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WELCOME
It’s time to save Christmas. It’s not
cancelled, as some have been saying, and we need radical
action this month to rev up good cheer and give us a
glow to look forward to. That means setting pleasurable
leisure time aside to plan and imagine the food we’re
going to cook for the people who can sit around our table.
It also means setting time aside for acts of kindness.
Here’s a positive thought for you: I’d say the best Christmas lunch I ever
had was when there were, unexpectedly, only six people around our table
rather than the usual 10 or 12. If you’re the person in the kitchen (and all
too often it’s only one person bearing the brunt of the work), it can be
exhausting cooking for a large gathering. On the day I’m remembering with
a glow (I don’t think my spectacles are rose-tinted), I wasn’t tired because I
hadn’t stayed up until 2am doing endless prep. The oven wasn’t overcrowded
and full of too much steam, which meant the potatoes were the crispest and
fluffiest they’d ever been. We opened presents together, without one person
missing in kitchen action. Best of all, the conversation flowed, with
everyone involved in the same lively chatter and the over-80 grandma at the
table able to hear for once (less of the usual Bourdeaux family hubbub).
More than ever, 2020 is the year to look beyond our own family bubble
and think about the person next door or three doors down (a stranger,
even), who can’t see their family or friends. What can I/you/we do to help?
A text is one way, but a phone call is even better. And a step better than that
is a doorstep visit delivering one of the sweet treats on p22. The recipes,
from Jen, our food editor, are designed to share a bit of the community
spirit we’ve been heartened by since March and don’t wish to lose.
Those are my thoughts for this first of two delicious. Christmas issues.
Next month: more ideas, more tantalising recipes, more stories and even
PORTRAIT: PAUL MITCHELL. PHOTOGRAPH: TOBY SCOTTmore heart and soul. Please join me in raising a glass to that.