Blogmas: Hosting my first Christmas

Anyone who knows me, knows, I have wanted to do this for years and years! Last year we were at home, just the 3 of us because of being in a higher tier (no mixing with different households due to Covid for anyone not reading this in 2021!)

We really enjoyed being at home and waking up and going out and seeing whether Santa had been or not! It was soooooooo magical for Phoebe to wake up and go to the living room and seeing all her presents! (Below 2020)

So this year we ordered our Christmas food from M and S (like the past 3 years, since Phoebe was born!) We had ordered our turkey crown and all the trimmings. Let’s be honest I would rather just let professionals prepare everything and then I can just pop it in the oven (we still managed to get the timings wrong! It was our first year hosting anyone so dinner was later than we had thought!)

I thought I would share what we did our first year of hosting. Firstly I knew I wanted to do an epic cheese board for Christmas Eve with Party food and then again for Boxing Day along with cold collations (a selection of cold lefts overs including: pates, baked potatoe, cheeses, meats and bubble and squeak-Hubby’s recipe!)

Now the only problem is, I didn't have a big wooden chopping board to put everything on. I did a lot of research on cheese boards and charcuterie boards on Pinterest and saw some great displays. It then suddenly dawned on me I had my giant Paella dish which I could use to put all my lovely cheeses in and charcuterie meats. This was probably one of my favourite things I did and I will now be making it a tradition for when I host again next year. So I also had a bit of luck because the cheese I bought came with a bit of straw (Used to decorate my cheese board!)

So I got this selection and an Emmental and Gruyere Cheese to bake which was delicious and very gooey and oozy. I put it together but unfortunately a little human kept nicking my grapes (literally had to buy about 3 boxes as P loved them (don't worry we chopped them up!)

I kept everything in the packets until we were ready to use it.

So on Christmas Eve Eve we had my Sister in law and Brother in law and P's cousins round for mulled wine (non alcoholic) in my pretty pink teacups (because if it's good enough for Angel then it's good enough for me) and mince pies and ginger heart biscuits.

Followed pizza (not that festive but a crowd pleaser) then the most fun thing was the chocolate melting, making Christmas chocolate jumpers making with the children (another tradition which we will continue and will do again for Valentine’s and Easter too!)

(I've had to crop this photo because it has my relatives in it and out of respect for their privacy I have cropped them out, so it's a bit blurry)

But you get their idea. The silicone moulds are brilliant and a complete game changer for me (very user friendly!)

So the boys got 4 each and so did P but she was meant to leave some out for Santa but the temptation got the better of her and she had an extra nibble of those ones too! Tiny humans can be a bit tricky....lol!! So off to bed she went went dreaming of Dolly's and sweeties I think!

I then started the mammoth task of wrapping all the Christmas presents in a hall (quite narrow and not a huge amount of space to really swing a cat- Figuratively speaking only!) I watched Disney’s Prep and Landing while wrapping!

Some presents were definitely a challenge and at 2 in the morning my brain couldn't cope anymore and couldn't figure out how to wrap a massive slice of wood so I gave up. (Spoiler I put in a giant sack then tied the top lol!!)

I was yet to set the table or even have time to create a "tablescape" by Christmas morning! I suddenly realised hosting is way more difficult than it looks and hats of to anyone who host as Christmas, particularly my Parents back in the day and my Aunty who all catered for about 16-20 people on their turn alternate years! Now my Mother hosts people by her self and then of course Stephanie Jarvis, my gooddness does that women make it look a lot easier than it is. She hosts hundreds of people at her chateau and it does look seamless! Saying all of that I love it, I can't wait to host my side of the family next year (hopefully in a new house-hoping to move next year!)

We seemed to have misplaced our starter cutlery so we did what the french do which is apparently holding onto their cutlery from the starters ready for the mains! Anyway it was ok! We had stuffed scallops on a bed of rocket and some dots of fig chutney and Phoebe had a bit of Parma Ham which was in the shape of the rose but she had already nibbled it here!

We then had Christmas dinner with gravy and bread sauce and pigs in blankets and all the trimmings!

I did a quick Garland in the middle of the table and added some small baubles and the little tree lights to give the table a more festive look!

My presents I made for my father in law went down so well! His clay chess set and chess board coffee table was definitely a success!

So overall we had a great time with a very busy 3 days! I will definitely be hosting next year but planning and prepping earlier than this year!

Which I can do with my NEW Christmas Planner! I was very excited! Hubby got me this and I was so happy as this was the one I wanted! You maybe able to tell from my facial expression!

Boxing day was meant to be a relaxed/chilled day but our oven ignition switch stopped working and we had just run out of matches! Luckily we had our slow cooker and microwave for the jacket potato’s!

Lucky the oven had worked in the morning though, so we had my favourite, Hubby’s Bubble and Squeak was made, luckily before the oven stopped working!