School feeding charity Mary’s Meals asked 2,000 people across the UK who they would most like to cook Christmas dinner for them.
Almost half chose a family member over a celebrity chef, with the majority choosing their mum.
In the Scotland dads got the thumbs down in the festive kitchen!
Mary’s Meals is asking people to help feed hungry children by joining its virtual Christmas dinner.
A new survey by Mary’s Meals has revealed that people would rather have their Christmas dinner cooked by their mum than a celebrity chef.
The global school feeding charity asked 2,000 people who they would prefer to serve up their festive feast. It found that:
Almost half (46%) of respondents chose a family member rather than a famous chef – such as Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson.
One in three people (36%) said they would prefer their mum to cook their Christmas dinner over other family members.
Just 1% of respondents in Scotland said they would like their dad to prepare the Christmas dinner!
Scotland’s National Chef Gary Maclean responds: “Despite being a professional chef myself, I’m not surprised most people chose their mum to make their Christmas dinner. Us chefs are all well and good but nothing beats a home-cooked festive feast.”
“I love the idea of Mary’s Meals Big Family Christmas – and I’m going to set a place for my late father-in-law Davie, who would love that their virtual seat at the table will feed a hungry child in school for an entire year.”
Mary’s Meals serves more than two million children with a nutritious meal every school day in 19 of the world’s poorest countries, including Malawi, South Sudan and Haiti. The promise of a good meal attracts children to the classroom, giving them the energy and opportunity to learn, and the chance of a brighter future.
Each December the charity holds a virtual Christmas dinner, Big Family Christmas, to raise funds to feed even more hungry children. Last year, nearly 9,000 people around the world took part in the fundraiser.
Emma Hutton, head of grassroots engagement at Mary’s Meals, says: “Tis the season to be jolly, and it seems nothing makes us jollier than a home-cooked Christmas meal. At Mary’s Meals, we want to spread that joy to as many of the world’s most impoverished children as possible.
“Setting a place at our virtual table is a great way to give a truly life-changing gift, especially as each place set this Christmas will feed two children for an entire year thanks to our Double The Love campaign. I look forward to seeing as many names at the table as possible as we celebrate our Big Family Christmas!”
In return for a donation of just £15.90, enough to feed a child with Mary’s Meals for a whole school year, people can take part in the Big Family Christmas. Donors will receive a certificate to print at home and their name, or the name of a loved one, will appear on the charity’s virtual dinner table alongside names from across the world.
Donations made to Mary’s Meals before 31 January 2022 will be matched by a group of generous supporters, up to £1.6 million, thanks to the Double The Love campaign, meaning that each place set at the online Christmas table will feed two hungry children.
Mary’s Meals typically serves a mug of porridge to more than one million children in Malawi every school day.
This includes children like 14-year-old Yasimini, who is one of five girls. Her two older sisters were married young, but Yasimini was able to continue with her studies because of Mary’s Meals.
She says: “I work very hard in class so I can fulfill my dream of becoming a nurse. I don’t want to end up getting married early like my sisters.
“Mary’s Meals is very important because when I am attending classes I am strong and attentive and I can pay attention to what the teacher is teaching. This will help me to do well in my studies.”
£5 Christmas Dinner and a Festive Afternoon Tea for Two
Let the festive feasting commence with the launch of Morrisons new limited edition Christmas café menu – now available in all 406 Morrisons cafés nationwide – which includes a full Christmas dinner for just £5.
Start the day right with our Pigs Under Blankets Sandwich for £2.95, which has succulent pork sausages, nestled in a Morrisons Market Street ciabatta roll.
And for lunch, customers can tuck into our new Brie and Cranberry toastie – an ultimate flavour mash-up, made fresh to order and served with a side salad – you can also add crispy bacon for just £1. Or for something a little lighter, there’s The Best Festive Parsnip Soup. A true winter warmer priced at £3, it’s served with a Market Street ciabatta roll and butter.
For the main event we’ve got our Christmas Turkey Lunch with all the trimmings for just £5. Succulent hand carved Morrisons deli turkey is served with roast potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, stuffing, yorkshire pudding, pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce and gravy.
Burger fans can enjoy a festive twist on a classic with the new Morrisons Chickmas Burger for £5, which includes our Market Street Southern Fried chicken fillet topped with brie and cranberry sauce stacked in a brioche bun with coleslaw and chips.
Not forgetting the all important Christmas pudding for dessert, which is packed with raisins and sultanas and served with custard – for £3.
Or why not try our Festive Afternoon Tea for Two? For just £12, it includes a selection of sandwiches, cakes, mince pies served with British clotted cream – all served with proper Yorkshire Tea.
