Before they sled off for the holidays, our very own Daily Info staff give you the lowdown on their holiday favourites!
Russ
Favourite Christmas food?:
How to pick one component of the Christmas roast! Roast potatoes, stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, some wonderful treat for afterwards, After Eights. But really it’s pigs in blankets, a component added to the roast that we get so rarely. They’re just delightful and make me very happy.
The best gift you've ever received?:
One of my favourite films happens to be an alternative Christmas film. Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is something I’ve loved since I was a child and my partner commissioned an artist to make a print of the Penguin’s duck car/boat from it. It left me speechless and is proudly displayed on our wall.
Favourite Christmas film?:
I love many a Christmas film and have found time for the likes of It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, Batman Returns and Die Hard, as well as newer affairs like The Leech, Christmas Bloody Christmas and Violent Night. But part of my festive schedule is to revisit Christmas TV specials. And the one that towers over all others is the Father Ted edition. It’s as funny and satirical as the rest of the series, with a narrative that doesn’t short change the central trio. “Maybe I like the misery”, indeed.
Favourite Christmas song?:
I have my favourites but each year there will be a song that I seem to get a renewed appreciation for. This year there are two contenders – Carly Rae Jepsen’s poppily melancholic ‘It’s Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries’ and The Beach Boys’ delightful ‘Little Saint Nick’. Both sum up my current tastes perfectly and are total bops.
One of your holiday traditions?:
Living in Oxford means there's a terrific amount of events to go to, which has led to a robust schedule of things to do - from the Illumination Trail at Blenheim Palace to the Watermill Theatre's annual show to the various fairs and markets. Plus there are the days spent exploring Oxfordshire's green spaces for long dog walks towards a suitable eatery. All this is to say I'm excited to get back to the tradition of enjoying all Oxford has to offer at this time of year.
Sophia
Favourite Christmas song?:
It’s hard to pick one favourite Christmas song, but Wham’s 'Last Christmas' is such a great, pining 80s pop song in addition to being festive: “Once bitten, and twice shy”? Get out of here with that lyricism. Mariah Carey’s 'All I Want For Christmas is You' is a festive essential and remains mad-catchy. And I’m a total 'Santa Baby' apologist. 'Santa Baby' lounged so Madonna’s 'Material Girl' could frolic, and it’s sultry, sly, and very fun.
Favourite Christmas food?:
In terms of Christmas foods, you really can’t beat a golden-crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside roast potato. Pair that with gravy and I’m in heaven. Also, it’s not a ‘food’ per se, but it’s not Christmas to me until I’d had Bailey’s hot chocolate - preferably with marshmallows and cream!
One of your holiday traditions?:
A holiday tradition I’ve been doing for a few years now is making a poetry advent calendar for some of my friends. I collect 24 poems in a Google Doc, print them out, put each in its own envelope and tie the bundle together with a ribbon. It’s so much fun to put together and - I’m told - to receive!Niamh
Favourite Christmas food?:
I’m not sure if it technically counts as a ‘food’ given that it’s basically a condiment, but my gran makes a mean brandy butter to accompany her homemade mince pies every year that we all go mad for. The sooner we normalise brandy butter as an all-year-round dessert topping, the sooner peace and joy will be restored to the earth. Also, Stilton.
Favourite Christmas song?:
Has to be ‘Christmas Wrapping’ by the Waitresses. That infectious horn riff on the chorus, the affectionate but snarky done-with-it-all attitude we all feel around the holidays - I mean, I like your classic holly jolly stuff too, but I find it really refreshing to have a Christmas song with the guts to admit that sometimes it all gets a bit much. When I was still working in retail it was the one song on the Christmas playlist I never got sick of hearing.
One of your holiday traditions?:
Most Christmases these days we head to my gran’s house in Wantage (which she bought specifically so that she could host us all every year!). Usually it’s me, my mum and brother, and a smattering of our maternal cousins. My cousin Tom and I are both enthusiastic singers, to the delight/dismay of our loved ones, and whenever we get together for the holidays we record ourselves singing a Yuletide classic in harmony.
Jen
Favourite Christmas food?
My grandmother lived in Switzerland for a couple of years and I really fell for Pfeffernusse. They're one of the many Germanic gingerbready items that don't actually have ginger in, just black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg etc etc. And they're glazed in hard white sugar glaze. These days I'm gluten-free, and have one successfully made some of these. Glazing them is the messiest procedure ever, but it was worth it.
The weirdest Christmas food I'm proud of was an accidental invention to try and promote sprouts, The Christembouche. This is a cross between Christmas flavours, and a Croquembouche, so it's little choux pastries, each filled with cheesy mashed potato, half a steamed sprout, and a rich smear of redcurrant jelly on top. Yes, I'd probably been watching too much Masterchef, but actually it tasted rather good! And it was certainly the poshest way I'd ever eaten sprouts.
Best Christmas gift?
The present traditions I like most are Stockings and Secret Santa. Stockings were the most fun to unwrap when I was little, and one summer my sister and I spent a long time making stockings for each other with our usual toys wrapped up in newspaper. These days I love being on the other side and helping Santa create the stockings. My daughter (aged 3) was more impressed by the enormous marshmallow Father Christmas left in her stocking than any other present. She's hoping for another this year.
For grownup groups, Secret Santa seems to me to combine the best suprise element with not drowning in a million surplus items. I've been lucky to take part in personalised Secret Santa in small groups where you know your recipient, and it tends to involve silly jokes and very little money. Ideal.
Favourite Christmas song?
Eartha Kitt singing 'Santa Baby'.