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Two - Three weeks before... |
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No later than December 10th (though we recommend December 3rd), make
your decisions as to what your Christmas Dinner Menu will be. Choose your recipes from
our Recipes Section or from your favorite Low
Carb Cookbooks. For your convenience, we've also put together a list of
our Recommended Christmas Dishes to help! It's a
good idea to save them all to one place - either printed
from online, or the book name and page number jotted down. Go over each recipe
and make a list of any ingredients you don't have onhand. Make a note by each one
you know can be acquired at your local grocery or health food store. The others
may need to be ordered online. Our site is full of information on where to find
helpful products and ingredients for LC cooking. If you can't find something,
ask us. You don't want to wait till
the day you begin the dish to discover you don't have "Vital Wheat Gluten Flour",
or "Xanthan Gum", or "Vanilla Protein Powder", etc. Get your orders in as early as
possible.
Make lists; get organized. If you're not hosting, but only bringing a dish or two,
you'll still need to go through this process for the dishes you're donating! One thought - if you're having guests for an extended stay and want to have festive sweet treats around for an extended period, think about ordering a basket or display of low-carb candies and chocolates. The Low Carb Connoisseur has some elegant assortments. Or order in from some of the other low-carb specialty shops (from our Shopping Guide page) and put the arrangements together yourself! Many of your guests may never know they're eating low-carb/no-sugar. They fooled my non-diet friends! |
The day and night before... |
Now's the time to bake desserts and side dishes that can be refrigerated. Also
confirm deliveries from any food services and make
sure that all ingredients
necessary for the dishes you've chosen are in the house and available. Make a timetable
for cooking that has to be done on Christmas Day so the dishes will be ready at
dinnertime. Depending on your "stuffing" decisions, you might also make your
stuffing and refrigerate until you're ready for it tomorrow. Also, though it
almost goes without saying, if you've purchased a frozen turkey, it will need to
be thawed. Thaw on tray in refrigerator, allowing 5 hours per lb. Or thaw in
cold water, in wrapper, for 1 hour per lb, changing water occasionally.
DO NOT ALLOW YOUR TURKEY TO THAW AT ROOM TEMPERATURE!
You'll also use today for non-cooking tasks like choosing your outfit, making any changes to Christmas decorations, adding friends' and guests' gifts to your under-tree-stash, etc. Tomorrow's the big day, so get plenty of rest tonight! |
The Big Day! |
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It's here! Merry Christmas! There's no way around the fact that most of the Christmas meal is best done that day. This timetable takes into account the need to wash dishes as you go along, thereby keeping your kitchen neat with plenty of counterspace for working comfortably. At the end of each task, take a few minutes to wash the bowls and utensils you have just used and to clean the counter. You'll find the whole process much more pleasurable and easier to manage if you do. Mis en Place: This is a French term for preparing all the ingredients for a dish in advance, such as washing, trimming and chopping vegetables; setting out your spices and herbs, etc. Do it at the beginning of the day and the rest of the cooking will be a cinch. If you're planning to serve mid-late afternoon, be 
sure to rise early and get the
bird ready and in the oven. Family and guests will appreciate waking to the amazing
smell of a roasting turkey wafting through the house! Count backward from serving
time the number of hours your size bird (allowing for stuffed/non-stuffed) to cook.
Then allow another 1/2 hour for turkey "resting" time at the end of roasting, and
an extra hour or two for pre-prep depending on your menu. That's the time by which
you'll need to be awake, showered and dressed. Get ready for lots of compliments!
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