Occasions Planner
Meal Plan Occasions 2: More Special Occasions
Chapter 8 · Occasions planner
How to use this chapter. The occasions fall on different days, so there is no single weekly shopping list. Each of the 14 recipes has its own shopping list (follow the link on the recipe), and this chapter helps you plan: when each occasion falls, how much time it needs, what to do the day before, and how to scale the recipes up or down. Chapters 1, 2 and 4 to 7 are written for 4 people, and chapter 3 (Valentine's Day) is for 2.
When each occasion falls
Chinese New Year moves every year, because it follows the lunar calendar, and Mothering Sunday falls 21 days before Easter Sunday (the fourth Sunday of Lent). The barbecue is whenever the weather is good: the Scottish August bank holiday is the first Monday in August, and the English one is the last Monday.
| Occasion | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burns Night | Mon 25 Jan 2027 | Tue 25 Jan 2028 | Thu 25 Jan 2029 |
| Chinese New Year | Sat 6 Feb 2027 | Wed 26 Jan 2028 | Tue 13 Feb 2029 |
| Valentine's Day | Sun 14 Feb 2027 | Mon 14 Feb 2028 | Wed 14 Feb 2029 |
| Mother's Day (Mothering Sunday, UK) | Sun 7 Mar 2027 | Sun 26 Mar 2028 | Sun 11 Mar 2029 |
| Summer barbecue (Scottish August bank holiday) | Mon 2 Aug 2027 | Mon 7 Aug 2028 | Mon 6 Aug 2029 |
| Bonfire Night | Fri 5 Nov 2027 | Sun 5 Nov 2028 | Mon 5 Nov 2029 |
| Hogmanay | Fri 31 Dec 2027 | Sun 31 Dec 2028 | Mon 31 Dec 2029 |
The seven occasions at a glance
| Ch | Occasion | Serves | Main meal | Dessert | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burns Night | 4 | Haggis, neeps and tatties with a creamy mustard sauce | Cranachan | About 1 hour 15 minutes |
| 2 | Chinese New Year | 4 | Sticky soy-honey chicken thighs with longevity noodles | Mango, coconut and ginger biscuit pots | About 1 hour 30 minutes |
| 3 | Valentine's Day | 2 | Seared duck breast with orange sauce and crispy potatoes | Molten chocolate fondants | About 1 hour |
| 4 | Mother's Day | 4 | Chicken, ham and leek pie with peas and carrots | Lemon drizzle traybake with strawberries and cream | About 2 hours 15 minutes |
| 5 | Summer barbecue | 4 | Honey-lemon chicken skewers, chilli-lime corn and potato salad | Grilled peaches with mascarpone cream | About 1 hour 30 minutes, plus marinating |
| 6 | Bonfire Night | 4 | Sticky honey-mustard sausages, jacket potatoes and smoky beans | Sticky parkin with toffee sauce | About 1 hour 30 minutes |
| 7 | Hogmanay | 4 | Steak and onion pie with mash and buttered cabbage | Shortbread and raspberry trifle | About 4 hours (mostly hands-off) |
Make-ahead timelines
Almost all of the work can be done before the day. Here is what to do when.
