With just over a week until Christmas day, along with the mental notes to post Christmas cards and order those final Christmas gifts and essentials, our minds are already racing ahead to our Christmas dinner. Luckily, TV presenter Susanna Reid has shared her Christmas hacks with us – including top tips from top chef Gordon Ramsay.
“In 2012, for a feature on BBC Breakfast, Gordon Ramsay tried to teach me how to make Christmas dinner, and his top tip was to be prepared and get other people involved," Susanna told woman&home. "Every year, my brother Martin and I cook together while Mum brings the bread sauce and my sons [Sam, 22, Finn, 20, and Jack, 19] help prepare the vegetables."
We love the idea of sharing the festive load, and dividing the Christmas jobs to avoid overwhelm is something we're definitely here for, so that we can actually enjoy time together on Christmas day, rather than having one person stuck in the kitchen for hours.
The TV presenter, who recently turned 54, also revealed that she avoids the crowded supermarket aisles by booking a food delivery slot to arrive on the morning of Christmas Eve – no doubt chocked full of woman&home 2024 Festive Food Award-winning treats. And she revealed another tip from Gordon Ramsay, inspired by the chef making a cooking error!
"Gordon also told me he once flambéed his eyebrows when setting light to the Christmas pudding, then showed me how to poach fruit as a safer alternative. We still light our pudding, though. There’s a small bottle of brandy at the back of the kitchen cupboard that only comes out when Martin does the honours on Christmas Day!” says Susanna.
Shop Susanna's look
The red ME+EM dress that the woman&home style team photographed Susanna in has now sold out, but we love the rich wine red of this midi length style, the pleated details and the pockets!
Likewise, a red tie front River Island dress that Susanna wore on Good Morning Britain recently, and in the clip below, is no longer available – but this classy midi dress with tie detail is, and would make for a classic outfit for Christmas and beyond.
These gold drop earrings paired with red would make for a super elegant and festive outfit, whether celebrating with the family or meeting up with friends over the holidays. You can never have too many earrings, after all.
Susanna's Christmas admin tip
We still have a fair bit of Christmas gift shopping to do, here, and might have done a little dash to the shops for more postage stamps in our lunch break today, as some of that pre-Christmas admin slipped through the net! Susanna revealed that she is a last-minute shopper too – but it's her fantastic organisation hack that has us seriously impressed.
“I have friends whose presents are bought and wrapped by November but I only get moving when the deadline is in sight, so only when it’s upon me does my brain start sparking ideas," she says. “Two years ago, I started a notebook to jot down gift ideas and details like how much wrapping paper and boxes of cards are left from the previous year, plus the Christmas lunch plan.”
Genius! We're taking note to, erm, take notes for next year. If you're like Susanna (and us) and still have some gifts to buy, browse our Christmas gifts for friends and Christmas gifts for couples guides for inspiration.
And in the meantime, remember to take a moment to remember others, and what really matters at this time of year. “Christmas is about home and family, but whenever I have a broadcast on Christmas Day, I am very aware that we might be the only voices someone hears saying ‘Happy Christmas’ that morning." says Susanna. "When we do our 1 Million Minutes campaign [on Good Morning Britain], I’m reminded that loneliness is a huge issue for older people, so as a TV presenter it’s a huge privilege to be there for viewers.”
This article first appeared in the December 2024 issue of woman&home magazine, in a feature looking at a host of celebrity Christmas traditions. Subscribe to the magazine for £6 for 6 issues.
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