Caught Short At Chrimbo? Local Shops Save The Day

There’s always something. No matter how military the operation, the Christmas store is guaranteed to be bereft of at least one item that at least one member of the festive clan deems essential to their seasonal enjoyment.’But it won’t be the SAME,’ they wail. No. it won’t. You’re going to make it different, and maybe better.

Chateau Leoube Wine Box

Choosing wines for Christmas usually has him dithering undecidedly over the regional shelves; but this year, Alan’s in the mood to bring some Mediterranean sunshine into the depths of a British December.

Paul A Young’s Christmas chocolate truffle recipes

‘Chocolate naturally lends itself to Christmas’, says Paul A Young. So he’s given us a tempting trio of festive recipes to make at home: a gingerbread-spiced truffle, a warming Aztec-inspired chocolate, and one featuring all the flavours that underpin a Christmas pud, without the belly-busting after-effects.

The Park Lane Hotel’s Christmas Afternoon Tea

In December, the Palm Court Lounge of Mayfair’s Park Lane Hotel becomes Christmas distilled and triple-filtered. The gentle plink-plonk of live harp music mingles with the pleasant chit-chat of polite conversation. It’s all terribly civilised and, in short, the ideal location for Christmas afternoon tea.