Ali Lyons, Morrisons Head of Café, said:“We know customers are embracing Christmas early this year, so we hope this menu will give all the flavours of Christmas, without breaking the bank!
“To help customers in the run up to Christmas, we’re also offering £5 main meals on a selected number of delicious Morrisons café dishes. Customer favourites include our Best Beef Burger which is stacked in our The Best Brioche Bun with cheese, salad and burger or a Crispy Chicken Burger using Market Street Succulent chicken.
“For Pie lovers there’s our Market Street Chunky Steak Pie which is served with mash, mushy peas and piping hot gravy.”
Admiral teams up with professional home economist to help people plan the perfect Christmas dinner –
More than one in 10 (12%) only keep Christmas leftovers for one day
One in 20 throw away excess food rather than turning it into other meals at Christmas
12% of Brits splashed out more than £100 per person for Christmas dinner last year
One in five have first alcoholic drink before 11am on Christmas Day
53% of claims involving food and drink in December relate to red wine spillages
A new investigation by Admiral home insurance has revealed that two thirds (65%) of households in the UK end up with more food than they need at Christmas, and one in 20 people throw excess ingredients in the bin, rather than turning them into other meals.
The tool helps people work out how much of each key ingredient they’ll need to cook the perfect Christmas dinner for their guests, and guides them on how many sweet treats and desserts to buy to make sure they’re properly stocked up for guests this festive season.
The investigation found that two fifths of Brits (42%) buy their ingredients for Christmas dinner a week before the big day. But while some are more organised, buying at the start of December (25%) or two weeks before Christmas Day (25%), others are less organised, opting to buy their food on 23rd December (17%) and even as last-minute as Christmas Eve (5%).
With many people yet to buy their ingredients, Admiral is encouraging people to plan ahead to make their Christmas feasts memorable for all the right reasons this year.
Stocking up for Christmas
The study found that some people are storing traditional Christmas foods in the wrong places, meaning food could potentially be going to waste.
To help make people’s Christmas go without a hitch, professional home economist, Becky Wilkinson, has shared her tips with Admiral on where ingredients should be stored.
One in ten (11%) believe that a Christmas pudding should be kept in the fridge, but Becky says that is not necessarily the right thing to do. “Where you store Christmas pudding or Christmas cake is often dependent on the recipe followed, but, as a rule, this should never be kept in the fridge.”
And with many a sweet tooth being catered to over the festive period, making sure the chocolates are in top condition for guests will be high on the priority list. Almost a quarter (23%) of people believe chocolate should be kept in the fridge, but Becky warns this can have an impact on the taste: “If you must store chocolate in the fridge, it should be sealed in an airtight container because the fat content in chocolate causes it to take on other flavours if not sealed properly.”
Before filling your fridge and stocking up, Becky recommends carrying out the four following checks to ensure your food is perfect for Christmas :
Make sure your fridge and freezer are running at the correct temperature before filling with Christmas treats. The recommended temperature is 5°C or below for the fridge and -18°C or below for the freezer. Fridge freezer thermometers are cheap and a very helpful tool to have if you don’t already!
Before the Christmas buying starts, check that all the items in your fridge and freezer are in date, remove any that are not. Overfilling your fridge and freezer will make it difficult for them to stay at the correct temperature
It’s important to store meat safely to stop bacteria from spreading and to avoid food poisoning. You should store raw meat and poultry in clean, sealed containers on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so they can not touch or drip onto other foods
Check your oven is working and has had a service if required. Also, give it a good clean to ensure for more accurate cooking times and optimum hygiene
What to do with leftovers
For those who do keep their Christmas dinner leftovers and excess ingredients, more than one in ten (12%) only keep it for one day, which means lots of leftover Christmas food gets wasted unnecessarily each year.
To avoid unwanted food waste, Becky Wilkinson has shared some simple top tips with Admiral on what to do with leftover Christmas ingredients:
Roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts: Break up the cold potatoes and mash together with the Brussel sprouts, place into a pan and fry. Add any leftover herbs or chestnuts to make extra tasty bubble and squeak.
Carrots: Heat the ready roasted sliced carrots in a pan and add caraway seeds and vegetable stock. Blend together to make a warming soup.
Pigs in blankets: Make your own mini toad in the hole’s by using an oiled muffin tin to heat the sausages and then pour over Yorkshire pudding batter. Bake until well risen.
Ham, turkey and gravy: Mix together, place into a pie dish and top with ready rolled puff pastry for a quick and effortless pie.
Turkey: For an oriental take on leftovers, try a turkey ramen or turkey stir fry.
