h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For two of my three years at uni, I organised/cooked a christmas dinner for 16 people. In the first year, this was everyone from my floor in halls. One of the other guys had done the shopping (it was his 'brainchild') - but got a frozen turkey on the day it was going to be cooked! It spent quite a while in the microwave (we had a *big* microwave!), and at least an hour in a sink of lukewarm water...
We were slightly hampered by our facilities. Even though there were 16 of us, in a non-catered hall, the kitchen was small. One cooker - one oven, four hobs. So we had to 'borrow' a few other ovens - two on the floor upstairs (including that of our resident tutor!) and one in the next block. Everything turned out fine in the end - and the tutor even gave us a bottle of something alcoholic to help us celebrate!

In the second year, we were all living off campus. 14 of us were living in three houses, within second of each other. After the previous year, I made sure *I* was organising *everything* - especially the shopping. The turkey was bought a few days early, to let it defrost properly, the rest was bought on the morning of the feast. Everything seemed to happen much smoother than the year before, but I guess that's down to having *done* it the year before - the extra experience makes it so much easier. Even though we still had to use three ovens (meaning various people had to carry hot dishes of food down the street!), it was so smooth. I'm sure it's safe to say that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

So the lessons: If *you* are planning the meal, make sure you are prepared - having to defrost a turkey at the last minute (a la Adrian Mole) is not fun!
Know when and how to delegate. If it's a big meal, you can't do everything. It's physically impossible. You'll wear yourself out, and won't enjoy it at all. Why not let someone else sort out the pudding, for example?
Be organised. If it's to go smoothly, you need to know when things have to be done - it's pointless making the gravy as soon as you've put the turkey in the oven, for example.Enjoy yourself!