A do-what-you-love Christmas

'It's just a roast dinner' and other thoughts

Dec 13, 2024

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(Image: Rachael Pilston) Confit garlic cauliflower cheese

“It’s just one day and a roast dinner,” Laura Jones, December 2023

This is an invitation to you (and actually to myself) to have a Christmas that you really love. For you to focus on doing the things that give you joy and to let the other things be. Let me explain.

At least once a day this week I’ve clicked open images of perfectly packed boxes of hand-crafted Christmas cookies, house decoration ideas and already wrapped presents (who wraps presents before the 24th?). My reaction has been a feeling of not enough, of failing because I have never, and will never make eight batches of perfectly iced Christmas cookies. I’m a lifelong pro-level people-pleaser though, so somewhere deep inside I feel like I should be doing it all.

This year I want to invite you (and me) to just do the things that you love this Christmas. For some of you that might mean skipping it all (on which I enjoyed this) for others it might mean 3 days icing a Christmas cake. However it looks - pick a few things and do what makes you happy.

The things I love that I’m doing this Christmas

For me, I will be doing these things that I love and letting the rest wash over me;

Buying some considered presents for my kids and one secret santa present for my grown up family
Making a eucalyptus wreath - I find leaves and flowers relaxing and the smell of eucalyptus reminds me of my favourite no longer with us Aunty Avril and California
Making a really nice Christmas dinner on the 25th (more of that below)
Laying a nice table to have that dinner around

I am acutely aware I’m also very much feeding this Christmas machine, I’ve been sending you Christmas recipes since November. I’ve been thinking about Christmas since the end of August, it could be a clue to where my feelings of overwhelm are coming from. The aim here though is always to simplify, to make this easier, to make food that everyone can eat, to choose wisely.

When I look around me it feels that it's the women I know feeling this pressure. I have a frankly remarkable husband who does 50% of the childcare and things around the house (which should be unremarkable but it's actually still quite rare amongst my friends - especially those who have kids).

But even in a very 50/50 household all the Christmassing feels like it's a woman's work. I’ve been trying to work out why that is. Without doubt, I value tradition more, I do the food (obviously), I think I’m good at (and given the time) enjoy buying thoughtful and considered presents. But I find it interesting that while the rest of our lives are pretty equal when it comes to Christmas they are not.

The connectedness of our world allows us all to share our traditions across cultures and countries and with the spirit of excitement and celebration we’ve all begun to take on not just the traditions we grew up with but also ones from other families and countries. An elf that moves around every night, a carefully curated advent calendar, the aforementioned boxes of cookies, stir-up Sunday - all things that bring joy and “holiday magic” but all things that require the silent work of someone, almost always a woman.

Has Christmas become another way in which we can make ourselves feel inadequate, another way to add to our load? Another patriarchal layer? Don’t get me started on the fact that a red-cheeked MAN and his team of tiny manhelpers take all the credit come Christmas day.

I’ve shared lots of Christmas recipes and thoughts since November, which I hope will have given you the time and space to work out what matters to you and makes you feel good so you can do what you really love this Christmas.

So I wanted to share with you what I will be cooking, a menu if you like. Have a do-what-you-love Christmas. We all deserve it.

When thoughts veer from just doing what I love I remind myself of the wise words of my sister Laura that we started with “It’s only one day and a roast dinner”.

Side note: I also very much enjoyed Ed Smith’s thoughts on “just a roast dinner”.

Speedy vegan stuffing (Image: Matt Russell)

Christmas 2024 at my house (a menu if you will)

Cranberry sauce (heat fresh cranberries with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and lemon zest until jammy)
Bread sauce (recipe in Easy Wins p.272)
Gravy (recipe here)

Greens Caesar slaw (Image: Rachael Pilston)

Easy Wins at Christmas

I’m so happy to say that Easy Wins has been longlisted for the Andre Simon award this week and picked out in quite a few papers (The Times, Guardian, Observer and Irish Times) and publications as a book of the year for 2024. What a week and a very lovely thing.

I know many of you will already have a copy of Easy Wins in your kitchens so I wanted to highlight some of the recipes in it that I think work really well at this time of year.

Frizzled spring onion dip (image: Matt Russell)

All below with reasons why:

Lemon green chill and Cheddar Tart p.24 - for an easy dinner or for having people over
Hot lemon and bay pudding p.38 - warming, wintry and lemony
Frizzled spring onion dip p.52 - for snacks and for life

Citrus olive oil cake p.74 - grown up Jaffa cake good with clementines
Cheese and pickle roast potatoes p.90 - always
Mustard seed and curry leaf snacking nuts p.112 - for drinks
Jeremy Lee’s remoulade p.118
Traybake Lemon dal p.135 - for the inbetween days
Foccacia with lemon, capers and fennel seeds p.156 - for sandwiches and drinks

Caper brine margarita p.173 - always
Tahini creamed chard p.204 - a strong side contender
Garlic and ginger and pickle broth p.246 - for anyone who needs a pick up
Double garlic and broccoli rigatoni p.252 - what I’m making on Christmas eve
Sticky onion eccles cakes with carrot chutney p.270 - New years day walk
Spring onions with bread sauce p272 - this will be part of our Christmas Day

Personalised copies of Easy Wins in time for Christmas

I wanted to remind you that if you are thinking of buying Easy Wins as a Christmas present, I will be signing and personalising copies brought from Pages of Hackney before midnight on the 15th December (this Sunday). Pages is my brilliant local bookshop, by buying from them you will be supporting a small women-run business.

** If you’d like a signed copy please buy a copy below, adding a note at the checkout that you would like it signed and the name of the person you would like me to sign it to. Pages can only send copies to the UK this time. Any queries regarding these books or the delivery of them please contact Pages directly.**

Order here

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