District Magazine December 2014 | Page 48

The Perfect Christmas Eve Christmas is stressful. I’m only 18 but I can already feel the stress of the holidays creeping up on me in November. Between spending more money on gifts than we’ve planned, hosting Christmas parties or extended family gatherings we sometimes forget about the actual meaning of Christmas Eve and the Dinner most important meal of December 24th – Christmas dinner. If you’re (probably) going to be running around stores like a headless chicken and try to get every dish done in the last minute, here are a couple of tips to make your December a little less stressful. Rule No 1 SET THE BUDGET This can be done the minute you know for how many you’re cooking. It may seem hard because even after you’ve bought every single ingredient there’s always something else you could’ve added to your menu but don’t stress over that. It’s the worst to go last minute shopping because you’d just stuff the shopping cart with completely unnecessary items. Rule N o2 DO NOT OVERCOMPLICATED IT When you’re with your loved ones they won’t mind if you serve them restaurantquality Turkey with some fancy port and cranberry sauce or chicken wings with mashed potatoes. o Rule N 4 LISTEN TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC & LIGHT CANDLES o Rule N 3 Again, it’s n est for deco table and se This always gets me in the Christmas spirit, even if everything else fails, music is certain to lighten the mood. And remember, if you mess up the food, you can always just turn off the lights, light candles and pretend everything’s fine. o Rule N 5 HAVE FUN Not everything has to be perfect to have a great time with your loved ones. Whether it’s your friends or family, they won