What's on your Christmas food shopping list?

First of all you could make a list of all the kinds of dishes you want to serve over the Christmas period. Then you could go through the ones you choose for lunch and dinner and start creating a list for the ingredients. This is an easy way for you to keep organised. Having a Christmas menu planned for yr meals at home and when you are entertaining can take away a lot of the pressure of deciding what to eat a few weeks beforehand.

You can also order all the drinks you need and decide what to drink for each meal.

And you can buy food items which are either packaged or frozen earlier on and keep them on your freezer or storage cupboard. For example you can buy biscuits and crackers, crisps and nuts before fresh meat and vegetables. Plus you can get all the ingredients for sauces and salad dressings ready. For example, you can buy seasoning and herbs which keep for ages anyway.

You can decide which items you want to freeze or buy frozen, for example, you may like to buy frozen pizzas and chips and some starter dishes which you cook from frozen. Or you can buy your food fresh, then prepare and freeze them so they are ready to be marinated and cooked.

Here are some ideas for dishes for meals over the Christmas and New Year period.

Roast turkey
Chicken kiev
Rice with beef stroganoff
Baked potatoes
Beef bourginion
Baked salmon
Roast pork with crackling
Leg of lamb
Roast chicken
Roast beef
Lasagne
Moussaka
Cheese and tomato pasta
Sausage stuffing
Roast potatoes
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower cheese
Carrots and peas

Here are some ideas for canapés

Cocktail sausages
Mini spring rolls
Mini samosas
Cucumber and salmon sandwiches
Cheese and tomato sandwiches
Ritz crackers and cream cheese
Vol au vaunts cheese or cheese and ham
Olives
Celery, carrot, cucumber sticks with dips and breadsticks

Here are some Starter ideas

Smoked salmon and salad

Avocado and prawns

Cream Cheese, salad and biscuits

Fried squid rings

Fried whitebait

Small cod fish bake with white sauce

Garlic mushrooms

Meatballs in tomato sauce

Parma ham and melon

Chicken Ceasar salad

Some deserts

Chocolate gateau

Mini chocolate Eclair's

Apple pie

Trifle

Cheesecake

Christmas pudding

Mince pies

Chocolate log

Ice cream

Cheese and biscuits

And dont forget the sauces

Double cream

Brandy butter

Cranberry sauce or jelly

Bread sauce

White wine sauce

Cheese sauce

Apple sauce

Gravy

Chocolate and Toffee sauces

Here are some ideas.

Red and white wine

Champagne

Port

Sherry

Brandy

Whiskey, Rum, Gin

Mulled wine

Non alcoholic fruit and berry warm punch

Egg nog

Tropical and orange fruit juices

Bottled water

Soft fizzy drinks

Will you cook your own food?

If you do then you have to make a good shopping list with all the ingredients you need to buy beforehand so you don't forget anything.

If someone else is cooking for you will they be cooking in their own kitchen or restaurant or coming to your house to cook?

Christmas Eve

Beef stroganoff

Vegetable lasagne

Mixed salad

French bread

Baked potatoes with beans and cheese sauce

Fried whitebait

Cauliflower cheese

Vegetable Rice

Christmas Day

Traditional Christmas dinner with roast turkey, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots and peas. With bread sauce, stuffing, cranberry jelly and gravy followed by Christmas pudding and apple pie with cream or ice cream, cheese and biscuits, mince pies. Also with a pasta dish, rice and cauliflower cheese

Boxing Day

Turkey from day before

Chicken Kiev

Brussel Sprouts

Roast lamb

Fish pie

Pasta with mushrooms, leeks and white wine sauce

Mixed salad

Turkey Pie

Lasagne

Baked Potatoes