Make Ahead Bread Rolls and 5 Tips for a Less Stressful Christmas Dinner

I love Christmas time, the decoration, the music, I even love Christmas shopping and wrapping presents. I do try and make sure everything like Christmas presents are bought long before the madness so that probably helps keep my love for the season so strong. But one killer for most people is the stress of the Christmas meal. Even myself, a lover of cooking even for large groups and a lover of the season, finds myself more stressed then I need to be. So I have come up with 5 tips that are helping me with my sanity this year and I hope that they help you. One thing that I am doing is making these tasty bread rolls several weeks before hand so that they are ready to do on the day without too much hassle.

1. Write down your Christmas dinner in menu form. Seeing all the dishes you are planning on making on paper will help you better figure out if you are overdoing it. I often just have an idea in my head of all the things I want to do and just get the ingredients and start doing it, only to discover I am doing way too much and haven’t planned enough time to do it all. Write out all the dishes, how long they take to prep and cook and see if it is even possible for you to make all the dishes with the amount of oven space and hob space you have.

2. Cook ahead. In part with the writing down figure out what dishes can be made ahead of time to lighten the load on Christmas day. For example this year we have decided to start cooking the turkey the day before. We have so many people round the table that we never get to set the bird down on the table to display any way so this year to make life easier we are cooking the bird and slicing it so it can be reheated the next day. This is going to free up our oven for other things like our roast vegetables and stuffing. It will also ensure a prompt dinner start as the turkey is often the thing that takes even longer then you predicted.

3. Don’t be afraid to delegate. If you are like me you bite off more then you can chew every year. This year we have 20 adults and 3 kids to feed. Plus I have a 8 week old baby that also needs me so there is no way it would be sensible to do it all on my own. So instead this year we are dividing the load amongst us and doing as much as possible the days leading up to Christmas so the day can be spend fellowshipping together and not spent stressing over cooking. Because lets face it, even if you love cooking like myself it can be very stressful on the day.

4. Don’t experiment on the day. Have a new dish you have been wanting to try on Christmas day that you have never done before. TEST IT BEFORE HAND! Do not attempt something you have never done on the day. You are only opening the door to a stressful day and possibly a dinner failure on Christmas day when all the shops are closed. Either stick to what you are familiar or test the dish out a few weeks before hand.

5. Don’t go overboard with fancy table decor. I know you have been pouring over images in Pintrest all year feeling like a failure compared to the lavish table displays you see. But first of all most of the amazing things you find on pintrest are from photoshoots where the photographer had all the time in the world to setup their table, no hungry people wondering where the food is. Also remember your table is going to be full of food so unless you have a table that is big enough you are going to end up having to remove most of the decorations before the food is put on the table which kind of defeats the point. Instead stick to small simple ideas that can be prepared the day before and be delegated to someone else to setup on the day.

Remember Christmas should be a fun, wonderful day spent with family so don’t allow it to become a stressful environment and open up the possibility of stress related arguments on the day.

Make ahead bread rolls

Mix together flour, salt in a large bowl. Rub in butter until butter is crumbled well into the flour. Add yeast and sugar and then make a well.

Pour warm water into well and mix to form dough. Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and kneed until smooth and elasticated, about 8-10 minutes.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place till it has doubled in size. If your kitchen is too warm try warming up you oven on its lowest temp for a few minutes then turn off an allow dough to rise there.

Knock back dough on a lightly flour surface and then divide it into 8-10 balls. The easiest way to get rolls the same size, is to weight the dough. Roll and shape balls into a round or oval shape. place on a baking tray spacing them well apart.

Place baking trays with the dough balls in the freezer. I like to freeze overnight on the trays and then add them to a ziplock back for longer storage. If you are going to just freeze them for a few days and want to keep them on the tray make sure you cover the tray in plastic wrap.

Once you are ready to bake your rolls take them out of the freezer and allow to defrost and come to room temperature to rise. This can take about 3-4 hours so make sure you give yourself time before you need to bake them. Bake in a preheated 190 C (375 F) oven for 15 to 20 minutes until they are a light golden brown.