Are you a Christmas planner or a last-minute dasher? Here are the golden rules for both
Are you a planner or a dasher? Either way, there’s no mistaking the festive bonanza barrelling down the track towards us, as of today a mere 44 sleeps away. As the peppery smell of reworks dies back into the crisp November air, it’s official: Christmas is coming. And, subtly but unmistakably, the nation is starting to divide.
The planners are already well advanced. Spreadsheets have been created; the bird’s on order. The autumn quince glut has been weaponised: boiled up and poured out into a row of Kilner jars which are now sitting on the sideboard like grenades, shock troops in the artisanal gifting campaigns to come. On the big day everything, but everything, will be made from scratch.
Meanwhile, the dashers are feeling mellow. All those dire warnings of shortages come round every year; it never happens. The supermarkets cut their prices on the 23rd. Even if there’s a run on geese, what’s wrong with a nice bit of beef? Sushi on Boxing Day might be a welcome palate cleanser. And shop-bought pigs in blankets are so much easier – and the children prefer them. Let’s just get the party season out of the way, and then we’ll talk.
So who’s right? If you’re a planner but you’re being hosted by a dasher this year, it’s bound to sting – to feel a little, let’s say, phoned in. If you’re a dasher sharing Christmas with a planner, you might be a tiny bit put off by the very wholesome-ness of it all. We live in an age of unprecedented convenience, but the cost of living is through the roof: this feels like a good year to dial things back and indulge in a bit of DIY. But equally, some of us have to work for a living. In the end, it’s all about finding a path that works for you.
Here, a planner and a dasher set out their festive philosophies, and share some golden rules for making sure your Christmas is filled with methodical magic or last-minute loveliness, according to taste.
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The long-term planner
Xanthe Clay: I like to get ahead of the game
Are you a long-term Christmas prepper? I never used to be. Partly because in my job I usually spend the six weeks leading up to the Mega Meal basting turkeys, rolling pigs into blankets and popping puddings out of their basins to ensure that all my Christmas tips and recipes for Telegraph readers are sure-fire successes.
All too often that meant my own family meal got forgotten in the festive fever. It wouldn’t be unusual to find me in the supermarket at 2pm on Christmas Eve, thinking that – for all I’d spent the last month extolling the virtues of a homemade meal – the ready-stuffed turkey crown and frozen roasties were looking very appealing.
But I’ve since come round to reason. Christmas carries enough non food-related stress – a critical mass of relatives, the pressure to be jolly, never mind the whole present matrix… have I spent enough? Too much? Will they like it? Will it be appropriate but boring? Is buying presents at all succumbing to some consumerist con?
Doing a bit of prep allows me to maintain a little corner of control over the whole madness of the festive season. And I’m not alone; in research shared with the Telegraph, Marks & Spencer reports that customers often buy Christmas food products the moment they go on the shelves – as early as mid-September for mince pies and festive snacks.
More than 50 per cent of those who buy festive food ahead of time do so for peace of mind, and 35 per cent to save money; certainly, we can make a choice about where we’re going to splash out, and where we’re going to spend a bit more time and a bit less money.
The big outlay might be on the turkey, but I’ll use the giblets and homemade breadcrumbs in the stuffing rather than buying ready-made. There’ll be no panic buying because there’ll be no panic. Well, less panic. Less avoidable panic, let’s say.
And guess what, you’ll be doing everyone else a favour – a less stressed host makes for less stress overall. And if you’ve got a plan, then you can delegate. Those wide-eyed friends and family who wander into the kitchen saying “what can I do to help?” – use them. Plan the jobs that are good to hand over, like beating the brandy butter, a little light silver polishing, or laying the table with the settings you’ve already put on a tray.
If you’re relaxed, everyone else will have a much better chance of relaxing too. Good public speakers know this. A brilliant speech that appears spontaneous takes careful preparation, as well as the ability to be light on your feet and adapt to changes in circumstances.
The same goes for the Christmas food. Just writing a list isn’t enough. Stock the fridge and freezer with what you can get done in advance, making sure you label it well (I keep a roll of masking tape and marker pen in the kitchen drawer for the purpose). Stash away the ambient goods, too (by mid-December roughly half of households will have bought their non-perishable food, suggests Waitrose data, and over two-fifths will have bought their Christmas booze).
But don’t overdo it – and not just because few of us have enough fridge or freezer space to dedicate several square feet to events weeks away. The reality is, plans change, extra people turn up, people drop out. Be prepared to flex.
But listen, don’t do it if it bores you – or accuse me of being a control freak if I do. Ultimately, the real reason us long-term preppers get stuck into making mince pies and poring over the meal plan is that we love it (one in three of us will be baking pies and/or cake from scratch this year, according to Waitrose). It’s part of the fun of Christmas for us. And believe me, having tried the last-minute, seat-of-my-pants approach, I know what makes for my happy Christmas.
Order your turkey, if you haven’t already. If you want a British, free-range bird from a small farm, it’s never too soon to get your order in. Thanks to bird flu, fewer farmers are rearing birds, and many of those who are have reduced their flock size, so stocks of the good ones are likely to be short this year (and no one wants to have to get an imported frozen bird). If you’re having another joint – of beef, say – it’s still worth putting your marker down now.
Book a supermarket delivery spot – again, if you haven’t already.
Make the Christmas cake if it is a traditional fruit one and plan how to feed it.
Decide the menu. Yes, write it down. But don’t be hidebound: it’s all open to tweaks and rejigs. What other big meals are you having? Will there be extra people round the table?
Clear out the freezer and plan to eat overflow this week.
