Welcome

It’s that time of year again. You know, the one where we begin to look seriously for presents for loved ones, start arguing about where we’ll spend the festive season, nervously check the state of our credit cards and try to get all of our work finished in time.

I love the excess that accompanies this time of year, although not all Christmas traditions are to my liking. In particular, I hate the moment when the flammable Christmas jumper is dug out for an enforced day of jollity with workmates (I hate the bloody things so much that every year I get fined for failing to wear one on the designated day of cheer).

I know the festive season is upon us when we start working on this Christmas issue. For a start, we find ourselves staging a humongous food shoot in some far-flung location, and then there are all the interiors shoots in which people have to get their Hogmanay-ready house prepared months early.

This year, our food shoot was one of the best we’ve ever done. Chef Scott Smith came along and cooked us a wild Christmas meal which included boar, goat, mulled cider and chestnut strudel, and it was as delicious as it sounds. Those smiles you see if you read the end result are not put on, but rather the result of an early dose of good food and cheer. (I have to confess we also oversampled the fine wines profiled in my expert colleague Peter Ranscombe’s festive wine guide).

So write to us and let us know what you’re planning to do for Christmas. Relay your disasters, burnt meals, family squabbles, rubbish presents. They are all part of any authentic Christmas...