A small kitchen can feed a holiday table. It cannot do it if the oven and both burners are asked to finish at the same minute. Buy the things that cook while the oven is busy, then store without a second cabinet.
The one that earns its counter space in January, not only on the 25th, is a 5 quart air fryer (on Amazon). The Ninja AF141 is a single basket with air fry, roast, reheat and dehydrate. The basket holds a tray of appetizers or a pan of vegetables while a roast has the oven. The machine is about 15 inches deep, 11 inches wide and 10 inches tall. If that spot on the counter is already a landing strip, it is the wrong appliance, however good the potatoes are.
The pot that replaces three pans
A 6 quart enameled Dutch oven (on Amazon) braises in the morning, bakes if you are that kind of host, and goes to the table with the lid on so you are not hunting for a serving bowl. The Lodge in evergreen works on gas, electric and induction, and in the oven. It is about 15 pounds empty. That is fine on the stove and less fine lifted down from a high shelf when it is full. Leave it on the stove that week. It is also the cooking gift in the renter gift guide, if you would rather receive it than buy it.
Something that stirs while you set the table
Cookies, mashed potatoes, whipped cream. A 5 quart tilt-head stand mixer (on Amazon) does those. The KitchenAid Artisan in onyx black includes the pouring shield, a flat beater, a dough hook and a whisk. It wants a permanent home: 14 inches deep, about 9 inches wide and 14 inches tall, and it does not go back in a cabinet between uses. In a kitchen where the counter is already full, skip it and use a hand mixer. If you bake more than twice a winter, it is the splurge that is still out in January.
The dish you start before anyone arrives
A 7 quart programmable slow cooker (on Amazon) with a locking lid holds a side or a main and can be set for the time you want to eat. Seven quarts is a lot of food, which is the idea when people are standing in the kitchen with plates. The locking lid matters if you are carrying it to someone else’s apartment. The stoneware lifts out to wash. The heating base stays in a cabinet the rest of the year.
When every burner is taken
A 22 inch electric griddle (on Amazon) is the extra surface: appetizers, breakfast for overnight guests, anything flat. The Presto has a ceramic cooking surface and handles that unclip, so the body stores in most 18 inch cabinets instead of standing in the sink. Take the heat control off and the pan can be washed. Set it where the cord is not the only path through the kitchen.
A kettle (on Amazon) is the smaller version of the same idea. Tea, cocoa and boiling water for gravy happen off the stove, in a 1.7 liter stainless kettle that shuts itself off.
Once the food is out of these, an expandable warming tray (on Amazon) keeps a couple of dishes hot without sending them back to the oven. Where people stand, where the coats go, and how many fit in the room is the other half of the night, in hosting a party in a small apartment.