Work out what you are going to cook in advance. For me, it’s always the red cabbage which somehow takes up a lot of space to do and ages to cook properly – but freezes beautifully.
You can do the brandy butter ahead and freeze it now, too, but it’s also one of those simple and quite fun jobs that’s good to delegate.
Designate a shelf, cupboard or corner of a room as a storage spot for the little bits and pieces that accumulate – presents, of course, but also that Christmas bauble that never got put away last year, leftover Christmas cards, the favourite tablecloth that’s clean and ready to go.
Make your mincemeat. You could do this on Stir-up Sunday (November 26 ) but I like to give it a bit longer to macerate – after all we start eating mince pies long before the pudding has its moment of glory.
Now’s a good time to send out invitations to friends and family to meals or drinks, if you plan to.
Feed the Christmas cake.
Make the Christmas pudding on Stir-up Sunday, as Britons have for generations. The name for the last Sunday before Advent comes from the Collect for the day, “Stir up, we beseech thee oh Lord.”
Make mince pies and freeze them unbaked. To bake, add to the oven still frozen and add an extra five-seven minutes to the cooking time.
Make the red cabbage (and other freeze-ahead bits of the menu such as the stuffing) – although I prefer to leave other veg closer to Christmas).
Feed the Christmas cake again.
Think about your table settings. There’s no need to spend a fortune on new stuff. Dig out all your best glass and china – after all, if you don’t use it now, when will you? I like to include things with a story – the coffee pot we bought on honeymoon, my grandfather’s baby feeding bowl, a silvery platter for satsumas because that’s what my mother always used. Clean any actual silver and wrap it in plastic bags to keep it shiny. Check napkins, the table cloth etc and put them in the Christmas store spot.
Marzipan the Christmas cake.
Make a shopping list, tweak the supermarket delivery order if necessary, and confirm it.
Draw up a time plan for cooking the big meal.
Make a chocolate yule log if that is your cake choice. Sure, a week ahead is quite far, but chocolate cakes generally improve with keeping, and if you choose an oil-based recipe this will be perfect timing.
Ice the Christmas cake.
Prepare the parsnips and any other vegetables that can be frozen, such as purées (cauliflower or beetroot, say) or gratins (celeriac is a good one). Carrots and Brussels sprouts are best cooked fresh on the day.
Buy dry goods and anything with a long shelf life. Ask the greengrocer (if you have one) to reserve a Brussels sprout tree (they always run out).
If you have a frozen turkey, put it in the fridge to defrost – the bottom veg drawer is a good spot.
Buy the fresh fruit and veg, including a couple of bunches of watercress for dressing the turkey or emergency salads.
Stock up on cream and milk.
Make a note of Christmas Eve opening times in case of last-minute shopping needs.
Brine the turkey today or tomorrow.
Get most of the vegetable preparation done: peel the carrots and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. Mix up the herb butter.
Wash and dry the watercress, wrap it loosely in kitchen paper and keep it in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge.
Boil the potatoes, shake them in goose fat and spread in a baking tray. Cover and keep cool (ideally not in the fridge) until tomorrow.
Delegate making the brandy butter.
Make giblet stock and a gravy base.
Get out the slow cooker if you’re using it for the Christmas pudding.
Arrange a drinks tray, and another of the wherewithal to lay the table for Christmas dinner (this makes it much easier to delegate).
Decide what serving dish to use for each bit of the menu – saves rummaging and juggling when you’ve got lots of pans on the go.
Get the cheese out of the fridge and keep in a cool-ish room so they are at the perfect temperature tomorrow.
Take the stuffing and anything else that needs to defrost out of the freezer and put it in the fridge.
Prepare Christmas Day breakfast.
Sit down and have a cup of tea – or something stronger.
The last-minute dasher
Lisa Markwell: I’ve come to love leaving it late
I think it was when I saw a lady in a fur coat and slippers pottering around M&S at about 5pm on December 24 a few years back, looking very relaxed as she popped champagne and smoked salmon in her basket, that I thought “maybe I’m doing Christmas all wrong…”
I’d dashed in to pick up the bread sauce I’d forgotten to buy and freeze some weeks before. But instead of empty shelves and panicking hordes, I found heaps of great quality produce (much of it yellow-ticketed) and very few customers (just one in 10 M&S shoppers leave their big shop until Christmas Eve, the retail giant reports). Your basic dream scenario. So I vowed then and there to do all my Christmas shopping at the last minute.
When it comes to being the main cook for the main event, it’s a game of brinkmanship not to pre-order the turkey or start on the cake in November, but I promise you, it’s OK – it’s a rare retailer that will have run out of food. My family has become accustomed to me being in charge of the menu – lucky them – so know better than to express concern. To be honest, the worst that has happened is that we once had two chickens instead of one turkey (which is a result in my book, as the meat has far more flavour).
Not for me the anxiety about whether or not I get a delivery slot from my preferred grocery; I actually enjoy pushing a trolley around the aisles, Americano in hand, and getting creative, rather than having to haul in crates from my doorstep delivery at 6am or 11pm.
My approach also works for present-buying too. Most retailers mark down items before Christmas (whether to be ready for the doors to open for their Boxing Day sale or because they want to shift seasonal stock in time to bring out new offerings for January).
There’s little you can’t find in a decent sized department store or a high street with a few independent stores – who will be grateful for the last-minute boost to their revenue.
Only when you’ve loaded up the car or dropped everything home make a well-deserved visit to the local pub or wine bar. It should be part of the dasher ritual, but don’t have a pub pit-stop mid-shop – I once did this and ended up losing my well-refreshed partner in a large shop. He’d wandered off and ended up in the window display…
