Scottish Field's guide for a stress free Christmas

November 22, 2019 | Uncategorized

From turkey to tree, having Christmas delivered direct to your door is one way of keeping stress levels down this festive season.

If I ruled the world then nobody would be allowed to mention the C word before 1 December. But, as my husband takes great pleasure in telling me on a regular basis, I don’t.

But even if I’d rather we weren’t all talking about Christmas, listening to festive tunes and panic buying tat for the office Secret Santa, there’s still a niggling and ever increasing raft of pre-Christmas organisation that needs to be addressed.

So, in an attempt to lessen the stress on the run up to the most wonderful time of the year I decided to see just how much I can plan in advance.

Starting things off in style, highly regarded Scottish butcher and supplier to the Royal Household, Donald Russell offers a range of delicious gifts and festive foods, which can be delivered directly to your door.

Scottish smoked salmon with malt whisky

Choose from a selection of award-winning products, including Free Range Bronze Turkey (£59), Scottish Smoked Salmon with Malt Whisky (£6.75), a hand prepared Beef Wellington (£30) and a selection of hampers, including the Ultimate Christmas Box (£79) and the Christmas Simplicity Box (£69).

All produce is hand prepared, carefully packed, and will arrive at the door ahead of Christmas, ready to cook on the big day. Ideal for a fuss free festive feast, next day delivery is available until 21 December 2019.

The Ultimate Christmas Box

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I plumped for the ultimate Christmas box, which includes a 5kg Loue Bronze free-range turkey, a pack of sausage meat, streaky bacon, pigs in blankets and a fabulously rich Mosiman’s Christmas pudding, that didn’t even make it to the month of December, let alone Christmas!

The box even comes with detailed instructions on how to defrost the bird, or cook it from frozen if you prefer.

Yet another worry extinguished. I couldn’t resist the smoked salmon with whisky either, and again we just couldn’t wait to get stuck into it. Too good to add anything to it was simply delicious on oatcakes with a squeeze of lemon.

Scottish Field readers can use the discount code SCOF20 to receive 20% discount plus free delivery on orders over £50 at www.donaldrussell.com

So, that’s Christmas dinner taken care off, but what about the décor? I’m a bit of a traditionalist and have always had a real Christmas tree, but again this adds to the stress. We try to put up our tree around 12 days before the main event, and going to pick one out is fraught with worry. What if the only trees left are scrawny and straggly, or so big we can’t fit them through the front door?

A Nordmann Fir plantation

Cue, Pines and Needles. www.pinesandneedles.com Order your real Christmas tree for delivery to your door and take away the stress of trying to strap a giant fir to the roof of your car, or worse still filling the motor with pine needles that will hang around until at least next November.

Choose from a range of sizes of tree to suit your space, from 3ft to 12ft and pick a delivery date (and time) to suit you. Prices range from £39.95 – £199.95 with delivery from £21.95. They will deliver to most areas of Scotland but please check the website if you live in the Highlands. The Nordmann Fir is recommended if you’re keeping your tree indoors and they have lots of handy tips on their website to ensure your tree stays looking tip top into the New Year (www.pinesandneedles.com/pages/christmas-tree-care).

Pines and Needles source their trees from sustainable farms in Scotland, so for those of us living north of the border they’re home grown.

If you prefer your tree to live outside then they recommend a sweet-smelling Norway Spruce to turn your garden into a winter wonderland. And if you don’t have decorations yet, they can supply these too. And there are pot grown Fraser Fir trees for anyone who’d like to keep their tree beyond one Christmas.

So that’s Christmas all wrapped up, and it’s not even December yet.