The kitchen is the battle zone of Christmas Day. There’s the juggling of food leading up to it, the manoeuvring around it all on the day itself and then dealing with the aftermath on the days that follow. So, how best do you prepare it for the festive feast? Let us show you the way.
We’re only days away from Christmas but there’s still time to pull up our Christmas stockings, put a cap on the egg-nog and get our shiz together.
Yes, YOU CAN DO IT. Let’s put our most organised foot forward this Christmas!
Organisation is KEY, guys. via GIPHY
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Before Christmas Day
Be mindful of how much food you are buying in your grocery shopping in the lead up to Christmas Day. You want to make as much space as possible in your fridge and pantry by using up ingredients you have to make room for the extra food you will need to store at Christmas. Remember, a ham takes up a LOT of room.
Get creative with your meals in an effort to clear some space instead of throwing food out. Random salads and cold meat plates are perfectly acceptable at this time of year!
Plan ahead
Food waste at this time of the year is HUGE. Mainly because we are buying more than we need and over catering. Make a menu and plan for how many guests you are hosting.
Rarely do we have too little food at Christmas time. In fact, we usually have a lot of leftovers. So write a Christmas menu (don’t forget the bread rolls and cranberry sauce) and STICK TO IT.
Write a grocery list
Take your Christmas menu and work out EXACTLY what you’re going to need to buy. When shopping for your Christmas meal, come prepared with the grocery list so you don’t overbuy or miss important items like drinks and napkins.
Sometimes simple can be spectacular
It’s really easy to get caught up in the festive hype. We want everyone to have their favourite salad or dessert and before you know it we have enough food to feed the whole street. Pick just a few of your favourite recipes using fresh, in-season produce and let them shine. There’s less waste, less prep and it will save you money!
Prepare as much as possible in advance
Think about what you can do in advance to save you time on the day. No one wants to be stuck in the kitchen all day. With clever planning, you too can be enjoying a beverage in the sun. Yay!
Things that can be prepared in advance:
- Potato bakes can be made up to the point where they’re ready to cook, the day before. Just keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it.
- If roasting vegetables, peel and cut them the night before and keep them in the fridge.
- Set up your cheeseboard the night before and keep it in the fridge. Just add biscuits on the day.
- Prep your salad dressings in labelled jars the day before.
- Pavlova shell can be baked up to a week before and kept in an airtight container.
- Whip cream for the pavlova the day before and keep it in the fridge.
- Find all the salad bowls, salad servers and glassware you want to use and set them aside a couple of days beforehand. No need to hunt around in cupboards for them on the day.
- Set up an Esky outside for cold drinks. This will save your fridge being opened 100 times on Christmas day.
- For Christmas breakfast, make pancake batter the night before or prefill your croissants so they’re ready to go in the oven Christmas morning.
If you need more incentive to get you started before the day, remember if you cook in advance you can clean in advance. There’s no constant cleaning of the kitchen throughout Christmas Day which means you can have a guilt-free post-lunch nap too. Brilliant!
Mitsubishi Electric Australia understands that the kitchen is the heart of the home and encourages Australians to cook with the freshest of ingredients. As the Mitsubishi Electric Ambassador, Ed highlights how Aussies can cook and create but still enjoy the feel of the holidays.
