Women's Weekly Food

This doesn’t just include food. It alsoincludes clearing fridge and freezerspace. Also think about how yourguests will be served – by passingaround platters on the table, orserving food that is pre−plated?If using platters, do you have enough?Is your knife sharp enough to carvea turkey or ham? It’s also a good ideato have a chat with an expert on drinksserving. Order your alcohol froma liquor shop and have a one−on−onechat about how many bottles to serveyour crowd of people. A refreshingpunch is always a great way to servea crowd − alcoholic or not!COOKINGOn Christmas Day, sometimes it’seasier (especially on oven space) ifyou delegate a few recipe items out.A potato bake can easily be madeahead, and travels well. Then youjust have to reheat. So ask familyand friends to roll up their sleevesand help out.To minimise pre-Christmaskitchen prep stress, ithelps to trial new recipeson your planned menu inthe weeks before. I alsolike to have a bowl oficy-cold punch on handto offer during the flurryof arrivals.``````Don’t try to be superwoman (orman)! If I’m hosting ChristmasDay, I make a list of the dishes I’dlike to serve, the wine, the tabledecorations, then delegate a jobto each family member or guest,playing to their strengths. Youcould even give them one ofThe Weekly’s triple-tested recipes!``````Hosting Christmas maybe stressful for some, but Ifind that, coming froma big Italian family, we(what I really mean is I)prepare the menu, thenallocate who brings what.It’s our Kris Kringle.``````KathleenDavisSENIOR FOOD EDITOR,AWW COOKBOOKSWorking as afood editor fortwo decades, I’mfortunate to be able to immersemyself in my greatest pleasures- food and books. There’s alwaysa new ingredient to explore andnew recipe to try.FrancesAbdallaouiFOOD DIRECTOR,THE AUSTRALIANWOMEN’S WEEKLYAn avid cook withan ever-evolvingfondness for baking, I trulybelieve that good food is mostlyabout fresh Australian producecooked simply with a generosityof care and spirit.DomenicaReddieRECIPE EDITOR,AWW COOKBOOKSI come from a largeItalian family, wherefood was a way oflife and everything was made fromscratch. My fondest memories arepicking tomatoes to make passataand eating pasta with the masses.