Today, the threads of planning are finally starting to come together: we have the menu → now it’s time for the shopping list.
This is the point where your future self steps up to you, pats you on the back, and says, „Thank you. Now I won’t be running around the store on December 23rd worrying that they’re out of eggs.”
Step 1: Write down the ingredients needed for the menu
Simple method:
Menu for 24
Menu for 25
Menu for 26
Cookie list (if someone else brings it)
Drink list (if someone else brings it)
Guest waiting tables
Write the ingredients next to each dish, then combine them into one list.
This is important because if 5 recipes include „eggs”, you don’t have to go back and count them for each recipe.
The goal: a large, clear list → efficient shopping in small steps.
Step 2: Check what you have at home
It may seem boring, but a 10-minute kitchen check will save you from the “I thought I had it at home” mistakes.
Basic things checklist:
- flour sugar (regular + powdered sugar + brown, sweetener)
- baking powder, baking soda, yeast butter /
- margarine / fat oil (olive, sunflower)
- eggs milk, cream, sour cream salt,
- pepper honey, cinnamon, cloves,
- vanilla, orange peel,
- cocoa and raisins in your stock
PRO tip: check the amount of basic spices and dishwashing detergent.
At Christmas, you don’t just have to cook – you also have to wash the dishes.
Step 3: If you are a PRO → think about unexpected guests
There is that universal Christmas moment when unexpected guests appear out of nowhere:
“We just dropped in for 10 minutes… we brought some cookies!”
And you stand there with a forced smile on your face, because there is nothing at home, only some leftovers. Let them eat their own cookies! – you think. Oh no, no! You are not like that! …
In times like these, having a “Plan B” is a lifesaver:
Guest list lifesavers:
- champagne/non-alcoholic champagne or mulled wine base
- tea cakes
- cream cheese + biscuits
frozen guest snacks (e.g. scones, strudel, or a small ready-made buttery pastry – cut into sticks, sprinkled with cheese, then baked, very delicious and quick)
+ EXTRA: 10 freezer meals for Christmas (if you’re a real pro and/or don’t want to retire from the kitchen)
You don’t have to cook for three days.
You don’t have to do everything at the last minute.
Many dishes can be prepared in advance → and will be even tastier.
Top 10 Freezable Christmas Meals:
- Stuffed cabbage
- Meat soup base
- French salad vegetable base
- Fish soup base
- Beef stew or game
- Stuffed chicken breast / stuffed loin
- Lasagne
- Liver pâté / zakuszka / kurózöt
- Gingerbread + linzer dough (raw)
- Cream soups (chestnut, pumpkin, ginger sweet potato)
What doesn’t freeze well?
fresh salads
ready-made mayonnaise salads
breaded meat (some people swear by it, but it’s a dud)
mashed potatoes
Tonight’s task:
Shopping list ready—starting tomorrow, you can begin gathering items step by step. No need to do it all at once:
- Check your kitchen shelves
- Prepare a “unexpected guest” stash—this doesn’t need to be finished tomorrow, just get started!
Then: a candle, cozy socks, a mug of hot cocoa or spiced tea. Because for Christmas, you don’t need a tired superhero—
you need a calm, relaxed you.
We’ll continue the preparations tomorrow.
We wash you a Merry Christmas!
