Christmas Day is one of those occasions that should be fun but can quickly become swallowed up by the stress of prepping the dinner and fitting the rest of the day around it. However, according to Kirstie Allsopp, a lot of this stress can be avoided by moving the time of your Christmas dinner later in the day.
After hosting Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas on Channel 4 every year since 2014, there isn't much Kirstie doesn't know about hosting a brilliant Christmas party. However, speaking to Ideal Home she explained that her top tip for Christmas Day is to relax those all-important meal timings.
'My first piece of advice is, if you are a 1pm family, move to 6pm,' Kirstie explains. 'That's my top, top, top, top, tip. I came from a 1pm family, and Ben [my partner] is a 6pm family, and it's a complete game changer.'
Kirstie wisely points out that a later dinner means you have fewer meals to worry about on the day. 'You have a good breakfast. Then you have a light snack if someone's hungry. But you can basically do brunch, and then the Christmas Dinner.'
'If you do this thing at 1pm you hurtle through the day to get to this point, then everyone's stuffed. Then you're rushing to clear up before the King comes on the telly, and then what do you do with the rest of the day?'
'It's much nicer when the preparation is slower. You could do the stockings, you can do everything, and then you go from there.'
Coming from a 2pm Christmas Dinner family myself, I know firsthand the chaotic rush of getting things ready. I've set alarms for 6am to smother turkeys in butter and while everyone sat around drinking Buck's Fizz I've dashed around boiling and chopping vegetables.
One trick I've used to make the day easier is cooking as much food as possible in advance, reheating it in the oven and best air fryer. However, following Kirstie's advice I plan to move my Christmas dinner later this year to make the morning a more leisurely occasion.
Kirstie's Handmade Christmas is all about using different crafts to sprinkle some extra magic onto the festivities and doing things that you enjoy at this time of year. Enjoyment lies at the heart of Kirstie's whole festive ethos and she reminds us that it should be a restful day for you to enjoy. So, while she's happy to dive into Christmas table decorating ideas, Kirstie explains that she feels passionately that there should be no Christmas pressure.
'At Christmas, you should do what you enjoy and what you're good at,' she says. Whether that's crafting, decorating or cooking, lean into the skill you have and don't fret about everything being perfect on the day.
The new series of Kirstie's Handmade Christmas is on Channel 4 this week. You can catch up on all episodes on Channel 4 streaming.
Last minute Christmas kit
Stock up on an extra box of extra wide foil, so you're not caught short when wrapping your turkey up.
