Isn't Christmas brilliant? The food (obviously) is the main event for me. here are some of the things I love about christmas..

eating stilton with quince paste, ferrerro rocher, the glass of sherry whilst peeling sprouts, the smell of roasting chestnuts, the first satsuma of the season, christmas pudding, drinking mulled wine on Christmas eve, sprouts with everything, roasted parsnips, homemade cranberry sauce (with orange juice and thyme), making christmassy chutney in November, grating orange rind into pastry for making mince pies, eating cold meat and cheeses on boxing day, buck fizz with the pressies, porridge for breakfast with honey, Whittards Chistmas tea, cracking nuts in the afternoon whilst watching some old film or children's animation, walking off the stuffed feeling at twilight, having a curry at some point after the 26th to re awaken the taste buds, sneaking rubbishy sweets from children's collections like smarties and toffee crisps, listening to Carol's from Kings whist prepping veg etc on Christmas eve.

Top Tips for Christmas culinary serenity

1. don't cook something you haven't made before unless you don't mind if it all goes wrong!

2. Don't try to accommodate everyone's tastes or you'll go mad, just make enough variety and let people have as much or as little as they want

3. Don't drink too much champagne whilst cooking the lunch - fatal!

4. Make a time plan of when things are cooked in relation to each other. Sounds anal but save the sprouts being soogy/ pudding being not ready until 4 hours after the main course, roast vegetables burning before meat is cooked through etc etc etc

5. Don't take it too seriously. It's only glorified Sunday lunch!

Chestnut & apple stuffing balls

We are having pheasant this year - how about you? I am almost delirious with the idea of Christmas food. We made a long shopping list yesterday as a family - everyone's needs and foibles must be accommodated. The drinks list was a bit scary, but we decided that we are all now officially too old for champagne in the morning as we used to do - we can't take the pace! I am going to embrace my inner child and have a Snowball though, which I was allowed one of each Christmas, once I was about ten years old or so. One year,dad bought glace cherries in red, orange and green and we had traffic light style garnishes to our snowballs - yes, I was a sophisticated child and no mistaking it!

Anyhow, to go with the pheasant that me and my husband will be eating and the turkey that everyone else will be eating, I will be making these stuffing balls. Perfect for Maggie and all other Coeliacs and the people with wheat intolerances!


1 red onion, finely chopped
grated zest of 1 orange
25g butter
120g cooked rice (cook it badly so it's sticky!)
2 apples peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks (Braeburns or Cox’s are good for this as they have the requisite level of sharpness to sweet)
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage (or 2tsp dried if you can't find fresh)
100g chopped chestnuts (buy them ready done if you must! roasting your own is much more fun. official.
50g pine nuts, toasted and bashed up slightly
2 free range eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180C/350F or Gas 4

Gently sweat the onion and orange zest in the butter for 10 minutes. Don’t allow to colour if possible

Add the onion mixture to the other ingredients. Use eggs to bind – add slowly as you might not need it all, it shouldn’t be too sticky, just enough so it clags together.

Roll into balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Cook for 20 - 25 minutes or until brown. Shake the tray once in a while to move them round. Gorgeous. Wrap bacon round them if you must, but I'd prefer it if you didn't.... ;-) Enjoy!