato salad ahead and add the veggies like onions c3elery and whatever at the last......and slice the potatoes for the scalloped potatoes and store in refrig in a bowl of water. Make the meatballs ahead and re warm.....the shrimp is easy.....and if the olive bread is a years bread it can be made ahead and rawmed in foil and be bettr than fine.

When do you sleep? You're a good woman. Merry Christmas.

I don't know what the cheesy tree is, but almost all of the rest of it can be prepped or made ahead. If it's a standard mayonnaise potato salad, it should improve from a day in the fridge. For sure you can cook the potatoes and dice everything before and put each in a separate container or bag if you want the flavors to stay separate. You can also make/season the dressing for it ahead. But I'd just put the whole thing in an airtight container and be done with it. Agreed with Linda about the scalloped potato slices. You can also premeasure the sauce ingredients and make a kit. I'm sometimes wowwed at the time savings just not having to measure out dry ingredients.

If you really don't have time to grate the cheeses, for thinks like the potatoes and mac and cheese, you can also slice and dice, which goes a lot faster. It'll still melt.

I always make deviled eggs ahead. I'm not carefully peeling them day of! It's best if you have deviled egg containers, but will work with a regular flat container that will hold the halves without messing them up. Boil and cool an extra day early. Peel, cut and separate, store the halves and make the filling in it's own container. Use a pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner cut off on site day of to fill. Takes ten minutes for several dozen eggs.

Chip dip depends on what it is. Spinach dip goes weird because the spinach continues to weep, but you can still make the base and the spinach ahead of time, and combine them day of. Sour cream based dips benefit from draining off extra whey, but most benefit from a long rest in the fridge. Late the day before is best, but if you put some plastic wrap down on it in the container to make it more air tight, it can survive pretty well for an extra day or even two (give it a good stir--most people beside you won't notice that it's starting to separate a bit). Cheese dips will last longer. Béchamel based dips will last a day in the fridge but then get pretty weird, and they're at their best fresh (unless you use stabilizers, which eww). You can make kits for those.

I can't speak to olive bread, but shrimp anything is at its best a la minute.

So, the trick with turkey meatballs is that you have to cook them through to food safe cookedness the first time, but if you can get them cooked to the middle and not a speck more, you can refrigerate for the two days and rewarm them well. If they're served in the marinara (rather than next to it) you have more leeway. I'd rewarm them in the sauce in that case. The problem is that if they get too cooked or too rewarmed, you'll have rubber and be tempted to play jacks with them. If you can prevent cross contamination, preparing the balls ahead, last thing, and cooking on site (especially if you cook them in the oven, rather than a frying pan) might be easiest, but with all you have to do, it might not be the best choice over all. If you cook ahead, maybe use a recipe that calls for a milk soak. That can help prevent rubber. ;)

Merry Christmas! I hope you can enjoy all the cooking.

I am not going to enjoy it this time. I usually do, but this time I am annoyed that I will actually have zero time to relax. If she could just move her party one day, to the 27th it would be so much easier. I am off on the 26th and can cook all day. But since she INSISTS that the 26th is the only day for it, I have to cook all this on Christmas Day between getting home from work at 5:30 am and leaving for work at 4 pm, trying to get some sleep in between that time too. The morning of her party, I will get home around 5:30 am, try to take a nap, and have to be at her house, which is about 45 minutes away, in time to finish everything by 2p,. which is the time she insists on. I estimate that to prep the food as much ahead as I can, all the dishes will take about 5-6 hours to prepare. It will take 2-3 hours to finish it ay my moms house. So that's why I was trying to find a way to do SOMETHING today, on the 24th. To try to get ahead. Anything.

Plllog, regarding the meatballs, I HATE turkey meatballs. But my BIL is allergic to beef, pork, nuts and shellfish. If he eats it his face swells up, especially his upper lip so he ends up looking like a resident of Whoville, poor thing. He never makes a fuss about it and if there is nothing for him to eat he just wont eat and would not be upset, he would just go get something that he could eat. It is ONLY for that reason that I make an effort to make sure there are enough dishes there for him to have a full meal. And since my parents are absolutely unmovable in their insistence on having a friggin ham at every family function, turkey meatballs it is.

As for how I am going to serve them, I am going to make those pull aaprt sliders that are all over the internet. I have a 24 pack of the rolls, any extra meatballs will be served in the sauce.

I will of course be taking creative liberties with it but this is the basic idea.

Here is the pull part Christmas Tree. Normally in a time like this I would not really consider it with everything else I have to do but my young nephew saw this video and got very excited over the idea of it and wants me to make it so.....I am.

