Today we will have a look at a selection of starters that you might want to consider for Christmas.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 275g/10oz button mushrooms
• 1tbsp sunflower oil
• 40g/1.5oz butter
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1tbsp plain flour
• 450ml vegetable stock
• 450ml milk
• dried basil
• 3tbsp single cream
• Fresh basil leaves and salt and pepper

Discard mushroom stalks and finely slice the caps.  Heat the oil and half the butter in a heavy based saucepan and add the chopped onion and sliced mushrooms. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, then cover saucepan with a lid and cook gently for 6 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the flour and cook for about 1 minute.  Gradually add the stock and milk while stirring and then add the dried basil, season with salt and pepper.  Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for 15 minutes.  Allow the soup to cool slightly and then poor into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

If are making the soup in advance it can be frozen at this stage.  On Christmas Eve remove from the freezer and put it in the fridge overnight.  The next day heat it until it is very hot, but not boiling.  Add salt and pepper to taste, add the single cream, ladle the soup into warmed bowls and garnish with basil leaves.  This recipe serves four people.

Grilled Brie and Walnuts

• 1tbsp butter at room temperature
• 1tsp Dijon mustard
• a wheel of Brie Cheese – size depends on how many people there are
• 25g/1oz chopped walnuts
• French bread or toast

Pre-heat the grill.  In a small bowl cream together the butter and Dijon mustard and spread evenly over the surface of the cheese.  Transfer the cheese to a flameproof serving plate and grill 12-15cm/4-6in from the heat for 3-4 minutes until the top just begins to bubble.  Sprinkle the surface with the walnuts and grill for 2-3 minutes longer until the nuts are golden.  Serve immediately with French bread or toast.  Have sharp knife handy, as the cheese is quite sticky.

Farmhouse Pate

• 8 slices rindless streaky bacon
• 2 175g/6oz chicken breasts
• 225g/8 oz chicken livers
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• half  tsp salt
• half tsp ground black pepper
• 1tsp anchovy essence
• 1tsp ground mace
• 1tbsp chooped fresh oregano
• 75g/3oz fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp brandy
• 150ml chicken stock
• 2 tsp gelatine
• strips of pimento and black olives to garnish

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3.  Press the bacon slices flat with a knife to stretch them slightly.  Line the base and sides of a dish with bacon.  Place the chicken breasts and livers, onion and garlic into a food processor and process until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, anchovy essence, mace, oregano, breadcrumbs, egg and brandy and process until smooth.  Put the mixture in the dish and then cover with a double thickness of foil and stand it in a roasting tin.  Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the tin.  Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour or until firm.  Remove the foil to let the steam escape and then place a weight on top of the dish to flatten until cool.

Pour the juices from the dish into a measuring jug and add enough chicken stock to make 150ml.  Bring to the boil in a pan.  Blend the gelatine with 2 tbsp water and pour into the stock while stirring.  Allow to cool.  Garnish the cold pate and spoon the gelatine mixture over the top.  Chill until set, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge or freezer.

There you have three starters, two of which can be made well in advance and all three are very easy to make.  In my next post we will deal with the main course and have a look at some different recipes for your Christmas dinner.

As today is the last day of November it is time to finalise the Christmas list and, hopefully, start ticking off things you have already done.  If you have not yet made your Christmas cake it might be a good idea to plan it for this weekend, which would mean there is still plenty of time left to let it mature and feed it with a little brandy, before the almond paste and icing go on.

If you are having guests for Christmas you should start planning the menu for the Christmas dinner and, most importantly, check whether any of your guests have any food allergies or whether anyone is vegetarian.  There will be some Christmas menu suggestions in my next post.  Once you have planned the menu you should order your turkey, goose, meat or ham.  That way you will just be able to pick it up a couple of days before Christmas.  I find if you don’t order your meat in advance it is a mad scramble and you rarely get what you want.

As tomorrow is the first day in December you will want to start thinking about Christmas decorations.  These days a lot of people like to put up their Christmas tree at the beginning of December – that is fine if you are having an artificial tree.  If you prefer a real pine or fir tree you should not bring it indoors until a week before Christmas, so that it will look it’s best for the festivities.  You can buy your real tree at the beginning of December and stand it outside in a bucket of water until you are ready to bring it indoors.  If the weather keeps fine and you live close to woodlands you could take the family for a walk and gather some pine cones and fallen twigs for some natural decorations.

If you have not yet bought your Christmas cards you should do it this weekend.  The beginning of December usually means there are a number of Christmas fairs and events and there are good opportunities for some Christmas shopping.  If you’ve not done it already, make a list of who to send Christmas cards too and get them written this weekend, maybe while having a glass of mulled wine and some Christmas music in the background.

