Delia Smith: My love of Christmas
Just before Christmas, I will spend a day doing the last-minute shopping and preparation, for instance, some uncooked pastry tart cases to stick in the freezer (for leftovers), a stock of good bread and rolls, extra butter, milk and so on. On Christmas Eve, we cook a large collar of bacon for supper - the rest will last us a week to serve cold with slices of cold turkey and pickles or in sandwiches.
I then religiously follow my own last 36 hours step-by-step "what am I supposed to be doing now" scenario, which becomes more vital as I get older and more forgetful. On Christmas morning, the turkey goes into the oven before I go to early mass, the family arrive at 12.30 and we all have one heck of a glorious feast at approximately 2.00pm.
And then the work is ended, the house is full of food and wine, and the holiday begins. For us, it will include two football matches and more celebration (we hope!). I also think it is important to get out for one meal over the holiday, which in our case is a lunch with friends in our brilliant local pub: no clearing, no washing up, just back home for a movie or a game of Scrabble. On New Year's Eve, we invite friends for a quiet supper - we're far too old now for revelry, but it will still be a great celebration with lots of wine, and a glass of malt whisky to see the New Year in, along with Jools Holland and co.
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