OCCASIONS PLANNER: Meal Plan Occasions 3, Even More Special Occasions Each of the 14 recipes has its own shopping list in this folder. Use this sheet to plan the dates, the make-ahead steps and the scaling. WHEN EACH OCCASION FALLS (Pancake Tuesday is 47 days before Easter Sunday) St Patrick's Day: Wed 17 Mar 2027; Fri 17 Mar 2028; Sat 17 Mar 2029 Father's Day (third Sunday in June, UK): Sun 20 Jun 2027; Sun 18 Jun 2028; Sun 17 Jun 2029 Diwali (late October or November: check a current calendar): Varies; Varies; Varies Christmas Eve: Fri 24 Dec 2027; Sun 24 Dec 2028; Mon 24 Dec 2029 Anniversary dinner: Your date; Your date; Your date Movie night: Any day; Any day; Any day Dinner party: Any day; Any day; Any day THE SEVEN OCCASIONS 1. St Patrick's Day (serves 4): Irish coddle with soda bread, then Irish apple cake with custard. Time: About 1 hour 30 minutes 2. Father's Day (serves 4): Slow-cooked sticky BBQ pork ribs, corn and coleslaw, then Strawberry Eton mess. Time: About 3 hours 30 minutes (mostly hands-off) 3. Diwali (serves 4): Butter chicken (or paneer) with pilau rice and naan, then Cardamom rice pudding (kheer). Time: About 1 hour 30 minutes, plus marinating 4. Christmas Eve (serves 4): Sharing supper: baked camembert, pigs in blankets, cured meats, then Homemade mince pies with orange butter. Time: About 1 hour, plus pastry chilling 5. Anniversary dinner (serves 2): Beef Wellington with gravy, mash and green beans, then Lemon posset with shortbread. Time: About 2 hours, plus chilling 6. Movie night (serves 4): Loaded beef nachos and sticky chicken wings, then Chocolate chip cookie bars. Time: About 1 hour 30 minutes 7. Dinner party (serves 6): Slow-roast lamb shoulder with dauphinoise potatoes, then Banoffee pavlova. Time: About 5 hours (mostly hands-off) MAKE-AHEAD TIMELINES St Patrick's Day A few days before: Buy the sausages, bacon, buttermilk and apples. The day before: Make the coddle if you like (it improves overnight). Bake the apple cake. On the day: Soda bread in the oven 1 hour 15 minutes before you eat. Coddle simmering by then. Warm the cake and the custard at the end. Father's Day A few days before: Order or buy the ribs. Buy the corn, cabbage and strawberries. The day before: Rub the spices into the ribs. Cook the ribs in foil, if you want to finish them tomorrow. On the day: Ribs in foil 3 hours before you eat. Glaze and finish them in the last 15 minutes. Coleslaw in the morning, Eton mess last. Diwali A few days before: Check the date. Buy the chicken (or paneer), spices and naan. The day before: Marinate the chicken. Make the kheer and chill it. On the day: Sauce 1 hour before. Rice 25 minutes before. Naan at the last minute. Christmas Eve A few days before: Buy the camembert, sausages, bacon, bread and cured meats. Make the mince pie pastry. The day before: Bake the mince pies. Wrap the sausages in bacon. On the day: Sausages in the oven 25 minutes before you eat, camembert for the last 15 minutes. Arrange the board while they bake. Anniversary dinner A few days before: Order the beef fillet from the butcher. Buy the pastry and prosciutto. The day before: Make the posset and chill it. Sear the beef and make the mushroom mixture. On the day: Wrap the Wellington in the morning. Bake for 35 minutes. Mash and beans while it rests. Movie night A few days before: Buy the wings, mince and tortilla chips. The day before: Make the beef topping and the salsa. Bake the cookie bars. On the day: Wings in the oven 50 minutes before you eat. Assemble and bake the nachos at the end. Dinner party A few days before: Order the lamb shoulder. Buy the potatoes, cream and bananas. The day before: Bake the meringue and make the toffee sauce. Rub the lamb with garlic and rosemary. On the day: Lamb in the oven about 4 hours 40 minutes before you eat. Dauphinoise goes in after 2 hours 45 minutes. Assemble the pavlova just before serving. SCALING - Scaling up (more guests): multiply the quantities by the number of people, then check the biggest limits: the size of your roasting tin, baking dishes and oven. If a dish will not fit, cook it in two tins or two batches. - Cooking times: do not simply double the time. Roasts need more time by weight, and a bigger dish of dauphinoise or pie filling takes longer to heat through. Wings, sausages and steaks take the same time per piece, but need more space. - The anniversary dinner for 4: use a 700 g fillet, 600 g of mushrooms, 8 slices of prosciutto and 1 sheet of pastry for one large Wellington (bake for 40 to 45 minutes). Double the rest. - The dinner party for fewer: halve the lamb for 3 (a 1.2 kg shoulder, cooking for the same time), halve the potatoes and use a smaller dish, and make the pavlova with 2 egg whites. - Desserts: the mince pies, cookie bars, apple cake and pavlova stretch to extra guests. The posset and the fondant-style desserts are best made to the exact number. EQUIPMENT [ ] A large roasting tin with foil, two large baking trays and a meat thermometer (ribs, wings, lamb, Wellington, sausages) [ ] A large casserole or heavy pan with a lid, and a deep frying pan (coddle, butter chicken, nachos beef) [ ] A 20 cm round or square tin, a 12-hole bun tin, a 20 cm square tin and a large baking dish (cakes, pies, bars, dauphinoise) [ ] A large bowl, an electric whisk, a sieve and a rolling pin (pavlova, posset, pastry) [ ] Ramekins or small glasses for the posset, glasses or bowls for the kheer and the Eton mess [ ] Kitchen paper, cling film, foil and covered containers for the make-ahead steps FOOD SAFETY - Cook pork, sausages, chicken, wings and lamb shoulder right through, with no pink and clear juices. Beef fillet, lamb and steak can be served pink in the middle if you like (the outside is the part that is seared). Use a thermometer for the Wellington. - 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. - Keep raw meat on the bottom shelf, away from other food, and wash your hands, boards and knives after handling it. Use separate plates and tongs for raw and cooked meat. - Defrost frozen joints in the fridge, allowing about 24 hours for a big joint, and overnight for mince and chicken. Never refreeze after defrosting. Do not leave food on the table for more than 2 hours.