There are many different versions of the traditional Christmas cake and this year I’m making an Irish Whiskey Christmas cake.  The beauty of this cake is that you soak all the dried fruit in whiskey which gives the cake an amazing flavour and texture and it is really easy to make, even for a complete beginner.

For the pre-soaking

• 275ml (10 fl oz) Irish Whiskey
• 1.5 tsp Angostura bitters
• 110g (4oz) stoned no-soak prunes
• 50g (2oz) glace cherries
• 50g (2oz)  unblanched almonds
• 100g (4oz) mixed candied peel
• 450g (1lb) raisins
• 200g (8oz) currants
• 1.5 teaspons each of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground cloves
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp molasses sugar
• grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

Although the traditional Advent decoration is a wreath, it is not necessary to stick to this and you can make your arrangement in a number of shapes.  The easiest way is to use florists foam which you soak in water and this will keep any greenery nice and fresh.  You can use fir tree branches or even the clippings of your conifer hedge, but if you can get your hands on some fruiting ivy, it lends itself particularly well as it is bendy and the dark berries, once gilded, look fantastic.

To make the Advent Centrepiece

• 1 florist’s foam brick
• plate
• 4 candles
• bunch of fruiting ivy or other greenery
• picture framer’s gilt wax or gold spray
• fine wire
• wire cutters
• 10 dried Chinese lanterns (winter cherries)

Soak the florist’s foam brick in water and place it on a plate.  Now carefully push the candles into the foam at equal distances.

Cut the fruiting ivy stems to size and push them into the foam.  Guild the berries with picture framer’s gilt wax, if you don’t have guilt wax you can use gold spray, but you need to do this carefully and it should be done before you place the fruiting ivy in the foam.

Pass a wire through the base of each Chinese lantern and then twist the ends together.  Push the twisted wire ends into the foam base.  If you do not have Chinese lanterns you can substitute pine cones, either gilded with wax or gold spray.

That’s it done – you now have a fantastic, unique Advent centrepiece that would have cost a lot of money to buy.  It is up to you what colour candles you choose, but white or gold would look stunning in this arrangement.

A slice of Stollen (German Christmas cake) is a must, especially if you are there for the Stollen Festival, which is held each year. Echoing past times, when the local princes gave slices of the cake to the poor, a four tonne Stollen is paraded through the town to the market, taking in some of Dresden’s best sight along the way: the Baroque Zwinger Palace, the Semper Opera House and the newly restored Frauenkirche (the Church of Our Lady).

In Copenhagen the annual Christmas market is held at the Tivoli amusement park. Packed with Christmas trees and shimmering with over half a million lights, the setting couldn’t be more enchanting and there is plenty to keep you busy. Work up an appetite with a morning’s browsing around the many colourfully painted stalls, snapping up wooden dolls, Royal Copenhagen porcelain, carved Danish pixies and locally produced arts and crafts. By then you will be ready for your share of cinnamon biscuits, candied apples, hot apple dumplings and a good draft of glogg, a potent mix of mulled wine, spices and liquor. There are many fairground rides and the children will love the models of Santa’s helpers, making gifts, wrapping them and playing in the snow. With moving parts and details, these tableaux are among the most popular attractions.

With white fairy lights illuminating the cobbled streets and a dusting of snow on the city’s Gothic spires, Krakow is a magical place at Christmas. The market on Rynek Glowny, Europe’s largest medieval square, is quite bewitching. The air is full of the aromas of grilled kielbasa (Polish sausage) and fried oscypek (smoked cheese), while whafts of mulled wine lure shoppers towards the wooden barrels dotted around the square.

Shop at the vibrant stalls for woollen slippers from the mountains, amber jewellery from the Baltic and delicious gingerbread. Leave yourself time to visit the 16th Century Cloth Hall. Dividing the main square, this is crammed with booths selling all manner of delicate wood carvings, chess sets and classic blue and white spotted Boleslawiec pottery.

The Christmas market is Bath nestles between the Roman Baths and the gloriously illuminated Abbey. The steam from the Baths seems to wrap itself around the Roman statues, the fragrances of mulled wine and mince pies mingle in the air and more than 100 wooden chalets offer Christmas gifts. From embroidered table linen and handcrafted ceramics to Russian dolls. There are quality goods to be had here, as many of the city’s established shops take stalls.

