Thread after thread about the hideousness of the Christmas food shop, starving to death in queues, hysteria in the pickles aisle, road-rage in the carpark, substitutions and OOS in the orders etc etc.
Why do people put themselves through this?
Why don't people prepare early? It reduces the strain and spreads the cost.
We prepped all our meat and froze it a few weeks ago. Everything that can be made ahead or is long-dated, like cake, pudding, biscuits, booze etc, was made or bought in the past month or two. Ingredients that are essential for last-minute cooking were also bought early. All that's left to buy is fresh stuff, like milk and veg. Not huge amounts of stuff, and things that we can compromise on if something's OOS.
Are we weird to do it this way?
And this is not a stealth boast. We prepare in exactly the same way for any big festive occasion.
(Post edited by MNHQ)