Food:
1. Waste not, want not!
Food waste is a massive problem around Christmas time, so make sure you’re not throwing out perfectly good food before, during and after your celebrations. Save your vegetable scraps to make a broth, and ditto with your turkey carcass. Fruit peel becomes fragrance (see below) and leftovers from the big day become Boxing Day soup — or any of your family’s day-after classics. Feels better already, right?
2. More is not more.
Too much food can be off-putting and overwhelming. I find that one homemade sharing dish from the oven or hob presented with a chutney or a side or two is
more than appreciated. On the big day, don’t overestimate the servings — since a traditional Christmas dinner has quite a number of dishes, people won’t have their usual portion of each dish, as there are so many more to get through. Leftovers can be put to good use (as above) but there’s nothing worse than feeling like you have to stuff yourself to appease your host and make a dent on the mountain of food on the table. As a host remember that a tonne of food will encourage people to load up their plates, as their eyes grow bigger than their stomachs, and seeing the excess being scraped into the bin is just plain sad. If canapés are part of the offering, remember that no one will be quite as hungry for the main event afterwards. An excess of food is a waste whether it goes into the bin or you eat more than you’re comfortable with.
3. Be present when you eat
Don’t get distracted by the hum drum (and inevitable dramas) at the table — make a conscious effort to be present with the food that eventually becomes you. Honour the abundance, tune in and connect with your food as you are eating it, savour the taste (even more so if you were the cook and put all that elbow grease in!) you’ll enjoy it so much more as a result and your digestion will thank you for it. Being present also helps you to tune into that moment of satisfaction. “I love feeling nauseatingly full,’’ said no one ever.