Visiting the Christmas markets is a lovely way to get into the Christmas spirit. You can get your Christmas gifts and presents all in one place while having a lovely day out, or even a mini-break if you are visiting one of the markets abroad.

One of the reasons why I’m starting extra early this year is the fact that last December we had heavy falls of snow which resulted in deliveries being delayed and some of my Christmas gifts did not arrive until after Christmas. As my children are now grown up it wasn’t a big deal, but imagine how disappointing it would have been for small children not to have their presents in time for Christmas.

While I hear plenty of moans about the internet and modern life I always think it makes my life a lot more easy – take today, rather than shopping in town, getting wet, I can stay at home and shop in front of the computer and let someone else take the strain. Another advantage is that I can check the prices of the goods I want to buy in a number of shops and thereby ensuring that I get the best deal. Books, CDs and DVDs are perfect for buying online and, if you are really pressed for time, Amazon will even gift wrap them for you and they will arrive ready to put under the tree. Obviously, there is a charge for this service and it would be a lot cheaper to buy your own wrapping paper and do it yourself. I usually set aside an afternoon, play some festive music and maybe have some tea and cake or some mulled wine and mince pies and wrap the Christmas presents, it really gets you in the mood for the festive season.

I used to struggle every year wondering what to buy for everyone, trying to figure out what they might like to find under the tree on Christmas morning, now I ask everyone to make a list and then take my pick. This way everyone gets the Christmas presents they would really like rather than something they stick in the back of the cupboard and forget about.

When serving the Christmas pudding you can create an extra bit of drama by bringing it to the table whole, covering it in a couple of tablespoons of hot brandy and then lighting it.  Don’t worry, it won’t burn the pudding.

Christmas Pudding

100g (4oz) dried apricots, roughly chopped

150g raisins or sultanas

200g (8oz)stoned dates, finely chopped

50g (2oz)glace cherries, halved

50g (2oz)candied ginger, roughly chopped

50g (2oz)luxury mixed candied peel, roughly chopped

50g (2oz)fresh white breadcrumbs

grated zest of 1 orange

100ml (4fl oz) rum

75g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

75g (3oz) dark muscovado sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

75g (3oz) self-raising flour, sifted

1tsp mixed spice

1tsp ground cinnamon

100g (4oz) blanched almonds, roughly chopped

fresh currants and icing sugar to garnish.

Soak the dried fruit and breadcrumbs overnight in a large bowl with the orange zest and juice, and the rum.

The following day, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Slowly beat in the egg, a little at a time, until combined.  Fold in the soaked fruit and remaining ingredients.

Lightly butter a 1ltr (1.75pt) pudding basin and fill with the prepared mixture.  Cover with a double layer of buttered foil, making a pleat in the centre to allow the pudding to rise.  Tie string tightly around the rim of the basin to secure the foil.

Place in a saucepan and pour in water so that it comes halfway up the sides of the bowl.  Cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 3 hours.  If necessary, top up the water during cooking.  Remove the pan from the heat and leave uncovered for 15 minutes.  When cool enough to handle, remove the foil and cool on a wire rack.  Cover with clingfilm and foil and store in the fridge.

To re-heat, cover with foil and steam for 45 minutes, or cover with clingfilm and microwave on full power for 5 minutes.  Turn out and garnish with holly, fresh currants and icing sugar.  Serve with brandy butter, custard or cream.

Everything is in the preparation and there is still plenty of time to get everything done.  If you are making your own Christmas pudding this year you should now be starting to get the ingredients together and I would advise you make it in the next couple of weeks to give it a chance to really mature.  Many people in England stick to the old tradition of making the Christmas pudding on ‘Stir-up-Sunday’, which is the last Sunday before Advent, but I prefer to make mine earlier.  The traditional English Christmas cake can wait a little longer and I tend to make mine the first weekend in December, not adding the icing and almond paste until about a week before.

Christmas shoppers range from those that are ultra-organised and start thinking about Christmas gifts in July and have everything bought and wrapped by the second week in November to those who dash out of the house in a flat panic on Christmas Eve, looking for the perfect present.  Something in between would probably be good.  These days life is made a lot easier for us and we can shop on the internet and there is a lot to be said for it, especially if you are working or a busy Mum.  But there is something wonderful about Christmas shopping in town, especially if the weather is cold and crisp and the towns and shops are full of decorations, it really puts you in the mood for the festivities.

During the next few weeks I will share some of my favourite Christmas recipes here and put up information on Christmas markets, shopping for presents and food.  How to decorate the house without breaking the bank, how to keep children amused while you get on with things and most of all how to stay sane and enjoy the festive season.