Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are coming in hot! But don’t panic at the thought of whipping up a feast for each holiday of the season—with these Christmas meal ideas, you can host holiday gatherings that are high in success and low in stress.

1 month prior: Get inspired by traditional and original Christmas recipes

• Flip through your most recent cookbooks, magazines, newspapers, and websites, and ask your friends what kind of holiday cooking they’ll be getting up to. How about a cocktail dinner with a wide array of Christmas appetizers available for the plucking? Translation: people can have their holiday fill without sitting down for a formal dinner.
• To get ahead of potential sources of guest-related stress, ask your people before they come whether they suffer from any food allergies, intolerances, or aversions. This article has tons of ideas for meat-free holiday eats.
• Looking for a holiday crowd-pleaser that isn’t played out? Take time well in advance to roll out your own little test kitchen. Winging it on Christmas day is a pretty risky move!

3 weeks prior: Plan your simple and easy Christmas meal

It’s time to build your menu from the ground up: get your appetizer, main course, side, and dessert ideas down on paper first. Keep in mind that the less you have to cook the day of, the less holiday stress you will endure in general. As much as you can, try to lean into dishes that can be cooked and refrigerated several days in advance, or culinary creations that can be stored in the freezer, like soup, pâtés and tourtières, stews, pies, cakes, and so on.

That way, you can make some headway on your Christmas shopping and avoid last-minute errands down the road. Plus, with your holiday meal planning out of the way, all you’ll have to focus on is the vibe.

Budgeting tip: Check out the TADA! meal planner in the IGA app, which offers fabulous recipe ideas that you can make for your holiday parties based on the weekly specials. Meal plan for less while still very much satisfying your family and friends! 

2 weeks prior: Get your game plan together and get a head start on grocery shopping

Begin annotating your menu by course, detailing the sides and adult beverages you’ll be serving, as well as the serving dishes, dinnerware, etc. that you’ll use. On the day of, you probably won’t have enough time or bandwidth to scramble around for plates that you only use once a year! Keeping your recipes close at hand, see what you have at home already and start compiling your grocery shopping list. Now you’re ready to shop for the spirits you’ll need for simple and refined cocktails, garnishes, non-perishable items, and all the freezer-friendly foods on your list.

1 week prior: Get the ball rolling on your freezer-friendly dishes

Wrap up your shopping. Make headway by making the dishes that you can freeze between now and your gathering. Take this time to stock up on ice, a.k.a. the key to your punches and cocktails reaching their full potential.

Pssst! Did you know that the more ice cubes a drink has, the less quickly the ice melts? So permission granted to be heavy handed with the ice!

2 days prior: Prepare your fridge-friendly foods

Now’s the time to prep any dishes that you can keep in the fridge—it’s the right moment to prepare the crudités, cranberry sauce, and a cheese and charcuterie platter, and wrap them up in cellophane to keep them fresh.

• You can also make homemade pâtés, terrines, and dips, in addition to prepping your condiments (olives, beets, pickles, sauces, and seasonings).
• Think about popping any freezer items into the fridge.
• Decorate!

The day before: Finish what you’ve started!

• Chill the drinks
• Complete the dishes that need to be cooked the day of. Cut and measure out all your ingredients. All that’s left to do on the big day is mix it all together!
• Garnish prep: dice the fruit, wash your fresh herbs

The day of: Wake up early and set your Christmas table!

With everything you’ve done already, all that’s left to do are a few finishing touches:

• Set the table, paying extra special attention to the centrepiece
• Warm your plates in the oven
• Preheat your dishes and put them in serving platters—don’t forget any holiday garnishes!
• Make cocktails a few minutes before your guests arrive

Have fun with it. The holidays come but once a year!