Hello Christmas friends and welcome back to the Christmas prep series. Only a few days left until Christmas! Here’s week four’s prep:

1. Shop for your perishable items. Don’t forget to add a couple of loaves of fresh bread, milk and eggs to your shopping so that you can make the most of your leftovers after Christmas.
2. Deliver gifts including edible gifts to friends and neighbours.
3. Fill up the car for your Christmas travel, check the tyre pressure and oil.
4. Wipe out the fridge and make space for your last grocery shopping before Christmas.
5. Do your perishables Christmas shop
6. Ensure all tablecloths for your Christmas day table are ironed and gather together any other table decorations.
7. Make a gingerbread house with the kids.
8. Take out any meat to defrost in the fridge – ideally 2 – 3 days before you intend to cook them. For turkey tips for defrosting and other tips see www.BritishTurkey.org.uk, their calculator’s for defrosting and cooking times are free.

On 23^rd

1. Prepare any desserts for the big day ahead of time and refrigerate.
2. Cook any vegetables ahead of time. Par boil the potatoes and refrigerate until Christmas day when you want to roast them, roast the parsnips and carrots (until just tender as they will cook slightly when reheating). Sprouts and roast potatoes are best done fresh.
3. Prepare your stuffing and pigs in blankets if you haven’t already batched them ahead of time. These can then be cooked on Christmas day.
4. Make fresh mince pies for Christmas day.
5. Chill any wines or bubbly for Christmas day.
6. Watch my Christmas dinner video – I will leave the link below so that you can put your nerves at ease!

On 24^th

1. Take out any batched side dishes to defrost in the fridge. If you’ve followed along with my batching recipe videos, the stuffing, bacon wrapped chipolatas, carrots and cauliflower cheese can be cooked from frozen – just allow a few extra minutes of cooking time. The braised red cabbage is already cooked and just requires heating up in the microwave after it has thawed out in the fridge. 
2. On 24^th – make a batch of mince pies (if you are making from scratch)
3. Prep Christmas eve snacks – as much as you can in advance. Or get a start on Christmas eve dinner.
4. Check your Christmas dinner plan for tomorrow and see if there’s anything you can do ahead like peeling vegetables or getting dishes ready.
5. Prep ahead for breakfast if possible.
6. When the kids have gone to bed – set the table for Christmas day – Christmas breakfast is eaten informally so the table stays nice for Christmas lunch.
7. Sit by the tree with all the lights off, with your favourite tipple or a bailey’s hot chocolate and relax!

Have a very merry Christmas!

Hello Christmas friends and welcome to week three of December Christmas prep. How are you enjoying the festive season so far? I hope you’re having a wonderful Christmas time and are ready for week three’s prep.

1. Write up cooking plan for Christmas day – your favourite chef website will have a plan on their website that you can tailor to your own needs.
2. Set up your Christmas morning toolbox (a shoebox will do) with a set of screw drivers, batteries, black bags and scissors.
3. Make any edible Christmas gifts.
4. Set up Christmas eve boxes for the kids.
5. Get anything grocery wise for Christmas in this week – besides the last minute perishable items.
6. If you are travelling in your car over the Christmas period, set up an emergency kit for the car including a torch with batteries, water, a fully charged battery power pack, some non-perishable snacks and ensure you have the telephone number of your insurance and recovery service and add these to your mobile phone contacts if you haven’t already.
7. If you are travelling over the Christmas period, get the suitcases from the loft, place them out of the way and start packing, as you can, for your trip.
8. Prep the spare room for any guests coming to stay
9. It’s usually a very long day for parents on Christmas eve because the children are over excited to write down a little plan of action for the day. Previously, we’ve had breakfast, the Christmas eve box contained some colouring in or activities to keep my daughter occupied while I got a few bits ready, we’ve had a lunch out somewhere and a ramble at the local farm, then come home mid-afternoon to decorate our gingerbread house. In the evening we do Christmas party food like canapes, then my daughter has a bath with a lavender bath bomb from her Christmas eve box and gotten into her Christmas pj’s, then we sprinkled reindeer food outside, hung the stockings, left out treats for Father Christmas, watched a Christmas film with hot chocolate, read the night before Christmas and then it was light out!
10. Get your hair and nails done or if you have your appointment next week, go for a coffee by yourself and read a magazine and enjoy the peace and quiet! 

Until next time friends,