Welcome to my Christmas blog! My name is Beckie, and I’m one of the brand managers here at KitchenCraft. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on some of my favourite bits of Christmas (mainly the food…).

When you think of Christmas, what do you see? Is it gifts, decorations, or friends and family?

For me, Christmas has always been about companionship – enjoying time spent with loved ones, sharing a drink and eating fantastic food.

Growing up, Christmas revolved around my large extended family – it seemed we had a different party to go to every day. Me, my sisters and my cousins would share our presents and generally make too much noise, while my parents, aunties, uncles and grandparents would fill kitchens with food and laughter.

As I’ve gotten older, and now have a family of my own, I seem to have found my way into the kitchen more and more. Preparing food and drinks, entertaining and… still making too much noise.

Why food matters.

Now my boys are 5 and 3 I have begun to think about what Christmas means to me as an adult and more importantly - to the boys.

One thing keeps coming back to me: at the heart of it all is the food.

For instance, I love to entertain. At this time of year, what could be better than getting together with the people you love the most?

And although my friends and family are top of my Christmas list, I’ve realised that we’re never together without the food and drink of the season.

So over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing some of my favourite family recipes, and tips to survive the party season, with kids, husbands and hangovers in tow.