Christmas Crowd Control

The husband laughs at my obsessive list writing, but I have to write lists as my brain is like a sieve. Writing lists gives the illusion of being organised, even though I am apt to loose my notebook. Of course Christmas is the perfect excuse for indulging in lists – especially when it comes to food. Planning christmas meals and writing shopping lists gives me a fighting chance that with a bit of luck I won’t forget the bread sauce, and I’ll only buy what we need.

A fortnight’s food…

I start by writing down what we need for the big one – Christmas lunch. Then I work out who’s coming to stay and what other meals I’ll need to provide. We tend to throw a party the week before Christmas and have people over for New Year, so I plan for those evenings as well. Then I fill in the gaps – a bit like joining up the dots – using leftovers and items from the store cupboard and freezer, until I have the whole fortnight’s food pretty much sewn up.

My extended store cupboard…

I treat my freezer as an extension to my store cupboard, only much colder. I’ve been buying a little bit for Christmas each week, already i have cocktail sausages, streaky bacon, sausagemeat and puff pastry in the freezer. Stocking up now means any unannounced visitors will be easy to cater for and they’ll be terribly impressed by how organised I am! (As long as I don’t lose my lists…)