I should add that due to the nature of my family, and there irrepressible urge to irritate me in any way, shape or form while I am cooking for the ingrates, I will be doing the absolute least amount of cooking possible the day of at my parents house. I am annoyed that I do not have a fancy catering van that so that I can cook it completely at my house and just show up with it all done.

But you wouldn't be doing it at all if you didn't love them so much.

I make good turkey meatballs. :) So, re the sliders, I hope you're using your own turkey meatball recipe. That's way too hot an oven in the given beef recipe for turkey, and I'd use torn dryish bread rather than such dry breadcrumbs. But, however you make them, I'd worry a lot less about them going rubbery in the sliders/sauce. You need them to be firm enough to hold together, anyway. If you have room to store the panful in the fridge, you could do the meatballs today, cut the rolls tomorrow, assemble them last thing, then bake them on site. They wouldn't be at their very finest, but they'd be good enough and much valued by the allergic one.

Same with the Christmas tree. You can prep everything today, and keep the dough as cold as possible, then assemble just before the sliders tomorrow, and bake on site. If you don't have room for the tray, you could put your stuffed dough balls in a container layers separated by parchment or plastic. But do keep them as cold as possible so they do most of their rising on the way to and at the party.

If you have a devilled egg carrier, you can fill them at home. If you have room in the fridge for them, you can even fill them the day before. They won't be as nice as if you fill them on site, and there will be more chance for misadventure, but they'll be okay.

I say, make every last thing you possibly can as far ahead of time as you dare, and if anyone complains tell them they shouldn't ask you to cook during your sleep periods. In my previous post, I was thinking of what you can make ahead without any loss of quality. You can make almost all of it (not the shrimp) ahead and have it be good enough. Definitely all the dips, sauces and starches. Anything that's pretty good as leftovers can be made ahead. Good luck.

Plllog, henceforth that BIL will be referred to as "the allergic one." HA!

Funny (ish) story about that. This morning, I decided to get started. I made turkey meatballs and the sauce. Every time I cook a huge production like this, I tend to send pics of the food as I cook it to the group text with my mom and 2 sisters. Well, I sent the picture with the caption "Turkey Meatballs!" The sister who is married to the allergic one responded: "Why Turkey????" To which I replied: "Is not your beloved husband deathly allergic to beef."

She said: "Not anymore, but its all good."

What? How do you get un-allergic to something????? Apparently a few months ago they traveled to Tennessee to get some sort of treatment for it, and while he has to take a Zyrtec before eating it, he is no longer as allergic as he was. He us still allergic to shellfish though.

Anyway, when I got home this morning, I made breakfast for myself and SO, and decided to do a few things. I boiled and peeled 2 dozen eggs, made the potato salad, made the turkey meatballs and sauce, and baked a skillet of cornbread for the dressing. I will do most of everything else tomorrow, in addition to cooking Christmas dinner for me and SO. Our dinner will be smothered turkey legs, dressing, mac and cheese and string beans. I will be pilfering the dressing and mac and cheese from the party food, and I do NOT feel bad about it. No one will miss a few servings from each, and if they do, whatever, cooks privilege.

I am planning to wait until Sunday, right before I leave for my moms house to make the meatballs into sliders and do the cheesy tree. I will roast the shrimp last minute there.

There had better be a pumpkin pie waiting for me when I get there. Or there will be unprecedented pouting........

Most holiday meals seem to be at my house the last couple of years.

I usually send out an e-mail asking what people are thinking (for several years we went to crab, salad and french bread, but that has been postponed due to whale migration)

What I say to them is I will make the basics, but won't make stuff I don't like such as marshmallowed yams or sweet potatoes, the canned green bean casserole (I do make GBs, onions, garlic and almond slivers!)

That's up to them, and take it home if you please! (I provide take away containers)

And I agree with Amylou321 about the pumpkin pie!

I don’t have any advice to add. I’m just here to say “Way to go, Amylou.“ You’re a good sport for putting up with all these finicky demands.

Merry Christmas! And of course your home Christmas meal should get first crack at the goodies!

Fascinating about the improvement on your BIL's beef allergy. OTOH, if he has to take a prophylactic antihistamine, he really shouldn't be eating much beef. Maybe a small amount to keep the reactions in line. Unbelievable that your sister forgot that fast! You made me think of a friend's sister who had to have a bone marrow transplant. It was a good treatment for her disease, and side effect, cured her of Celiac disease!

Your plan sounds good. I wish you very good pumpkin pie!

Forgive the mess. I'm a mess today so my kitchen is as well. First thing I made this morning was the olive bread...

Then I made the mac and cheese. I'll bake it tommorow at moms house.

Next was the chip dip. It's an olive dip and I know this is good made ahead.

