FOOD Batch - Suzanne Mulholland How to make Christmas stress-free by preparing food in November – according to ‘The Batch Lady’ By Lauren Taylor, PA Suzanne Mulholland once declared she ‘hated’ Christmas Day – she was the person who ended up organising the entire event, from presents, to decorations and, of course, the food. “When the kids were little, I actually didn’t like Christmas. I didn’t feel it was my day. I felt like it was everybody else’s day,” the 49-year-old says.“I look back on it now and think I really did miss some key moments where I would have loved being the one sitting just helping build Lego, or whatever it was, but I felt tied to the kitchen.” To make a busy life with children easier Mulholland started batch cooking, and after sharing videos on YouTube and Instagram,‘The Batch Lady’ Instagram account was born.With it, the mum-of-two was able to transform Christmas so she wasn’t cooking all day. “I started to change gradually. I would make sure my roast potatoes were done, but I always felt like there was quite a lot that maybe I couldn’t do in advance.And then over the years, I’ve actually managed to do it all in advance. Everything. “If you happen to have a Friday morning or a Tuesday evening in November where you’re not doing anything, you can think, actually, I might get four recipes done for Christmas.” November is the perfect time to start, she says, and buying a lot of your Christmas food in November can help spread the cost. “You can do it all in November, when you don’t have every other activity going on, like the Christmas fete at school, your kids Carol concert and your work night out. December becomes really busy for us.” So, getting ahead for the festive period isn’t just about prepping the Christmas Day meal, Mulholland also batch cooks plenty of one-pot meals to freeze and reheat during December. Mulholland has two types of recipes – “Either you ‘cook ahead’ – which means cooking it and putting it in the freezer, or ‘grab and cook’ which means you’re making it up raw, and then you’re putting it in the freezer,” she explains.
Here’s how to make it work for you this Christmas…
‘Cook ahead’: What to cook, freeze and reheat on the day
Mulholland says accompaniments like bread sauce and cranberry sauce, as well as sides like roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts, can be fully cooked and frozen – far in advance.“I do a lovely shredded Brussels sprout with pancetta, and you actually make that in advance, because it shreds, it lasts.” Homemade Yorkshire puddings make well in advance to freeze, or try Mulholland’s recipe for mulled wine red cabbage.While the method works well for starters too, think parsnip and apple soup, or desserts like panettone bread and butter pudding.
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