This year I have taken the advice of food critic Roger Wolfson and have completely thrown out any ideas of tradition. For many years now I have toed the line, sticking with the butter basted turkey which has been a long favorite yet this year just feels like the right time to throw it all away and start again with something new and exciting. If you make the same old thing each and every year then here is exactly why I would recommend following in what many others are doing, including myself, and making things a little interesting.

Turkey

There was a moment last year when I was sat chatting with the family and it suddenly dawned on us all that we don’t really love turkey. There isn’t anything wrong with it in particular, but it can be a bit dry and ultimately, just a little bit boring. This was humorous because of the fact that we had all been sat around that table eating that same food for around 15 years, only now had we all come to the agreement. This year we are going for duck.

Branching Out

Back in the 80s or 90s you were pretty much stuck with the dishes that you made, based on what your parents had shown you or perhaps based on an experiment gone well, or perhaps even gone wrong. Now however we live in the world of TV chefs, of online recipes and basically we have a far wider access to these amazing meals and dishes than we have ever had before. This means that there really is no excuse for sticking to tried and tested traditions of times gone by, because now we have some delightful options to choose from. The perfect testament to this would be the number of ways in which we now know how to cook sprouts!

Nothing to Lose

As we look back over the many years of Christmas, the last thing that we need is to have some homogenized meal which was prepared in the same way every year and which was enjoyed in the same way each and every year. The ones which we do remember are those where we tried something a little bit different, those where we got it very right or very wrong, those are the best Christmas memories. And so no matter how it all turns out, we have to always ensure that we give these things a try.

Always Go Back

And remember that if things don’t quite go as you had planned then you can always, always go back to how you used to do things the next year After all what is life if we do not actively try out new ingredients and new ways of doing things? Give it a try, learn from it and then decide how you want to do things next year.

Give it a try this Christmas and let your creativity run wild.