To the upmost perfection

Soak your spuds

Speaking of vegetables, you can peel and prepare your spuds the night before and place them in a bowl of cold water covered with a tea towel. This will keep them from spoiling and also save time on Christmas day – no one likes to peel and cross Brussel sprouts when they could be playing cards or opening presents with the rest of the family!

Stock up on spoons

With all this prep going on, make sure you have all the necessary equipment readily available for the preparation and serving of your feast. Be sure to have a plethora of oven trays, pots, and serving dishes to hand, not to mention an extra-long roll of tin foil – essential for covering food and keeping it warm before serving.

Lay the table

If your dining table won’t be needed first thing on Christmas morning, why not get it ready the night before too? Make sure all your crockery, glasses, cutlery and linen are all washed and organised, and you could get the kids involved by giving them the task of setting out name cards for your guests!

Get everyone involved

Either on Christmas day itself or in the lead up to it, give each family member something to be responsible for.

More than food and drink, however, Christmas is about spending time with your family and friends. A great way to alleviate stress in the kitchen, therefore, is to get as many people involved as you can!

Either on Christmas day itself or in the lead up to it, give each family member something to be responsible for. You can be sure the kids will love pointing out which element they made.

And cranking up the Christmas tunes and having a dance while you chop up the sprouts may not make the process any less hectic, but it will certainly make it more fun!