Christmas is coming (or it might already be done with by the time you read this) and you need to start getting ready for the festive season.
The good news is that a lot of the hard work is already done.
The tree is up and decorated. The house looks the part too and you’ve even found time to put a few lights up outside. And after a lot of procrastinating, you’ve finally managed to get all of the presents wrapped and ready to go.
You’re ready for Christmas!
Well…
Perhaps not quite.
While you’ve got the bulk of the work out of the way, there’s still plenty that you need to do to prepare for the big day itself. And in this article, we’re going to give you a little checklist of tasks to check off the list in the build-up to the big day.
Task #1 – Get the Italian Wine Ready
Hopefully, you’ve already bought the wines that you’re going to be serving. If you haven’t, we recommend getting on that as a priority!
But we’ll assume that you have them ready to go.
What comes next?
For your white and sparkling wines, you need to ensure they’re out of storage and in a refrigerator. These wines are best served chilled, so it may be a good idea to get some ice ready as well, especially if you anticipate the wine being out for a good portion of the night.
Your red wines don’t need to go into the fridge as they’re generally best served at a little below room temperature. However, it’s still important to keep them somewhere dark and cool until they’re ready for serving. It’s also worth getting your decanter ready so you have it to hand when you need it.
Finally – glasses.
Make sure every glass you’re going to use is cleaned and has no soapy residue on it. If you have a clean microfibre cloth, now is the time to use it to bring those glasses to a perfect shine.
Task #2 – Finalize the Guest List
Is the whole family coming to yours this Christmas? Or are you splitting the meal duties between you and other members of the family? Perhaps you’re all doing a meal for your immediate family members before you get together for a big family blowout later on?
Whatever the case may be, you need to get your ducks in a row now!
Get some headcounts for each portion of the day so you know how much food you’ve got to serve. Finalizing the guest list will also help you to get your Italian wines ready. You might find that a few of your bottles can go back into storage because you’re not going to need them.
Once you have your list set in stone, you may need to start creating invitations. The need for this really depends on just how many people you’re inviting to your home. If it’s just a couple of family members, a quick phone call or group text message does the job. But if you’re hosting a larger get-together, a mass invite via social media, or even traditional paper-based invites, may be required.
Task #3 – Figure Out Who’s Helping
Trying to go it alone is a receipt for stress when you’re preparing for Christmas. With a little luck, you’re going to be able to call on a few family members or friends to help with the cooking and preparation work.
Figure out who they are and assign some tasks early. Let them know what you’re going to need them to do in advance so they can get straight to work as soon as they turn up. By coordinating early on, your teamwork can get things moving so much faster once the big day comes.
Task #4 – Sort Out the Food
Now that you know who’s helping with what, it’s time to make the Christmas meal preparation as easy as possible.
The worst thing that you can do is wait until the big day itself to start getting everything ready. Ideally, you’ll have every ingredient prepped for cooking without you having to mess around with anything.
What does this mean?
Let’s say you’re going to serve chopped carrots as part of the meal. Instead of chopping them up on the day, chop them the night before and pop them in the fridge so they’re ready for you to cook as soon as it’s time.
The same goes for your meats.
Baste them. Prepare them. Do whatever you need to do so that you only need to throw them in the oven on Christmas itself.
Spending a few hours on preparation on Christmas Eve, when your house is still relatively quiet, means you enjoy a much easier time of it when you’re preparing the meal the next day.
Task #5 – Prepare Any Guest Accommodations
Let’s face it – nobody enjoys the idea of driving back home after a huge Christmas feast. What’s more, the poor soul who drew the short straw as designated driver can’t properly enjoy the Italian wines you’re offering. They have to hold back to ensure they’re not breaking the law on the way back home.
So, how about you take that worry off the table?
If you’re accommodating some of your guests, you want to ensure that you’re their rooms are prepared in advance. The alternative is to stumble in after enjoying a few glasses of wine, only to have to struggle with getting everything ready when you’d rather just spend time with your friends and family.
Get Ready!
This is by no means a comprehensive list of everything that you could possibly do to get ready for Christmas.
But it covers the main stuff for the big day.
Complete these tasks and you’ll be ready to cook your food, have all of your Italian wine ready, and will know exactly who’s coming, who’s helping out, and who’s staying for the night.
A little bit of early preparation makes the big day go so much more smoothly.
And when you’re done, you can kick your feet up with a nice glass of Italian wine to celebrate!
I’m a passionate about good wine and good cooking.
I like to keep me updated and share with my online friends my gastronomic knowledge.
