My tips – plan it well. Do as much shopping as you can right now, not two days beforehand.

Abandon unrealistic menus that would be achievable if you had three kitchen-hands and a refrigerator twice the size of the one you own. Just because it is Christmas most people can still only eat the same quantity of food as the day before. And the shops do not close for a month – maybe 2-3 days at most. There is a Christmas Day menu in my book The Cook’s Table with a rather fancy stuffed duck galantine (see above) which can be completed several days before Christmas Day. And this book includes enjoyable menus for different occasions and each one has a timetable intended to remove the stress.

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