Every year it surprises me how Christmas manages to sneak up on me and before long I’m up to my neck in fairy lights, tinsel, cinnamon and mince pies! Not that I mind, I love Christmas, but I sometimes struggle to kick-start my festive mood. One thing which certainly gets me, and everyone in the Easy Food office, in the spirit of things is working on the Easy Food Christmas Annual. And this year, we’ve been working really hard to ensure it is the biggest and best yet! We’ve replaced some of our usual sections with Christmas-filled content that we know you’ll love, so let me highlight some of my favourites for you ... Countdown to Christmas on p.18 with a month full of recipes and handy tips from Christmas postal dates to when to order your turkey; take the stress out of seasonal cooking and get organised early p.20, and deck the halls of your home with food-inspired decorations p.22.

In Festive Entertaining, we have everything you’ll need to be the host with the most including; a recipe for the perfect hot chocolate p.28, little nibble recipes p.30, 15 canapés in 15 minutes (great for when unexpected guests arrive) p.36, and games to entertain them too p.38.

We know that the Christmas season is a long one and you still have to get dinner on the table every day to feed hungry tummies, so keeping this in mind, we have created an Easy Holiday Recipes section to keep things running smoothly over the next few months p. 41-68.

Christmas is definitely a season for baking and in our Christmas Baking section you’ll find lots to keep you busy; alternative Christmas cakes p.70, mini chocolate treats p.74, a fun Christmas treat swap party p.78, festive tray bakes p. 81 and sweet and savoury pastry recipes p.84. We have your Christmas menu covered in The Christmas Feast p.87 – a 25-page menu for Christmas Day, from starters to gravy, and desserts too, and leftovers on St. Stephen’s Day too. It’s all here! The Christmas Gift Guide will take the hassle out of shopping this year with 11 pages of gift ideas for your family and friends, from homemade edible gifts p.114 to cookbooks p.123.

People who have to follow a special diet can find the festive season testing, and struggle to find food that fit their dietary requirements. So we’ve created Christmas recipes for the most common special diets p.131, and we hope this helps with challanges that arise! The Inside Track is packed with a mix of festive-themed kitchen know-how and Caroline’s great four-page step-by-step Christmas cooking guide is not to be missed. You can also watch videos of these on the Easy Food YouTube Channel – www.youtube.com/easyfoodmag. What more can I say?

The Easy Food Christmas Annual 2012 is your complete guide to cooking and recipes for the festive season. It is our biggest ever issue and I hope you love reading it as much as I have loved working on it. I have to give a special thank you to the great team who I work with, especially Aoife, Caroline and Stephen, who have worked so hard on the annual.

Lastly, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and, as always, enjoy reading!

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