I start counting the days till Christmas. Yuppy!!! So close!
Christmas is a time of celebration and sharing quality time with family and friends. Time spent in the kitchen preparing food for family and friends is one of the great pleasures in life, especially if you do it all together.
– Plan the menus for all the meals well in advance, including all drinks, breakfasts and snacks. If you wanna try something new, try it before so you don’t have a surprise. Try also to include some food from other country specific to Christmas. It will surprise everyone and will be something new. You can make it a Christmas tradition.
– Make a master-shopping list of everything you will need, including any new cooking equipment. Don’t leave it at the last days. It’s crowded and you will lose a lot of time and nerves.
– Delegate. This one is the best advice to give you.
– Clean out the freezer well before Christmas. Sort the freezer out and make space for Christmas food to be stored together in one place.
– Sharpen knives including the carving knife well in advance. Makes all the chopping, peeling and carving so much easier.
– Clean the oven. You will needed it ready to rumble.
– Choose dishes that can be served at room temperature. It will help you to enjoy the dinner and not reheat food in the kitchen.
– Serve family style with large platters in the middle of the table. It’s interactive and fun to share, and also, people eat as much as they need.
– Nominate a wine master so you don’t have to worry about what to open next or if everyone’s glasses are kept topped up.
– Make sure you have the table set and looking lovely before the guests arrive.
– Don’t forget to allow yourself time during or at the end of cooking to chill out a little, get ready or have a drink.
Cooking Without Limits 
Great list. The wine master is my favorite idea.
Thank you
It is a really good list – especially the bit about trying new things out in advance. I’d maybe also include that you should build in time for delays – only once in all the Christmases I remember has everything happened according to the timetable. And really, I’d rather take an extra half hour to spend time with an unexpected visitor or having a chat over drinks than panic about ticking off the next section of the timetable. 🙂
Yeap. This is a good one, too.
For the past 2 years that I was the one who prepared our Christmas table, I haven’t been able to do the last item in the list.
Maybe this year you will. Good luck!