Christmas dinner timings: a timeline back from serve time

Everything follows from one decision: when you sit down. Write it at the bottom of a sheet of paper, then work up the page, giving each dish the time it needs to cook, rest or keep warm.

Follow the cooking time on your meat's packaging or your butcher's advice for its weight, and check it is cooked through before it comes out, with a meat thermometer if you have one. Then let it rest, loosely covered. Resting time is a gift: it frees the oven for everything else.

Most kitchens have one oven and too many dishes that want it. List what needs the oven and at what temperature, and move what you can elsewhere: hob, microwave, slow cooker, or made the day before and reheated. Roast potatoes and stuffing usually go in while the meat rests.

Peel and prep vegetables, make the sauces and gravy base, set the table and chill the drinks the day before. On the day you are then cooking, not preparing, which is far calmer.

Guests who offer to help usually mean it. Hand out the jobs that do not need timing: drinks, crackers, clearing, washing up between courses.

Flairmingo's Christmas planner keeps the dinner alongside your gifts, budget and dates, so the menu, the shopping and the day sit in one place.