Christmas dinners
Festive food and luxury décor – Latest Interiors has Christmas entertaining sorted
Deck the halls, crack open the mulled wine and maybe even mix a Snowball or two – the most hospitable time of the year is upon us. Most of us will be entertaining, or being entertained, at some point this Christmas. And what will the best hosts and hostesses be giving – and receiving – this year? Latest Interiors opens the wrapping paper to find out…
Seasonal spread
If you’re planning a sumptuous feast this yuletide then, assuming you have all the basics (good sized table; ample, comfortable seating), you could do worse than opt for a big serving of festive luxury. If you have them, bring out the fine tablecloth or purple silk runner, the beautifully pressed napkins, the crystal, and the silver. If not, then dress up whatever you’ve got – this is definitely a year in which we can be excused for wanting to forget all our troubles for a day or two. Light some tall church candles, and add a vase or two of beautiful, pure white flowers.
We love simple white bone china dining ware, but you could opt for an understated gold or silver stripe at Christmas. If you’ve followed our advice in the past (it’s possible) then you will be the proud owner of simple white china dinnerware, but you can go to town and dress it up with gold, crimson or plum napkins, and as many flowers, candles and crackers as you can fit. As for crackers, these are always disappointing if you scrimp, so check the contents list and go for quality if you can. Or buy a make-your-own kit and improvise the contents a little – Gogos Crazy Bones toys for the kids (series four, apparently, is the one to go for), lip-gloss or Lush solid perfume, iPod earphones (very cheap at Amazon, and always useful – who hasn’t had a pair stop working?), Mini-Rubiks cubes and lots of glitter should do the trick. And try forfeits and dares instead of jokes; that usually livens things up.
Compliments to the chef
Looking for something to give the chef in your life? The slow food trend continues to gather strength (slowly?) so you could invest in an eco-friendly slow-cooker and cookbook – from around £20 in most department stores and supermarkets. The year’s eco-theme has bought slow food back into fashion: food that we spend time preparing from scratch, cooking, or even growing ourselves. Grow-your-own herb, fruit or vegetable kits are another good buy, or even a potted fruit tree. Alcohol is always a good choice, too, and if you want something to go with a good bottle, how about two beautiful wine glasses or whiskey tumblers?
How to party
If you’re hosting a party, though, don’t fuss too much about the food. If there’s time to prepare enough canapés, mince pies and roast chestnuts, great. But if slow food isn’t fast enough, bring in the chiller cabinet canapés, or you could even get it catered – it’s not as expensive as you might think. Many local providers offer finger foods from as little as £3 or £4 per person. Likewise, if you haven’t got the kit, you can always hire it – many off-licenses will hire out wineglasses and tumblers, as will local catering companies, for very little dosh. If you book a one-off deep clean for the next day (many cleaning companies now offer this service), you won’t need to worry about the hoovering. And finally, if you’ve any (young-ish) teenagers at home (and they need to be young enough to be bribeable), you could try offering money to get them and a friend to circulate with food plates and top ups. Cheers!
Embossed Leaf Charger £5; Pure Platinum Plate from £5; Champagne flutes £5 each; Embossed Leaf Coaster (set of four) £6; three-tier Crystal Cake Stand £75; Black and Silver Candles (set of seven) £20; all www.bhs.co.uk
