Curtis Stone lays out Christmas Game Plan to keep holiday chaos at bay

Celebrity chef Curtis Stone has unveiled a practical Christmas Game Plan for home cooks, emphasizing planning and prep to keep the holiday feast from spiraling into kitchen chaos. The Coles ambassador spoke to the Daily Mail during the 2025 Coles Christmas Lunch, outlining a strategy that any first-time host can follow.

Stone described mise en place as the starting point: 'What you need to do first is write down all the things you want to serve.' He added: 'Then make a list of all the jobs you have to do to prepare and make those dishes. In a professional kitchen we call it mise en place.' He warned that you end up with a 'crazy amount of stuff' and recommended analyzing the list to separate tasks that can only be done on the day. 'Look at your list and put little asterisks next to all the things that can only be done on the day,' he advised. By sorting tasks, the lead-up becomes a pre-Christmas period of preparation, leaving a minimum of last-minute work for the big day.

Stone also underscored a hosting philosophy: 'The best hosts have the most fun.' He said that if a host is stressed, guests pick up on it, while a relaxed host signals warmth. 'If you go to someone's house and they're stressing, it makes you uneasy. But if they're larger than life, you feel like you can be too. So you can't put too much stress on the day.' He added a practical note: 'I'm always a big advocate for asking people to dig in' and letting guests help in the kitchen or bring a dish, spreading the load so everyone feels part of it.

A True Blue 2025 Christmas Menu

Coles Development Chef Michael Weldon argued that a strategic plan can reduce cooking stress by leaning into cold dishes first in hot-weather Australia. 'I always say: start cold - especially here in Australia where the weather is hot at Christmas,' Weldon told Daily Mail. 'Go for prawns, cold cuts like ham and a salad, maybe even featuring fantastic stone fruit that's in season at this time of year.' He cautioned against crowding the oven with multiple hot courses. 'What you don't want is to clog up your oven and cooking area with two hot courses.' He noted the oven can be a friend for 'set it and forget it' preparations like roasts and baked vegetables. He pointed to Coles Finest Boneless Chicken Prosciutto Wrapped Fromager D'affinois, $28, and a Dukkah Spiced Cauliflower Kit, $15, as showstoppers that require minimal effort beyond popping them in the oven and setting a timer. 'Set it and forget it' foods, Weldon said, help minimize time spent in the kitchen. He added that these strategies align with a broader move toward simpler, impressive components that don’t monopolize the oven.

What’s Off The Menu This Year

Curtis Stone said traditional flavors endure, but one classic item is increasingly sidelined in Australia: the whole cooked turkey. 'We'll always have turkeys available, and some people will always want that traditional meal at Christmas time,' he said. 'But unless you're cooking for a huge number of people, it doesn't make a tonne of sense, apart from tradition.' He noted the timing challenge: 'With turkey - because it's so big - I always have trouble cooking it. By the time the legs are done, the crown is quite dried out.' He also questioned what to do with leftovers when an oversized main occupies the oven. 'And then what do you do with all that leftover turkey? It takes up the entire oven so there's no space for anything else. For me, there's a lot of reasons not to do a turkey.' The research underpinning Weldon's team echoes this sentiment, highlighting a shift toward a variety of smaller meal components on the festive table to accommodate different preferences and dietary needs.

Tradition Meets Transition

Beyond cooking, the Christmas plan for Stone and his family reflects changing routines. Stone and his actress wife, Lindsay Price, and their two sons, Emerson and Hudson, spend Christmas either in Australia with his family or at their US home. The celebrations typically tilt toward close relatives, with his mother and brother appearing in Australia. Stone says they often cook more than they need, a ritual he admits he enjoys because leftovers spark new ideas for meals.

In a nod to family tradition, Stone plans to tackle a Christmas cake this year with his mother, a dish he has not prepared before, while noting Americans’ tastes diverge from that dish’s familiar flavors. He joked that his wife might not share the cake passion, given the different culinary palates across continents.

The core of Stone’s message is simple: Christmas is an opportunity to slow down and be with loved ones. 'Christmas is that moment when the whole world sort of stops. You slow right down. It's just you and your family, and that's really special.' He added that the holiday is built around shared feasts and meaningful moments, not perfection in the kitchen: 'We do all the most important things in our life around good food — we get married with a big feast, we celebrate our birthdays with big feasts — and Christmas is obviously one of those.'