The "C" Word

Yes, here we go,.... we are now hurtling towards Christmas and we can no longer ignore it or

hold back the tide. So how about facing it full on and being Christmas feast ready this year?

I know for many people the thought of Christmas just makes them cringe. Not perhaps that they don’t like Christmas, but the fact that it actually involves a lot of hard work organisation and preparation.

Like many of you I’m sure, my mission is to create the perfect Christmas. Not in a commercial

sense. It is a time when generally my whole family comes together and the house resonates

with laughter and wonderful aromas of cinnamon and spices.

I have to say that the television is generally redundant as we spend time talking, sharing food

and playing board games and that is what makes it so special for me. Watching my family

relaxing and laughing together is pure gold.

I want to spend as much time with my family as I can, but of course there is a feast to prepare,

so this is how I balance things out and still hopefully manage to deliver a perfect Christmas. It’s

my gift to my family and I love every moment of it even though it’s hard work.

It’s not just the cooking that’s hard work, but the food shopping and the cost too. So making

things ahead of time not only frees you up on Christmas Day, but spreads the cost and it’s nice

to get as much as possible ticked off of that very long to do list.

But you don’t need to despair if you're cooking for family at Christmas. It really is all in the

planning. If you spend most of Christmas Day in the kitchen preparing and cooking then I have

good news for you. You don’t have to this year as I am going to share with you how to pre

prepare some of the Christmas fayre.

Over the next couple of weeks I will share with you just a few of my tips and recipes that take

some of the hard work out of the big day's cooking. These are recipes that I have used year after

year and can all be made and then frozen in ready for the big day. They taste amazing and your

guests are none the wiser.

So keep a lookout out as my first Christmas time saver will be here very soon!