Food, drinks and presents are guaranteed staples of the Holiday Season, but unless you’ve good a full meal planned, it can be hard to know what to make. So here are some helpful recipes and ideas that will hopefully inspire this festive season. We’ve gone for starters & mains as there’s more than enough inspiration for sweet treats over the Christmas period.

Starters/Canapés:

Goat’s Cheese & Brie Crostini is an amazing starter, which can also be served as a canapé that sounds much fancier than it actually it. You also only need a few ingredients. I prefer to use red onions, but all types work!

You will need:

1 x Large Baguette

4/5 x Onions/Red Onions

2 x Brie

How to:

1. Chop the onions into small strips
2. To Caramelize the onions, heat the oil on a low heat in a pan
3. Add the onions to the oil and let them brown for a little in a pan.
4. Add a teaspoon full of brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, and small squeeze of honey, and a dash of salt.
5. Cook the onions in the pan on a low heat for 30 mins.
6. Turn off the heat and chop up a baguette into rounds.
7. Slice brie into thick chunks and put a slice of brie onto each round of bread.
8. Spoon the red onions of top of this.

This recipe is incredibly simple, and goes down a treat. If you wanted to make a vegan alternative, instead of brie, layer hummus on top of the bread and add the caramelized onion of top of this. Festive, indulgent, easy & yummy, the perfect holiday recipe.

Comfort Food:

Over the holiday season, we all love something hearty and warming and comfort food is the perfect thing for this. Below, I’ve attached some of my favorite & easy go to recipes, that you can make in big batches to keep you warm throughout the festive season.

Butternut Squash & Sweet potato Soup: I love this recipe because it’s quick, easy, and I can always make lots of it. The sweet potato and butternut squash are seasonal foods so taste great at this time of the year, and I find soup to practical as it can be used as a starter or a main, if you want to add to bread or salad. This is also a fantastic vegetarian/vegan option if you need to cater for dietary requirements: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sweet-potato-butternut-squash-soup-lemon-garlic-toast

Mac & Cheese: Cheesy, warm, crunchy, creamy, and did I mention creamy? Macaroni cheese can be your main or your side chick, either way, it is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. His recipe is super easy and is tasty and satisfying comfort food to warmup your winter. Click here for the recipe for this definite winner: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/macaroni-cheese-4-easy-steps

Quiche: You can have it warm, you can have it cold, you can have it with salad, and you can have it with extra veggies. Quiche is unbelievably versatile and incredibly simple. You can bring it as part of a potluck, or use it as a dinner party favourite.  Click here for version with lots of lovely autumnal veg: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/leek-mushroom-gruyere-quiche