Christmas Countdown

With just over two weeks to Christmas now is the time to get plans in place to make the day itself as stress free as possible. I've made this easy for you with my Christmas dinner countdown.

Hello all

Gosh, I find it hard to believe that Christmas day is just over two weeks away. One minute, it felt way too early to be mentioning it. The next ……

If you haven’t yet decided what you are making for the main event, then my Christmas Recipes Made Easy should help you. It has everything from drinks and starters to the main course, all the trimmings and dessert.

As with any other roast dinner, the success of Christmas dinner is all down to timing. Each element of a roast dinner is pretty simple in itself but getting the timings right so it all comes together at the end can be a little tricky.

So that's why I always make a simple Christmas day dinner countdown. A little bit of planning goes a long way to help take the stress out of the day.

I put together a post on Recipes Made Easy Christmas Day Dinner Countdown with a full-time plan and lots of hints and tips to make cooking for the big day as easy as possible.

One year I will make the time plan pretty, but for now, it is functional, which is all you need, and it is downloadable from the post as a PDF for you to print out. Of course, your dinner components and the time you want to serve dinner may differ from mine, so just take a little time to tweak the timing to suit you, and you will be good to go.

Cooking times for turkey often err on the side of caution (mine, too), which sometimes results in overcooked, dry meat, so perhaps the best tip I can give you is to invest in a good kitchen thermometer and cook by temperature rather than time. I swear by my Thermopen thermometer and never cook meat or poultry without it.

By ensuring the meat reaches a minimum of 75C, you can be sure that your turkey is fully cooked. Test in the thickest part of the leg and I also test several other places just to be sure. If your turkey is cooked ahead of time, remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and leave in a warm part of the kitchen. The turkey will also benefit from resting out of the oven until you are ready to serve and should rest for at least 30 minutes before carving anyway so some extra time will not hurt.

Once you have a thermometer, you need never overcook meat or poultry again. A few years back I worked on a magazine producing confectionary where a thermometer was essential. After getting through a number of thermometers that either broke or were not accurate enough, the Thermopen was the first that did the job reliably and lasted for the rest of the project. I still use it now which is why it is the one I recommend, but as they would say on the BBC other thermometers are available :)

Until Next time have a delicious week

Christmas Recipes Made Easy

All the recipes you need for Christmas day. From drinks and starters through the main course and all the trimmings to dessert. POlan your perfect Christmas Meal.

Traditional Roast Turkey

Covering the breast of the bird with some streaky bacon will help keep the breast meat from drying out.  Cook at a fairly low temperature, basting frequently and that does the job nicely.

Christmas Day Dinner Countdown

Make life easier on the day with these hints and tips for the perfect stress-free (or as near as possible) traditional Christmas dinner.

Have You Seen?

Traditional Vanilla Fudge - Only Crumbs Remain

Traditional Fudge is the most popular recipe on Only Crumbs Remain at the moment (it makes a great gift). So now that you have a thermometer why not whip up a batch