With Christmas just around the corner, get set for those holiday festivities with our top tips for surviving the holiday period.
Budget
Times are tough but it’s easy to get carried away with Christmas festivities. Create a budget for your food and drink and try to stick to it by shopping around at different supermarkets.
Plan Ahead and Pre-Order
Create a meal plan for everything you need to cook over the festive season, including snacks and party food, so you can order as much as possible in advance. Be savvy and book your Christmas delivery slot as soon as possible. Order as much as you can online but give yourself time to pick up any last minute essentials (or anything that doesn’t turn up in your delivery – there’s always something!).
Write a List for the Main Event
Plan out your Christmas meal so you know how long all the different elements will take and what time they need to go on. You don’t want to be waiting an hour for the roast potatoes to be ready and have a turkey that’s burnt to the crisp! Make a list of everything you are planning to prepare and the individual timings so you can coordinate it all on the day itself. And try to get the whole family on board to help – many hands make light work!
Prepare in Advance
Cook what you can in advance and pop it in the freezer if needed (although don’t forget to defrost it properly overnight!). And don’t be scared of cheating. You can buy some pretty good frozen roast potatoes and parsnips from your local supermarket and it will really take the back out of the Christmas prep!
Enjoy!
Let’s not kid ourselves, Christmas can be incredibly stressful. The pressure of meeting up with relatives and friends when you’d rather curl up in front of a Christmas movie on your own, potentially delivering a meal for far more people than you are used to cooking for, cleaning and tidying to keep up appearances… Try to relax and enjoy yourself and get help from friends and family if you need it. Don’t be too shy to dish out the jobs too. It’s a good life-skill learning how to peel carrots and mash potatoes. Drag the kids off the X-Box, crank up the Christmas tunes, get everyone involved and dance around the kitchen while you cook!
Christmas recipe ideas
For make-ahead Christmas recipes check out the BBC Good Food website for some great ideas:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/make-ahead-christmas-recipes