Christmas pudding: Break up the Christmas pudding and mix with a drizzle of festive liquor, spread the mixture over some ready rolled puff pastry and roll up into a large swirl. Slice into 2cm rounds and place into a lined spring form cake tin. Glaze with egg and bake until pastry is cooked through for a festive Chelsea bun.
Cost of Christmas this year
Last Christmas, more than one in ten households (12%) splashed out over £100 for each person joining them for the festive feast. On average, homeowners spent £41.30 per person to feed their dinner guests in 2019.
Meanwhile, 22% of people said they are planning to spend even more money on food this Christmas.
With many restrictions still in place across the UK,17% of households said they would be spending less because they weren’t expecting as many guests around their Christmas table this year, and 12% want to cut down because they either ate too much or bought too much food last year.
However, younger households are looking to splurge this year, as 30% of those aged between 18 and 34 are planning to spend more on their dinner in a bid to treat themselves and their family this Christmas, in comparison to just 7% of people aged over 65.
Kitchen chaos at Christmas
In a bid to help make sure Christmas goes without a hitch this year, Admiral is urging people to watch out for some common culinary mishaps as these can be costly.
Analysis of Admiral claims data, relating to damage involving fridge freezers over the last five years, reveals that 7% happened during the month of December alone, with the average cost of each claim coming in at around £7001.
According to Admiral data, the most common causes of fridge or freezer failures in December were where the fridge freezer has broken and stopped working by itself (30%), or power cuts and power surges (23%) that either damaged the fridge freezer wiring or the prolonged loss of power caused the food to defrost.
‘tis the season to be Merry
Admiral found that one in five (20%) adults like to crack open the bubbly before 11.00am on Christmas day, and just less than one in ten (9%) open the alcohol before 10.00am.
Accidents can and do happen, and analysis of Admiral claims data relating to wine, gravy and sauce in the months of December found that 53% of claims, related to red wine being spilt on sofas, carpet, soft furnishings and even on laptops. To avoid any accidents spoiling the Christmas spirit, Admiral suggests standing glasses and bottles on a table and well away from small hands and pets if you can
David Fowkes, Head of Household Underwriting at Admiral, said: “Christmas is always a special period but this year will be even more important to households who, after a tough year, are looking to make the best of it with their close friends or family.
“Our study shows that people can easily go overboard and buy too much food for their Christmas dinner, leading to unnecessary food waste and people are also spending more money than they need to. As food plays such a big part of the festivities for many people, we want to help make sure the day goes as smoothly as possible – regardless of how many people you have around the dinner table.
“Unfortunately, not only are leftover ingredients being thrown away, but just a small percentage of people are giving excess food to food banks who would welcome the donations.
“We’d recommend carrying out a few simple checks around the kitchen a few weeks before Christmas. At Admiral we’ve seen examples where fridge freezers and cookers have been damaged in the build up to Christmas – some even on the big day itself – causing havoc and unnecessary stress for many households.
“Make sure you don’t over stock your fridge freezer so it keeps all of your Christmas food chilled at the perfect temperature, and it doesn’t spoil the festivities.”
As we approach the end of a year that has been unlike any other, I’m sure some of your readers, like myself, will be thinking of those we hold dear who are unable to join the family Christmas meal this year.
I’d like to suggest a simple, last-minute gift that will help connect people in Edinburgh and Midlothian with their loved ones and feed hungry children around the world.
Mary’s Meals, a charity reaching more than 1.6 million children every day in some of the world’s poorest countries, is hosting a virtual Christmas dinner. For just £15.90 – enough to feed a child every day for an entire school year – your readers can set a place at our table for their friends and family. Their name will appear online and we’ll provide a digital placemat to pass on as a present.
This year your gifts will go twice as far, with each place set now feeding two children with Mary’s Meals for an entire school year. Give until 31 January 2021 and public donations will be doubled by the UK government, up to £2 million – meaning we can reach even more hungry children in Liberia with life-changing school meals.
Greedy diners have been warned they will need to spend up to 13 hours doing rigorous exercise to burn off their Christmas Day calories alone, according to a leading health and fitness website.Continue reading Burning off your Christmas Day calories
Christmas dinner advice for dogs and cats to ensure trouble-free festive fun
From a succulent roast dinner with all the trimmings to fruit-laden puddings, cakes and chocolates – not to mention nuts, mince pies and smoked salmon – Christmas Day is all about eating. And it’s not only people who like to indulge: our much-loved four-legged family members do too! It’s hard to resist slipping them scraps or even their own Christmas dinner from our leftovers – but we need to be mindful that not everything on the Christmas menu should be shared.Continue reading Christmas dinner for pets? Think Scrooge!
