It is with rather a sleigh-load of trepidation that I am taking over the reins of Christmas Day hostess this year. Gulp.
As the first year without Daddy, we figured being in the family home was probably not going to help, so have decided to do everything differently this year in the hope that by eschewing all our family traditions, his absence won’t be as painfully marked. To be honest, as everyone keeps telling us, the first of everything – Christmases, Birthdays, Anniversaries – they’re all going to be utterly grim. So, it is with fierce determination that I have decided, if we’re all going to be sad on Christmas Day, we’re going to be sad and FULL.
New to all this hostess malarky, I figured I was going to be stressed enough, so wrestling someone for the last bag of sprouts on Christmas Eve in a supermarket rugby scrum probably was best avoided. So, I’m planning ahead: I have already made my first ever Christmas cake, plus a huge batch of homemade mincemeat; ordered a turkey the size of a small labrador plus chipolatas, bacon and a ham from the local butchers and a barrow load of veg from Abel & Cole (they do a brilliant Christmas Day box), to be delivered just before the big day. The local cheese shop will do me up a cheeseboard, complete with crackers and chutneys, and I have delegated puddings to various sisters/mothers/grandmothers and alcohol to the husband. Phew.
For recipes and timings, I am clinging with all my might to the reassuringly bossy Delia Smith.
Printing in 1990, it is gloriously outdated, but that is part of it’s charm. Besides, when it comes to cooking a Christmas feast – not much has changed has it?!
It really is a bible of all things Christmas related – cakes, puddings, meats, canapes, vegetarian options and even a step by step timed guide for Christmas Eve prep and the big day itself. I will have this timetable stapled to my forehead come the 25th. There are great leftover recipes for Boxing Day, too.
What could possibly go wrong?!
