The holidays almost here and - for some of us - the task of big parties, lots of entertaining and high expectations planning is crucial. Even a small family 'get together' in our own home needs planning and the tips I have to offer below relate as much to the private chef as they do to all households. At work and at home most questions are the same. Who will be staying this year and for how long? More importantly when do the guests arrive? Does anyone on the invited list have any food allergies? Are they regular guests? Do they have favorite dishes or foods we have to avoid? Do we have any culinary traditions to remember and incorporate into our menu planning?

At Buckingham Palace the royal family would head off to Sandringham House around December 22nd The rest of the guests arrived Christmas eve and food gifts had to be tagged, logged and stored. Hampers with smoked turkeys, foie gras en croute, parma ham, teas and chocolate were all unpacked to await further instructions. Prince Charles arrived with fruit and vegetables from his own organic garden, with orders to have the produce served at the royal table. Prince Andrew brought boxes of mangoes with more instructions attached for the kitchen staff. Often arriving house guests turn up with foods as a gift. Try to incorporate these into the menu, nothing makes the guest more special that seeing his or her produce being served at the table and sharing a little anecdote or two about its origin.

The queen mother will be here for a week, must remember to order melon for her breakfast. Princess Diana will want pink grapefruit and William and Harry a full cooked breakfast each morning. All of these requests had to be noted and food ordered to make the holiday stay run smoothly. Individual requests that all go towards making the guests feel comfortable and welcome.

Of course, planning is the most important part of the holiday period and it can't start too soon. Weeks and sometimes month's ahead the chef or designated cook should be working out menus, testing new recipes and planning food orders and sourcing new ingredients to arrive on time and be of the best quality. Consider family favorite dishes that are certain to be requested and also find out any allergies, likes or dislikes of new guests to the table. The least number of 'surprises' on the day the better.

So, where do we start with our planning, what comes first? We need to know if we are going to be working on a budget, an important first stage. No point buying foie-gras from France for canapés if the purse strings have been tightened this year, consider making your own pate, maybe from chicken livers, cheap and yummy.

Anything that can be ordered and purchased ahead of time is a bonus. I always add at least an hour on to my food shopping trips during the holiday period just for traffic alone. Standing in line at check outs frustrates me; I know I don't have the time to be there and this valuable time could be spent baking pastries or preparing vegetables. If your job dictates that you have to shop for your own produce then make a point of shopping out of hours. I often shop at six o'clock in the morning on my way to work or eight in the evening on my way home. I can whiz around the store then and am often the only one shopping. Now don't you all start doing that or you are going to slow me down (smiles)

Look at your shopping list and divide it into groups. Ambient foods can be purchased days ahead of time, won't spoil and nor will they take up valuable refrigerator space. Meats are always 'picked over' if you leave it too late. Have you ever seen the lines stretching out of the store and around the corner at these famous ham stores? Fresh turkeys may as well sit in your refrigerator as the stores. Dairy produce and fresh breads (you mean you don't make your own? - smiles) are the last minute items. But if you have got organized and shopped for everything else in advance these few bits won't take long to shop for, especially if you go early morning.

In the kitchen, look at your menu. So many pies, puddings and pastries can be made ahead of time and frozen freeing valuable time for last minute items. Vegetables, if properly wrapped and stored can also be trimmed and peeled. Guests nearly always make a visit to the kitchen, so a little time spent cleaning and tidying prior to arrivals is well worth making a note of too.

If the host is flexible then take the lead on deciding what will work best for food service. Plated sit down dinners are fine but can be a bit stuffy if there will be a lot of younger guests. Buffets work well for large groups because guests can help themselves to the foods they like and also the quantity they want too. Bear in mind though buffets are harder work, often needing multiple items to fill the table.

Take a look at the equipment in your kitchen and plan your menu accordingly. Do you have enough pots, pans and dishes for the entrée and dessert? These can of course be purchased months in advance. For large numbers I always try and do a salad for the first course. It can be prepared ahead of time and frees up my stove top for the entrée. But don't use strawberries and summer ingredients. It has to be earthy ingredients and comfort foods. If the weather is bad then a pot of soup made weeks before and thawed out on the day makes sense. All you have to concentrate on then is a lavish garnish in the center of the soup bowl, think lobster meat or lump crab to finish the dish and wow the guests.

Read the testimonials from past events...

Absolutely awesome!!!!!!! Darren is quite the chef and personality. I really can't believe how fortunate we were to have him in Door County. My phone has been ringing off the hook with congratulations!
~ Shaun Tauber, United Way of Door County

Where do I begin?????????????? Darren is remarkable, the event was spectacular! LOVE him! Thank you so very much!
~ Cathie Upton, Meals on Wheels

Thank you again so much for introducing us to Chef McGrady. Darren was absolutely wonderful!
~ Larry Airey, Lake Norman Home Show

Darren was a superstar.
~Tiffany Flanagan, John Hancock

Darren, EVERYBODY was in love with you. Diageo, the crew, the media, the guy from the fruit tent and myself included. I could not imagine a better professional than you. As I told you before, you are a complete show man and you will always have a friend in Brazil. Thank you very, very much.
~Flavio Sampaio, Diageo of Brazil

Darren is the best chef in the whole wide universe but never kept his bedroom tidy.
~Darrens Mum, UK. (LAUGHS)

Darren is available for;

Corporate Events * Culinary Demonstrations * Food Fairs * Food Festivals * Grand Openings * Media Work * Personal Appearances * Private Parties * Product Development * Product Endorsements * Product Launch * Public Relations * Radio Interviews * Television Appearances * Trade Shows

Consulting for American Airlines

In the summer - gosh it seems so long ago now - I was in London working with American Airlines developing new entrees for their First Class, Business Class passengers. My dishes will be on the menu on all AA flights from Europe to the USA.

