As everyone is well aware, Christmas should be a time of celebration, happiness and family bonding. However, the people responsible for preparing the Christmas meal often do not get a chance to feel the festive joy and sometimes stress levels can go through the roof. Having to make sure portions are correct, everything finishes cooking at exactly the same time, and keeping it all warm are just some of the challenges. Lets take a look at some effective ways to reduce Xmas meal time stress.

Prepare Food Early. Believe it or not, a great deal of the Christmas meal can be prepared earlier than day or even the day before. All the vegetables can be cooked hours in advance and then simply kept in cold water until you serve the food up. Just drop the veg in some hot water for 2-3 mins and it will be as if they were cooked right then. If you have a microwave you can make your sauces up early doors and then just heat them up again with a bit of added water when you need them. Dont try this with the potatoes or turkey however, as these dont taste so good reheated.

Lay Table Early. This can be done at the very beginning of the day and saves a lot of hassle. You can lay all the place settings, cutlery and champagne flutes as long as you know how many people you are expecting. You can even place the crackers in position and add decorations such as poinsettias in glass vases.Making sure everything is in place and everyone has everything they need early on saves people complaining they haven’t been given a fork or napkin later on.

Self Serve. By having dishes in the kitchen that people can serve themselves from, you can spare everyone (including yourself) a lot of hassle. This allows for much more room at the dinner table as its not taken up with serving dishes, and people can choose exactly what they want to eat, without grandma loading your plate up with sprouts. Its advisable to keep the wine glasses on the table however as trying to juggle food and drink never ends well.