Christmas Hacks
Sophie Lombardi
Just to clarify that this post will not include instructions on how to turn a strawberry into a Father Christmas Petits Four or any other crafty festive tips. I thought it might be a good idea to think about how to host Christmas when you are short on time, dosh and want to do things as sustainably as possible. This year my husband arrives home at 4am on Christmas morning, just in time to help me prepare for a large lunch for thirteen. Needless to say there will be no knitted nativity scene or seventeen ingredient turkey stuffing. These are some of things we plan on doing so no one gets murdered and we aren’t too broke in boring, sober Veganuary.
Decorations
Nice decorations cost an arm and a leg. In recent years I have got my children to choose one special tree decoration each, with the idea that they will build up a collection that they can keep when they are older for their own grown up trees. I wish I had started this tradition earlier, as their choices may have included fluffy llamas and party daschunds instead of the sparkly Big Macs and poo emoji decorations that their tweenage hearts desire.
I am planning to head to the woods with secateurs shortly before Christmas to hack down some branches and pick up pine cones. These will be interspersed with twinkly fairy and tea lights and dotted around the house in vases, on the table and over the mantlepiece. Little springs of foliage can be used to top presents and napkins for ultimate glossy mag showing off.
Beware of the Chocolate Port
At this time of year the supermarket aisles are full of novelty festive drinks and snacks. Candy Cane liqueur with your gin and pork kettle chips anyone? Unless you are someone who regularly loves to shake up a crazy cocktail, I would give the festive drinks section a wide berth, or you will be left with lots of sticky bottles to house for another year. Stick to the basics and for a big party go for a nice red and white wine, fizz and beer.
Chocolate and The Cheeseboard
A well put together cheeseboard can actually take the place of a entire meal. The advantages are that you don’t really need to lay the table properly and there is minimal preparation. Lots of the budget supermarkets have a great cheese selection and you just need to pick out a selection of hard, blue and soft cheeses. Pad out the cheeseboard with lots of biscuits, sourdough, figs, cranberries, pates, nuts and fruit for a very delicious meal of sorts.
Likewise present your guests with a gorgeous selection of chocolate bars instead of making puddings. There are so many fancy flavours out there, Chocolarders ‘Gold Frankensence and Myr’r and Montezumas ‘Nutmeg Milk Chocolate’ are the swizzle. For an alternative to sherades with Granny you can always play guess the truffle… hours of fun….
Wrapping Up
Before the kids, I used to enjoy wrapping up. These days I have to hide myself away from the curious beasties and spend ages wrapping everything up only for it to be decimated twenty four hours later. This year I intend to save myself and the planet the bother, and use bags and scarves as wrapping. Brown paper and coloured string will be used for other gifts and this can be tossed straight onto the fire.
Blimey, there’s so much to think about but blink and it’ll be mid January and everyone will be talking about the latest mung bean diet. I hope you all enjoy the run up to Christmas; for me this is the best bit as spirits are high with anticipation, the lights are twinkly and you can eat mince pies whenever you like.
Enjoy,
Sophie x
