How to have a Christmas Dinner without tears

Many people have never cooked Christmas dinner before, lots of people rely on their local Tesco or M&S to prepare it for them so that they can then do the difficult job of turning on the oven. Why not make your own Christmas dinner - think of the satisfaction you will get!

1. Distract your guests

Play family games like Charades or bring out Yahtzee in between courses so guests won't notice if your turkey is taking 5 hours to cook. 

2. Don't put too much pressure on yourself

Pick recipes that you can make in advance of Christmas Day. This will help you avoid having to get up at 4am in the morning to cook! Our favourite is spicy red cabbage which only needs to be heated up on the day.

3. Tin foil is your hero 

Use tinfoil to cut down on all the washing up. It will save you a lot of time. 

4. Forget about boiling
Again, tin foil comes in handy here. Wrap your vegetables in tin foil and roast them in the oven. This saves on more washing up!

5. Re-use old decorations
Got some old gift tags you bought last Christmas? Write your guests' names on them and turn them into festive place settings. Turn it into a puzzle by jumbling up everyone's names so they have to figure out where they are sitting. Great idea if some of your guests haven't met before.

6. Get rid of the old, make room for the new
Rid your fridge and freezer from all those out of date products you've been hiding for months. You'll have more room for all your festive food and won't need to panic about your fridge being too full.

7. Invest in a thermometer
Buy a food thermometer to make sure your food is cooked. It saves you having to ruin your perfect turkey as you won't be cutting it up to make sure it's not raw. The last thing you want is to make everyone ill especially if you only have one toilet!

8. Delegate jobs
Usually people want to help out at Christmas so they don't feel like they are being a nuisance so make good use of this and get people to help out. Whether it's washing a few plates, setting the table or putting food out, people will be happy to help especially if you are doing all the cooking.

But most importantly smile and relax! Make sure you're full of Christmas cheer and not a Scrooge!