Recipes

When I was a kid, my mum was a pretty good cook. My brother and I were lucky — we had a stay-at-home mum who cooked proper evening meals for us every day. Like most children, we each had our favourites… and our least favourites.

With winter truly upon us we all want to hunker down in the warm and wait until the spring arrives with the sunshine.   But there is one good thing about this time of year – it’s also soup season!

I had to laugh this evening — I actually found myself asking ChatGPT whether eggnog and Snowballs are the same thing. For years I assumed that custard-yellow bottle with the red writing was eggnog… because it looks like eggnog, and it’s yellow, and everyone wheels it out at Christmas.

From curry houses packed with festive diners to at-home menus inspired by global flavours, 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the alternative Christmas feast.

From Christmas Eve nibbles to Boxing Day blowouts, here’s how to weave cheese through every part of your festive feast — plus three foolproof recipes guaranteed to impress.

Cook them properly, and sprouts become sweet, nutty, caramelised little gems that hold their own against even the biggest festive showstoppers.

Whether you love them buttery and simple or dressed up with festive flavours, carrots are one of the easiest Christmas sides to prepare ahead, freeing you up for Bucks Fizz and present chaos

Most can be prepared ahead of time, so you can relax with your Bucks Fizz, enjoy the festive chatter, and let the flavours do the talking. From elegant bites to warming soups and colourful salads, these recipes are designed to kick off your Christmas feast in style.

Fusion isn’t just about throwing together random ingredients — it’s about balancing flavours, textures, and techniques from multiple cultures to create something cohesive yet unexpected

These winter pudding pies merge the nostalgia of classic British puds with indulgent seasonal twists — from spiced apple and buttery crumble to Black Forest berries and molten chocolate. They’re hearty, homely, and made for sharing around a table piled with blankets and candlelight.