Getting Ready for Christmas: What to Do the Day Before

Food preparation

• Make space in the fridge before you begin preparing food—you will need somewhere safe to store everything overnight.
• Check that the turkey or other meat is fully defrosted according to the packaging instructions and make a note of its cooking time. You don’t want to be scrabbling around in the bin for that information after it has defrosted!
• Prepare stuffing, pigs in blankets and any meat accompaniments.
• Peel and chop potatoes; keep them submerged in cold water in the fridge.
• Prepare vegetables that store well overnight—carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts and red cabbage.
• Make sauces such as bread sauce, cranberry sauce or gravy stock.
• Assemble desserts, trifles or cheesecakes that benefit from chilling.
• Put drinks in the fridge.
• Arrange serving dishes and label them if necessary—especially helpful when somebody offers to help!
• Check breakfast supplies, snacks, milk, bread, ice and anything needed for Boxing Day.
• Empty the dishwasher and bins so Christmas morning begins with a clear kitchen.
• Write a simple cooking timetable for Christmas Day.

That last one sounds so rigid, and I am fully aware that it isn’t what our mothers necessarily taught us. However, I promise you that by doing something a little differently from how we may have done it before, really good things will come of it.

The next activity is my absolute favourite.

Setting the Christmas table

I would absolutely set it on Christmas Eve if the table isn’t needed beforehand.

• Lay the tablecloth or runner. If it needs a quick iron, now would be the ideal time.
• Position plates, cutlery and glasses.
• Add napkins and place cards. If there are children in the family, they could write or decorate the place cards.
• Put out the crackers.
• Arrange the centrepiece, keeping it low enough for people to see one another. I would even suggest making the centrepiece on a breadboard or something similar. When you need the table space for serving dishes or Pyrex bowls full of delights, it will be easy to remove.
• Add candles, but leave lighting them until just before everyone is seated. If they are scented, bear in mind that some people don’t like scented candles nearby while they are eating.
• Place trivets or heatproof mats where hot dishes will go.
• Decide whether food will be served at the table or from the kitchen.
• Count the chairs and make sure everyone can sit comfortably.
• Keep spare napkins and serving spoons or tongs nearby.
• Have some biodegradable baby wipes and/or paper towels available for drips, spills or sticky hands!

Preparing for guests

Don’t lose sight of what you are about to embark on. Hosting Christmas for friends and family marks a few things in a person’s life. First, you are fortunate enough to be able to do so. Second, you are holding the space for them—and for yourself—to create very special memories. Bear these things in mind as you prepare for their arrival.

• Clear coats and shoes from the entrance and make room for your guests’ belongings. Fighting to enter your home will be tricky if someone has a large bag or suitcase! Temporarily stash your family’s coats, shoes and bags in their rooms, a spare room or a garage, carefully protected in plastic bags.
• Check the downstairs loo: toilet roll, hand soap, a clean hand towel and a bin.
• Put fresh towels out for overnight guests and make sure the bedding is fresh.
• About a week beforehand, check dietary requirements and arrival times.
• Decide where your guests’ gifts will go after they are opened. A plastic stacking box beneath the dining table can work well once everyone has finished eating. Your guests can simply grab the box, load it into the car and know that everything is together.
• Make the main rooms comfortably tidy—not exhaustively perfect. You want it to be easy for people to get around, but not so perfect that nobody can relax because your home feels like a show home. Literally throw “throws” over the arm of a chair or a footstool. Encourage people to scatter the scatter cushions—children love lying on the floor among them.
• Prepare an easy drinks station so people can help themselves. This can be as simple as one or two trays on a windowsill: one with bottles of fizzy drinks and another with a few bowls of snacks.
• Put medicines, private paperwork and fragile items somewhere secure, preferably in your bedroom.
• Check the parking arrangements and give guests any directions they might need. We often send a screenshot from Google Maps showing our home, and sometimes a Street View image with an arrow pointing to us.

The final evening reset

The more you prepare today… the calmer tomorrow will be.

• Put the breakfast things together. Measure out the waffle ingredients—or prepare the mixture if your recipe says it can be refrigerated overnight. You could also pre-cook suitable breakfast items, following their storage and reheating instructions, so they only need heating through in the morning.
• Lay out everyone’s Christmas Day clothes. This is a great habit for the whole family, not just for Christmas Day. Let everyone choose their own… unless, of course, you have bought specific Christmas clothing!
• Charge phones, cameras and children’s devices.
• Check the cooking timetable one final time.
• Sit down, have something warm to drink—or a sneaky glass of wine—and officially declare the preparations finished.