Then I made the chicken dressing. I took a picture before I put it in its sad foil pan because it looks so much more cheerful in my favorite Mason cash heart bowl.

Made the potato salad yesterday.

Made smothered turkey legs for me and SO for Christmas dinner. I have never made them before. They were ok to me. SO loved them so I count that as a success.

While the turkey was cooking I went ahead and decided to make the deviled eggs to get them over with.

I also made string beans with bacon and onions and a pecan pie for dinner tonight. Made the crust first thing this morning when I got home. SO has not tried it yet, too full from the meal but I'm sure its fine. I didn't take a picture of those. I was TIRED. I got about 2-3 hours sleep before I had to get up for work. I plan on going to bed as soon as I get home tomorrow and sleeping for a couple hours before I get up and finish. I want to assembled the cheesy tree and meatball sliders at my house, and bake them at hers. I grated the cheese for the scalloped potatoes, but did not slice the potatoes yet. I may not even make them. Depends on how I feel tommorow. I hope I remember the shrimp. I bought them frozen so I hope I remember to take them with me. I'm going to cook them there last minute.

Maybe next year, send her a doctored version of your work schedule!

Wouldn't make a difference.

Making a big apple pie was a snap. i kept wondering why it was so easy to plow through all the peeling and slicing, You've provided the answer. All I had to make was the pie. I also made green sludge, cauliflower and peewees for home, but no biggie. Being well rested and unhurried makes a huge difference. So I hope everything is going well at the party, and my Christmas wish for you is a whole month (trying to keep it realistic) of uninterrupted, unlimited sleep periods.

How did it go?

I‘ve never made quite that much food for Christmas but I always make as much as possible well ahead and freeze. Stuffings, some sauces, breads, doughs, meatballs, raw pastry cases, even whole pies and tarts (unbaked) are all freezable and can be made weeks ahead. Meringue can be stored dry and just filled on the day. Frozen desserts are also a boon. I always plan a menu which doesn't involve too much last minute prep. All I do on the day is the vegetables, salads, roast meats and gravy. I also ban everyone from the kitchen unless invited in to do a specific job.

Last year Christmas was cancelled here with only a few days notice. I had prepared and frozen everything I possibly could already and it was all still perfect when we finally had our family Christmas dinner in May.

Collleneez, it was, annoying.

I showed up to an almost empty house. Thats ok. I like being alone in the kitchen. But the so called guests of honor, that is, my brother, my 12 year old nephew, and my brothers latest wife were not there either. Remember that it was because of their schedules that this party HAD TO BE on the 26th.

The food was to be served at 2. The aforementioned guests of honor came back at 1, declaring that they had just gone out to lunch. What. Am. I. Cooking. 100. Pounds. Of. Food. For. Then. I was actually furious, but hid it well, because my other siblings and their families and my parents were there too and ate my food. The nephew of honor picked at it to be polite even though he was full and even thanked me for cooking and telling me how good it was. He is a good kid,always has been.The latest wife did as well. here was still a ton left, which one sister took home. She has a husband and 6 kids and leftovers are always welcome there. I left soon after, went home and slept all night and felt much better the next day. But I am glad its over and will remember this incident next time I am asked to do this.

I mean what was the point of all that? We could have all went out to lunch or ordered pizza and hung out instead of me doing all that.......ridiculous.

I'm . . . gobsmacked.

From now on, you will be known as Saint Amy. You certainly took the high road and you sound like someone I would like to know. Bless your heart.

Sounds as if you need to put your foot down for next year and get a very clear plan agreed by all parties. There is a lot of expectation on you but also severe miscommunication going on. How could people go out to eat if they knew someone was catering a huge lunch? Had they been told? There’s something going very wrong with the communication.

They were most definitely told. They were staying at my parents house. I was told that they were out visiting friends and got hungry and didn't want to wait.....

I heard that brother and current wife were a little annoyed that our sister took the leftovers home. I guess they wanted to eat it later when they got hungry again. Tough nuggets.

If you’re hungry and are going to a planned meal, intelligent people have a small snack.

i would have had steam coming out of my ears. i certainly hope you tell them to take a flying leap next year.

There is a reason why G-d invented little green apples.

Well, if they were definitely told then there’s no excuse. I agree with colleen. If they ask you next year I’d decline and explain why.

Or contact all participants yourself, explain what the deal is, ask for contributions to the meal from everyone and do a much simpler menu.

I always do all the cooking. I usually enjoy it immensely. The problem this year was the timing. I was working and was so tired. Usually they work around my schedule, but this year it was non negotiable.

Next year it will be on my time or not at all. This year they really should have just ordered pizzas.

Atta girl! Will tune in next year to see if you follow through! ;)