CAROLINE QUENTIN ‘We’ll go the extra mile to make things special’

Actor Caroline talks about special family cocktails and the secret shortcuts she swears by

I enjoy a bit of sparkle of an evening, especially at Christmas. I tend to wear something shiny every now and again, so I was more than ready for all the Strictly sequins. But the main joy for me is being 60 years old and learning a new skill. Being locked in a room with a professional dancer and learning as much as I can in the shortest time possible has been wonderful.

At home, it might just be the four of us in our kitchen this year, and I’ll be grateful for that. Spending time with my beautiful children and my darling husband in a pretty bleak landscape has been lovely, and I can’t wait to spend Christmas with them. The joy of sitting around a dinner table with them every night and hearing their news has been a real silver lining in a pretty dark sky this year.

We’ll definitely be going the extra mile to make things special. It’ll be about going on long walks together with our four dogs and making cocktails before lunch. Normally, we have a Brandy Pom Pomme, which is Champagne with a drop of brandy and Angostura bitters. But I might ring the changes this year and make something that looks Christmassy; maybe pop a bit of colour in there with some cranberry. My husband absolutely loves Christmas.

We have so many traditions. They’re about when you get the tree, when the tree goes up, how you dress the tree, what carols you listen to when you’re dressing the tree; that kind of thing. It engenders a huge sense of tradition and time passing, and that’s something I’ve really come to value.

Actually, one of my favourite things is the tree. Enjoying that smell when it first comes into the house. That said, I used to have a real tree until last year, but I’ve actually fallen in love with the not-real one now. I reckon a lot of people are thinking, ‘Do you know what? We’re done with the pine needles in the carpet.’ I spray a bit of pine scent, and your olfactory senses make you believe it’s real.

MY CHRISTMAS WISH... Is that 2021 is full of joy and infinitely fewer face masks.