| Occasion | A few days before | The day before | On the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burns Night | Order the haggis if you want a particular butcher's one. Buy the swede, potatoes and raspberries. | Peel the swede and potatoes in the morning (potatoes in cold water). Toast the oatmeal for the cranachan. | Haggis in the oven 1 hour before you want to eat. Neeps on 25 minutes before, tatties on 20 minutes before. Assemble the cranachan about 1 hour ahead. |
| Chinese New Year | Buy the chicken, noodles, pak choi and mangoes. Ripen the mangoes in a paper bag if they are hard. | Marinate the chicken. Make the mango pots (keep the biscuit topping separate). | Chicken in the oven 45 minutes before you eat. Noodles and stir-fry in the last 12 minutes. |
| Valentine's Day | Buy the duck, chocolate and raspberries. | Fill the fondant ramekins, cover and chill. Score the duck skin and keep it uncovered in the fridge. | Potatoes in the oven 40 minutes before you eat. Duck takes 20 minutes. Fondants bake while you clear the plates. |
| Mother's Day | Buy the chicken, ham, leeks, pastry and strawberries. | Make the pie filling and cool it. Bake the lemon drizzle cake and add the drizzle. | Add the pastry lid and bake for 40 minutes. Vegetables for the last 10 minutes. Whip the cream and slice the strawberries. |
| Summer barbecue | Buy the chicken, corn and potatoes. Check you have fuel for the barbecue. | Marinate the chicken. Make the potato salad and the chilli-lime butter. | Light the barbecue 40 minutes before. Skewers 15 minutes, corn 6 minutes. Peaches for dessert while the coals are still hot. |
| Bonfire Night | Buy the sausages, potatoes and tins of beans. Buy the treacle and golden syrup if you do not have them. | Bake the parkin (it improves with keeping). Make the smoky beans. | Potatoes in the oven 1 hour 15 minutes before you eat. Sausages 35 minutes before. Warm the sauce and the parkin at the end. |
| Hogmanay | Buy the steak, pastry, cabbage and raspberries. Make or buy shortbread for the first-footers. | Make the pie filling. Assemble the trifle to the end of the custard layer. | Pie in the oven 45 minutes before you eat. Mash and cabbage in the last 20 minutes. Cream on the trifle at the last minute. |
Scaling the recipes
- Scaling up (more guests): multiply the quantities by the number of people, then check the biggest limits: the size of your roasting tin, your pie dish and your oven. If a dish will not fit, cook it in two tins or in two batches.
- Cooking times: do not simply double the time. Pies and pastry lids bake in about the same time, but a bigger filling takes longer to heat through in the middle. Skewers, sausages and duck breasts take the same time per piece, but you need more space.
- Valentine's Day for 4: double everything, use a large frying pan or two pans for the duck, and bake the fondants in four ramekins.
- Scaling down (fewer guests): the pies, the haggis and the lemon drizzle cake keep well and make good leftovers. The pie fillings and the haggis freeze for up to 3 months (the cream, trifle and fondants do not freeze well).
- Desserts for a crowd: the parkin, the lemon drizzle and the trifle all stretch to 8 to 10 small portions. The fondants, cranachan and mango pots are best made to the exact number of guests.
Equipment
- A large roasting tin, a pie dish (1.5 litre and 2 litre), a baking dish and a baking tray (pies, sausages, chicken, parkin)
- A 23 cm square tin, a 20 cm square tin and two 150 ml ramekins (lemon drizzle, parkin, fondants)
- A large casserole or heavy pan with a lid and a large frying pan (steak pie, noodles, duck, chicken filling)
- A barbecue with coals or gas, tongs, and 8 skewers (summer barbecue). A grill and baking tray work as a backup.
- A meat thermometer, a stick blender or whisk, a potato masher and a sieve
- A glass trifle bowl and 4 tall glasses (trifle, cranachan, mango pots)
- Kitchen paper, cling film, foil and covered containers for the make-ahead steps
Food-safety reminders
The four rules for every occasion
- Cook pork, sausages, chicken and haggis right through, with no pink and clear juices. Duck breast, steak and lamb joints can be served pink in the middle if you like (the outside is the part that is seared).
- Cool leftovers quickly, within 1 to 2 hours, keep them covered in the fridge and eat them within 2 days. Reheat only once, until steaming hot.
- At a barbecue, use separate plates and tongs for raw and cooked meat, cook until the juices run clear, and do not leave food out in the sun for more than 1 hour.
- Keep raw meat on the bottom shelf, away from other food, and wash your hands, boards and knives after handling it. Defrost frozen meat in the fridge, never refreeze it after defrosting.
Shopping across the occasions
Because each occasion is a different day, shop for each one a few days before. Cream is used in several recipes (the haggis sauce, the cranachan, the pie, the parkin sauce and the trifle), so buy a large carton or check the amounts on each shopping list. Honey, mustard, spices, golden syrup and treacle keep for months.