The dishes rotate each month so that the frequent flier doesn't get too bored of the same dish. Last month the oatmeal crusted pork tenderloin stuffed with apple, sage and bacon along with chicken breast stuffed with Cumberland sausage were on the menu.

This month, premium passengers will be treated to cottage pie, a traditional British comfort food dish that I used to cook at least once a week for Prince William and Harry when I was at Kensington Palace. And also a honey-lime Chicken dish with Polenta, one of Princess Diana's favorites.

The chicken recipe is on my website if you want to try it out at home. Also, if you are flying off for the holidays on American Airlines, don't forget to read the article on my consulting with AA in the January issue of American Way magazine.

York Street, Dallas...
With the current credit crunch hitting everyone's pocketbook, eating out is usually the first to go. Maybe why it was so easy to get a table Saturday night at York Street, Sharon Hages restaurant in East Dallas. It was a rare night out with "foodie" friends and we all were in the mood for some fine dining to compliment the fine company. York Street is up there with places like Aurora and the Ritz when it comes to quality food, because of Sharon Hage and her 42 seater restaurant where the menu changes daily. I was excited.

It took a while for us to find the restaurant, tucked away in a little corner on Lewis Street with an exterior that could be mistaken for a massage parlor with its frosted front window, which is probably to obscure the ugly gas station forecourt it faces. As you enter the restaurant it's like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice in wonderland. The place is so small and as if to emphasize this a giant potato peeler hangs on the wall, had we really shrunk? Tables were packed so tightly together that each seat reminded me of the "middle seat" on the plane, fighting for the arm rest as the person next to you scratches his nose.

The menu changes daily and is small, so is the font size it is typed in (isn't everything here) The special was Veal Sweetbreads; I love them and asked how they were cooked. "However she chooses to do them once you have ordered them" said the waiter. And can I pay for them whatever I feel I want too once I have eaten them? I wanted to ask. Two of us had the foie gras and it tasted delicious, though the portion was a little "small" - here we go again. I had the sweetbread which Sharon chose to serve breaded. They were good. So were the sardines.

Entrees, we chose braised rabbit and roast pork. It was OK. Nicely cooked, as I expected, but the wow factor was as absent as was the salt and pepper from the table. I guess Sharon chooses to season for us too. We declined dessert; you had to order it before you ate your first course and as we were still munching on the complimentary appetizer nuts and olives who knew if we would want dessert later or be too full? Sharon did come into the restaurant and walk the tables, like Alice looking for the tea party. But we were already on our way back into the big world outside and the Tipperary Inn across the road, but more on that later.

You leave Fearings and Aurora with the wow factor but that just didn't kick in at York Street. It's not that Sharon can't cook, she has won more medals than (my brother) Sylveste for her culinary skills. Maybe fine dining is also about location, maybe it's' the whole experience and not just the food. I left thinking " I wonder what Sharon Hage could really do - in a life size restaurant"

Already planning vacation for next year? Let me tell you about a couple of cool trips for foodies who like to travel. In June I will be in Jamaica again, this time at Superclubs Grand Lido Negril resort and spa for the annual "Epicurean Escape" They have some great chefs lined up and some amazing culinary events - more information on it in next month's newsletter - just remember though, if you are planning vacation and love to cook as well as chill in sunny Jamaica then this might be for you. Yeah Mon!

Another heads up for next year is my culinary tour to Edinburgh, Scotland. On the back of the fabulous trip we did to London in the summer I have teamed up with Southlake Travel again for a trip to Edinburgh. It will be in August because that means we can be there for Edinburgh Festival week and see the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle.

Highlights of the trip will be a tour of the Queens yacht HMY Britannia; where I cooked for two US presidents on board and also a tour of Holyrood Palace; I cooked there for Her Majesty when she entertained there every year. Much, much more information on this trip coming soon, so keep checking out for it on my website

Click the link below to see part of my "Royal Tea Party" on PBS. In this clip I am demonstrating royal tea scones with clotted cream. I will have the full two hour show on my web site soon.

click here to watch the clip

The holidays are always the most wasteful time of the year when it comes to food. It's weird; we all stock up our pantries like hibernating bears. I think it dates back to the days of when stores closed over the holiday period and none of us wanted to run out of food with guests staying at the house.

Everyone eats until they are full and then has some more, but there is still always so much food left over. For me this is where philanthropy jumps in, find out ahead of time where the local food bank is or homeless shelter.
Even a elderly person you know that doesn't have family and might be alone over the holidays.

Your kitchen leftovers can turn into the best holiday gift that person will receive this year.

Happy holidays and get planning!