Derval O'Rourke: How to not freak out about hosting Christmas dinner 

Plus the perfect cold starter — because most of your stove and oven will be already full

'Plan the menu from start to finish. This will take away so much stress.'

Dingle is without a doubt one of my favourite places in the world.

Tucked away in the colourful seaside town is the 2019 Irish cookery school of the year, Dingle Cookery School. Mark Murphy is the head chef and runs the school. As we find ourselves in the run up to Christmas, for this week’s column, I asked Mark to bring us his simple tips for Christmas dinner.

One of the best investments I ever made was spending time and money in cookery school to upskill myself.

It has always struck me that the best chefs have a great way to keep things simple and focus on the enjoyment of a meal. I loved reading Mark’s tips for Christmas dinner because he does just that.

The Dingle Cookery School guide to a simple and enjoyable Christmas dinner

Plan the menu from start to finish. This will take away so much stress. The good thing is that this can be done now.

Figure out how many you are looking after and try to gauge how much food is needed. Your butcher will help with the size of the turkey, ham or any meat you are having.

For everything else you are having such as sprouts, potatoes, carrots etc, I try to roughly work out how much a person will have.

For example, knowing that there is always so much food on the table on the day, I allow about half a carrot per person and then add one or two more to the pot. This exercise will probably only take 5-10 minutes and is easier than you think. It will stop you from over buying and throwing out food. Between now and Christmas you can easily try this with your meals.

At our house we always keep it traditional, beautiful roasted turkey, glazed ham, plenty of sides to include roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, stuffing and gravy. We sometimes don’t bother with a starter, instead I love having loads of sides with the turkey and ham. Making the sides as tasty as you can adds variety and fills the table.

If you are planning a starter, I suggest having a cold starter, this helps because probably most of your stove and oven will be already full. There are so many options for a cold starter, a good smoked salmon with a little cream cheese, capers and a little salad is something that is easy to prepare, it is light and will balance the rich food in the main course. Keep the starter a lot smaller than you think, there is usually a lot of food to come.

You will be surprised how much you can prepare the day before. You can prepare the potatoes and other vegetables; stuffing can be made (I generally don’t stuff the bird but that is a personal choice), ham can be boiled. Even doing any of these jobs on Christmas Eve will help. Lastly, enjoy your day.

I really enjoyed these tips from Mark, and he definitely has me thinking about my starter option. If you are looking for inspiration for a special present for someone this Christmas, why not pop over to dinglecookeryschool.com and get a voucher, what better excuse for a trip to Dingle than a cookery class? This is definitely on my wishlist for 2023.

Wellness Tip: Make A List, Check It Twice! Lists are a great way to help you remember everything. When I make a list, I also take a photo of it, in case I head out to do the shopping and forget my list…..I often forget!

Exercise Tip: Jumping Jacks: 10 jumping jacks for 3 reps is a great way to get you ready for the day ahead.