Are You Christmas Ready

 The big day is a week away. Are you ready for that day tha'ts not only known for gift giving but major cooking. Are you all set for that second or third batch of Christmas cookies?

To be honest it's tough to find good deals. Few groceries are offering discounts on such Christmas staples as ham and turkey. If you haven't bought yours yet, then think about going to Aldi or LIDL for a discount.The next question is what to serve with it. Ham is a bit easier, You could easily go German style and have potato salad and baked beans. As for the turkey , you could do a rehash of Thanksgiivng and have stuffing along with cranberry jelly and green bean casserole. If you're going this route decide if you want to use Stove Stop stuffing - which is easier - or homemade stuffing which is more labor intensive. For vegans and vegetarian have you bought you tofurkey or tofu loaf yet? These are becoming arder and harder to find on store shelves.Have a Plan B on the ready. Keep in mind you can create a festive loaf using Beyond Meat and then serving it with a mushroom gravy. Another Plan B meal is Gardein's Turkey Cutlets with gravy. These taste like the real thing and have gravy with them. Buy a few packages of these (there are four cutlets per package) for your dinner.

Have you started on your baking? What about what to serve after  Christmas dinner? Luckily there are some small deals on baking ingredients so take advantage of these. Do you have enough flour for all those batches? What about the other baking basics like eggs and sugar? Buy two dozen eggs if you feel you'll need a lot for baking cookies and cakes. Sugar,  like flour , goes fast. Buy a four pound bag instead of a two pound (you can always use the extra for every day coffee and tea. Do you have enough confectioners sugar. That too goes fast, thanks to it being turned into butter cream and royal icings. Another must check are deocorations. Do you have enough food coloring in both liquid and gel. Remember that some icing recipes work better with colored gels than liquid dye. Are there enough sprinkles and sanding sugar? Now is the time to stock up before you actually start baking and decorating. what about that Christmas dessert? do you want to go with a fancy cake like a red velvet or a trifle. The second is an  easy and fun boozy mix of a cake like pound cake layered with pudding, cream and fruit. You can douse it with rum for even more kick. 

Are you Christmas ready? This is the week to make it so. It's not too late to plan a sumptuous Christmas feast followed by a lush dessert.