Beating the Rush – Preparing for Cooking at Christmas
With only a couple of weeks until Christmas and the New Year, there isn’t much time left to organize your Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year dinners. Getting fully prepared for the forthcoming festive meals is easy with these tips and suggested dishes.
Finalize guest list and menu
Some people tend to go overboard when it comes to preparing meals for the festive seasons. Finalize your guest list so you’re clear how much food you need (list all the ingredients you’ll need for each dish so that you won’t be prone to buy on impulse). List the dishes you want to cook for your holiday dinner parties. You can start with family favorites and then add in a few new dishes. Think about drink options and some simple nibbles before the main dinner.
Stock up your freezer
Your holidays will become less stressful if you get the bulk of the cooking done and store the food away. Clean out your freezer to make room for things you’ll be putting in. You can keep it there for a considerable while.
If you set aside time to cook one dish every day, by the end of the week you’ll have the makings of a dinner party. Before your guests arrive for dinner, just take the food out of the freezer and heat it either in the oven or on top of the stove.
Suggested dishes
There are many recipes you can make in the run-up to Christmas. One classic food is Christmas cake, which can be made now and left in a cool dark place to mature until Christmas Day. You can also keep it in the freezer before decorating it a few days before Christmas.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without roast turkey. If you’ve a big freezer, freeze your turkey. Remember to defrost it in the refrigerator several days ahead.
Another classic food is mince pies. You can cook the mincemeat, store it in a jar and put it in the freezer once it’s cool. All you need to do is to reheat the pies before serving. If you’re making an apple pie or tart, you can make and freeze the pie dough or the entire pie a few weeks in advance. Simply take it out to thaw in the refrigerator the night before baking.
Homemade stock can also be frozen. Mix any leftover meat juices with gravy granules and pour it into a container to be frozen. Vegetable soups such as butternut squash can also be frozen. Parboil wedges of potatoes, carrot and parsnip and leave them to cool before freezing. Remove them from the freezer to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Rather than buying pre-packed nibbles, why not make your own? Some quick nibbles recipes include cheese straws, sweetcorn and tomato nachos and canapés.
Getting yourself prepared now will leave you plenty of time to spend with your family and less time in the kitchen.
