Cooking for Christmas
Monday, December 28th, 2009
Christmas is one of those holidays that is enjoyable for everyone involved. There is the excitement and anticipation of the upcoming event, with many pre-Christmas activities, like Christmas parties, shopping, musical events, visits to Santa, and much more. There is the thrill of finding that perfect gift for that special someone. There is the joy of seeing all your friends and family members coming together to share in the holiday. There is the wonder of little children’s faces as they see Santa Claus for the first time or as they open each present. Then, there is the Christmas feast!
Cooking for Christmas can be just as much fun and as exciting as every other task you have to complete for the upcoming holiday. It can be overwhelming too, if you don’t make the right preparations and plan ahead.
The key to putting on a successful Christmas feast is all in the planning. If you are hosting the Christmas dinner event at your place, you will need to start planning and cooking for it well in advance. If you do not do this, you will probably find that you are stressed and working too hard at the last minute. You want to ensure that you have as good a time at your Christmas event as your family and friends do.
Cooking for Christmas can include everything from making your own cookies and appetizers for pre-meal snacking to cooking the Christmas turkey with all the trimmings, as well as having a variety of offerings for dessert. Planning and preparing many items ahead of the day can help you enjoy the in Christmas dinner and festivities along with everyone else.
The first thing you should do is to draw up a menu plan for what you want to serve for the main Christmas meal. Take into account the number of people that will be attending, with a careful note of the ages of the people involved too. Consider that you may be cooking for older people who have definite traditions and probably more delicate stomachs. Your guest list may also include several children or babies that also need to be considered when creating the menu plan. Children have definite likes and dislikes, and you want to be able to cater to them too. You should also be aware of any special dietary needs, like someone who may have diabetes or is a vegetarian. You need to consider including food that will suit those special diets as well.
Your menu should be geared to the number of guests at your dinner too. Cooking six potatoes for eight people, or alternatively a huge turkey for only four guests, may not be wise.
Your Christmas menu should include a variety of dishes to take into account unexpected likes or dislikes. For instance, you may want to serve squash as your vegetable offering, but the children attending may turn up their faces at it. Offering a couple of different alternatives to vegetables may solve the problem. Having a bowl of peas or raw carrots on the table may suit them better. Or if you plan to forego the traditional turkey and serve roast beef as your only meat instead, you may come across someone who only eats white meat. Make up your menu to include a couple of choices for those ‘picky’ eaters.
Try to consider how well the food goes together too. Of course, with a traditional Christmas turkey, stuffing, gravy and potatoes of some kind is typical. But if you are serving another meat choice along with the turkey, consider what might go well with both meats. For instance ham and turkey are both good with mashed potatoes. But if you serve lamb, perhaps you might want to try rosemary-roasted potatoes.
You can include different cultural foods on your Christmas table as well, depending on your heritage or food preferences. What is wrong with Peking duck replacing the traditional turkey? Or even tofu-turkey or a festive mushroom pie could be considered the main protein choice.
Now that you have your main meal planned and thought out, find out how many dishes can be prepared ahead of time so that you do not have to do everything at the last minute on Christmas day. Plan a schedule according to your menu choices and when you have time to do the actually cooking and baking. Can you make that vegetarian lasagna you planned for your vegetarian guests ahead and then freeze it until it is needed? Can you make your homemade cranberry sauce beforehand and put it in canning jars? Can you prepare the ham a day ahead and have it ready to be just heated up and served on Christmas day? The more you do ahead, the less time you will have to spend in the kitchen on Christmas day—and the more time you will have to enjoy the event yourself.
Baking cookies and desserts a few weeks before Christmas will help you too. Cookies and cakes can be frozen and thawed when needed. In fact, frozen cookies take very little time to thaw so you can get out the correct amount when needed. That way, too, you can make a greater variety of cookies if you spread your baking days out over the days and weeks before the holiday bustle really begins. Pies also freeze well and are easy to be heated and served at the right time. Cakes, like fruitcakes, are actually best made before, especially if they are to be saturated with rum for greater flavor.
There are even many appetizers that can be made a couple of weeks ahead, popped into the freezer and taken out to heat or thaw on the day of the event. Consider pastries like sausage rolls, mini quiches, cheese puffs, or pizza bites. Dips, spreads and cheese balls can be made the day before and the taste is actually enhanced with more time for the flavors to meld. Devilled eggs and cheese or fruit trays can also be prepared the day ahead.
Creating and preparing a plan for the event ahead of time is a great way to help you avoid the stress of cooking for Christmas. It allows you more time on Christmas day to enjoy the festivities yourself. By planning and making the right preparations beforehand, you can still have a huge traditional Christmas meal and join in the holiday fun.
