The festive season is a chaotic time in any household. Gift lists, gift shopping, menu planning, making sure to get the pantry stocked with all the ingredients you need before the stores close for your Christmas feast – it just doesn’t stop!
Any tips to make the festive season a little more seamless is a godsend and we’re here to help with a few simple kitchen hacks to ensure Christmas success.
Take a look at our 9 kitchen hacks for Christmas success:
1. If you don’t have the string to truss your turkey, don’t stress about it. Simply use dental floss.
2. Add fresh – or frozen – berries, sliced citrus fruits, and sprigs of mint to water or juice. Refrigerate to infuse and chill before popping onto your festive table for added colour and lightly flavoured water.
3. We’ve found that salting potatoes only halfway through their roasting time helps them not to stick to the baking tray and lessens their moisture loss too.
4. If you have Banting guests coming over for Christmas Day lunch, you’ll have to banish flour from that all-important gravy! Don’t panic: To thicken gravy without flour, either start your gravy early with double the volume you need and allow it to reduce, or remove from the heat and gradually add a beaten egg while blending with a stick blender.
5. Loads of leftover Christmas pudding? Use it in a strudel; add to ice cream; stir crumbled pud through chocolate-truffle mixture; use in cake pops mixed with another sponge; or replace the sponge in a trifle with defrosted slices of Christmas pudding.
6. After making fresh custard, prevent a skin from forming on top by covering it with cling film.
7. Make your mince pie dough in advance and keep it in the freezer until needed. Bake the mince pies before Christmas Day and store them in an airtight container.
8. Not everyone loves raisins! When making your Christmas cake, try replacing the raisins with chopped apples, nuts, and spices of your choice.
9. Prep your baking ingredients and store them in sealable glass jars to make your baking process a lot easier!
ALSO SEE: Pantry hacks: Christmas pudding
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
