Top cooks and chefs offer advice for a fuss-free Christmas feast.
There's no point fighting it - Christmas is almost on us. But before you hit the panic button, here are some tips to help you survive it.
According to those in the know, being organised and planning ahead are sure-fire ways to guarantee a stress-free feast on the big day.
Start by pre-ordering the food you expect to eat over the festive period, said Tyrone Hinds, owner-chef of Attivo in North Beach.
"For example, I've just pre-ordered half a leg of ham from my local butcher and organised collection a day or two prior to Christmas," he said.
"Most people don't know this but a lot of the time suppliers will have food in their fridges well ahead of Christmas, such as smoked products and hams that are vacuum packed, and keep in the fridge for a long time.
"I will be doing exactly the same with my turkey - pre-ordering in advance and having it delivered the day before. That takes a lot of the stress and pressure out of it."
TV chef Anna Gare's best advice for a smooth Christmas in the kitchen was to 'delegate, delegate, delegate'.
"First of all, try to make as much as you can the day before so you can enjoy Christmas too," she said.
"Prepare cold food on Christmas Eve so that when you wake up in the morning, you can relax. I always do at least one moulded salad because they're fun and you don't need to put them together on the day.
"You can make a potato, chickpea or roast vegetable moulded salad by lining a bowl with plastic, placing all the vegetables in it nicely and putting a weight on it overnight to turn over the next day.
"Sometimes I do a beautiful fillet of beef with herbs and spices and that's just gorgeous cold. Cold meat is always good. Or cook something that can be done in two minutes on the day, such as scallops. Seafood is great because it's so quick. Having lots of yummy bits and pieces in the fridge is also handy so that when people come over, you can just pull them out.
"Share the responsibility. Pick a theme, such as traditional English or another cuisine. Or even a barbecue theme, where everybody brings something they've marinated.
"Then get everyone to bring a dish so you can all have a beautiful, relaxing day."
Once the big day is over, the next challenge begins - storing all those leftovers in the family fridge.
"A lot of people have hygiene problems storing their food during the Christmas period," Hinds said.
"A little tip I could offer, especially regarding storing seafood in their fridge, which is generally overloaded or getting full, would be to use ice cooler bricks. Once you've bought your fresh fish, you can cover it and put cooler bricks on top to keep it extra cold. This will help maintain the quality and the freshness as well as extending the life-span of the fish."
He said that the half ham he had ordered this year would be easy to store in the fridge.
"There is no reason why, a few days after Christmas, you can't go back to the place where you purchased the ham from and order another half ham if you haven't had enough.
"Don't get all your ingredients now and have the worry and stress of storing it. Buy what you need now for Christmas and then restock afterwards.
"It's only one meal and leftovers will last the next day. Then the shops will open again."
