{"id":140569,"date":"2016-12-21T14:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/?p=140569"},"modified":"2016-12-21T14:02:04","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T12:02:04","slug":"top-tips-to-prepare-a-christmas-day-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/lifestyle-news\/2016\/12\/21\/top-tips-to-prepare-a-christmas-day-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Top tips to prepare a Christmas Day dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One way to avoid this is to be well prepared and you can never really start too early but one month before is when things usually start to kick-off.<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Style<\/b><br \/>\nThe holidays are a time to celebrate. There are many different ways to entertain during the holidays so embrace a gathering that suits your lifestyle, time schedule and of course budget. If your style is \u201cformal\u201d, break out the china, crystal and fancy accessories. If casual suits you best, perhaps simple appetisers, cheerful floral arrangements and candles can set the mood.<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p><b>Preparation<\/b><br \/>\nThe holidays are all about spending time with family and friends and nothing beats festive drinks, great food and an excellent atmosphere. Remember that your home does not have to look like a magazine spread. Decorating at Christmas is about family tradition and personal memories.<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Food preparation<\/b><br \/>\nBake those special treats in advance. Choose recipes you can make in advance and that freeze well. Invite your friends to take part in a cookie exchange; not only will you save time but you will have a fabulous assortment of goodies.<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p><b>Setting the table<\/b><br \/>\nDecide if the meal will be sit-down, formal or informal. This will determine how you should set the table. Make sure you have the correct stemware, china and cutlery for the menu.<br \/>\n<b><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>The tree<\/b><br \/>\nNot only is the Christmas tree a lovely decoration but it can be quite functional. Hang small party favours on the tree and use Christmas ornaments to customise the seating for guests.<br \/>\n*\u00a0Information obtained from www.jenniferbrouwerdesign.com<\/p>\n<div class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='b656038ddcdd059caf5dab55a5b3779e'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who doesn\u2019t love Christmas with delicious food, drinks and family? Christmas, however, can be a stressful time with all the shopping and Christmas food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":140639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3686],"tags":[1885,13169,6236,1083],"class_list":["post-140569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle-news","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-day","tag-dinner","tag-food"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"Lifestyle","SubCategory":"Entertainment"},"tag_labels":["Christmas","christmas day","dinner","food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}