All I want for Christmas is... not to spend all day in the kitchen!

To me Christmas means Kitchen work and normally a lot of it. In the past the Christmas meal in my home was cooked by my Father and his Mother. They would start preperations the night before (for the main meal) by preparing the vegetables ready for the next day and I know that Daddy has commented that his Mum spent all day in the Kitchen on Christmas Day when he was growing up.

I wonder how many hours have been unnecissarily wasted hiding in the Kitchen when we should be celebrating with friends and family and that is what I feel Christmas is about.

But, then good food for me is one of the best things about the whole season. I love to be able to feed my family home made treats, and I love being able to whip a batch of biscuits out of the freezer and into the oven if we have unexpected guests. And not having a feast on Christmas Day? Well I think I would have a mutiny on my hands!

So what to do? Well this is where the Holiday Grand Plan comes into its own for me, each week I have made snacks and Holiday goodies and a few Holiday meals and this week is where it all starts getting serious as this week is the Kitchen week.

I love to sort through my Kitchen and make sure that I have a clean and tidy Kitchen and that I have all the equipment I need on hand for Christmas Day. I work through each cupboard and even get to add things on to my Christmas list for things that I would like that I don't yet have or have broken in the past year.

This week I will have fun, but I have also other work to carry on with;This week I also need to carry on with the holiday prep which this week consists of:
*Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
*Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
*Buy two canned food items from menus
*Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.

Also this week I will;
*Continue with Top Ender writing her Christmas cards to the children in her year

And we will continue to;
*Look for Holiday Outfits for Me (as everyone else is sorted!)
*Stock the Mummy Christmas Shop
*Watch one Christmas film as a family a week

If you want to see how some others are preparing take a look at theses fellow Bloggers;
Krista at Typical Ramblings
Candace at Diary of a FlyBaby
Diane at DianeDenmark
Kelly at Life at the Quinn Home