Stress-free hosting – it’s all in the planning!
I love cooking, but I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen; when I have people round, I want to spend time with them!
So, how do I make that happen whilst ensuring that I put on a good spread? Simple, I plan and I prep!
This Christmas, I will be hosing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and we are going away for New Year so I will be taking a delicious dinner for one of the nights.
Christmas Eve is all about friends; I am planning on filling my slow cookers with mulled wine and mulled cider. I can pop all the ingredients in in the morning and then turn the slow cookers on early afternoon – I just love the festive smell that this creates in my kitchen.
Foodwise, we will be eating homemade mince pies and sausage rolls. I will be making them in advance and freezing them and then, just before my guests arrive, I’ll pop them in the oven to cook.
Christmas Day is a shared event: my mother-in-law always brings a starter and my mum dessert so all I have to worry about is the main event – the turkey and all the trimmings!
As I write this, my freezer is already filled with all of my sides: roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, brussels with bacon, cranberry sauce, gravy, bread sauce and pigs in blankets. All the hard work is done, so on Christmas day, I just need to cook and serve them – easy!
You can download my ‘Get ahead this Christmas’ booklet here – it contains all of my Christmas recipes.
New Year, we always go away with family to Norfolk; eating out options are limited so I tend to take one of our meals with us.
This year, I will be packing one of my ‘grab bag’ dinners: a dinner which can be prepped in advance and popped in the freezer (in a silicone bag). All I have to do when I arrive in Norfolk is defrost the bag and pop it in the oven or the slow cooker.
I tend to prep my favourite lamb meatball traybake this way, or my slow cooked curries, sausage casseroles or slow cooker pasta dishes. I always have a couple in the freezer ready for those weeks when there aren’t enough hours!
Stress-free hosting – it’s all in the planning!
I love cooking, but I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen; when I have people round, I want to spend time with them!
So, how do I make that happen whilst ensuring that I put on a good spread? Simple, I plan and I prep!
This Christmas, I will be hosing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and we are going away for New Year so I will be taking a delicious dinner for one of the nights.
Christmas Eve is all about friends; I am planning on filling my slow cookers with mulled wine and mulled cider. I can pop all the ingredients in in the morning and then turn the slow cookers on early afternoon – I just love the festive smell that this creates in my kitchen.
Foodwise, we will be eating homemade mince pies and sausage rolls. I will be making them in advance and freezing them and then, just before my guests arrive, I’ll pop them in the oven to cook.
Christmas Day is a shared event: my mother-in-law always brings a starter and my mum dessert so all I have to worry about is the main event – the turkey and all the trimmings!
As I write this, my freezer is already filled with all of my sides: roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, brussels with bacon, cranberry sauce, gravy, bread sauce and pigs in blankets. All the hard work is done, so on Christmas day, I just need to cook and serve them – easy!
You can download my ‘Get ahead this Christmas’ booklet here – it contains all of my Christmas recipes.
New Year, we always go away with family to Norfolk; eating out options are limited so I tend to take one of our meals with us.
This year, I will be packing one of my ‘grab bag’ dinners: a dinner which can be prepped in advance and popped in the freezer (in a silicone bag). All I have to do when I arrive in Norfolk is defrost the bag and pop it in the oven or the slow cooker.
I tend to prep my favourite lamb meatball traybake this way, or my slow cooked curries, sausage casseroles or slow cooker pasta dishes. I always have a couple in the freezer ready for those weeks when there aren’t enough hours!
