10 Easy Christmas Cheats

10 Easy Christmas Cheats

Can’t face a load of late night cooking in the run up to Christmas? Check out our top ten festive cheats to make last minute entertaining, a doddle.

• Booze It Up
  Add a ‘homemade’ feel to jarred mincemeat and cranberry sauce by spiking them with a drop of port or whiskey.

• Make The Deli Your Friend
  If you are likely to have lots of visitors over the Christmas period then load up on cured meats, marinated veggie and stinky cheeses so that you can whip up an antipasti board at a moment’s notice.

• Freezer Finds
  There are lots of great canapés to be found in the freezer aisle at this time of year. Go for veggie based ones in filo pastry and ignore the dipping sauce that comes with. Instead, serve with a homemade sauce of soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil and a good grating of ginger.

• Forget Homemade Pastry
  If pastry making makes you nervous, opt for readymade, all butter puff – it is just as good as homemade and is the basis of everything from cheese twists to turkey and ham pie.

• Get Prepared
  Don’t get all sentimental over Brussels Sprouts that come on the stem – buy them ready prepared and fling the straight into boiling water from their packaging. If you are stuck for time, buy peeled and chopped vegetables to save you the hassle.

• Go Artisan When It Comes To Trimmings
  Look to a good local supplier for homemade goodies like brandy butter and homemade gravy. Look for tinned chestnut purée instead of fresh and make sure you have a good supply of top-notch mustards and relishes to get you through the next few weeks.

• Cheat To Warm Plates
  No room in the oven to warm plates for Christmas dinner? Put them in the dishwasher set to finish just before you eat and enjoy piping hot plates with ease!

• Make Foil Your Friend
  Festive cooking can get messy. Buy foil trays that fit into your real ones and can be thrown away once the cooking is done!

• Embrace Your Weakness
  If there are things you don’t enjoy cooking then it’s not going to change at Christmas time, so outsource it! For example, trifle can be assembled using fresh supermarket custard, Madeira cake and readymade jelly – it will taste delicious!

• Ice, ice, baby
  Freeze grapes for an easy and super pretty addition to glasses of Prosecco, and use to chill cocktails without the need for homemade ice cubes!