Christmas in a Crisis: Delia's original article for the charity Crisis at Christmas

"So Britain is in a crisis.

We are engulfed in rhetoric, black holes loom large, lights fade at the end of tunnels, the euro is on its uppers, and the financial markets wobble on a daily basis. To heat or not to eat that is the question, invoking discussion on phone-ins and chatlines. Given that Christmas is only a matter of days away and people are struggling, it's time we think to set about doing something positive here at Deliaonline. I for one am confident that whilst some of us in Britain might be broke we are certainly not in any way shape or form broken, as some would suggest. Hate to admit it but I am old enough to remember large family Christmases at the end of the war, they were very merry indeed in spite of shortages. If the spirit of our nation was not crushed then, I am quite sure it wont be now.

That said, right here team Delia has taken up the challenge. We’ve set about engaging in some intricate research, shopped, calculated, tested and cooked. The results: HOLY WOW!; Even we can hardly believe it! I’ve always known cooking at home saves a load of money but it is quite astonishing how this really kicks in at Christmas. So if you are someone in need of help we have some very good news for you, because you can serve (even if I say it myself), a mouth watering sumptuous three-course Christmas lunch for 6 people for under £5 head! Can you believe that’s less than the cost of two large cappuccinos? You’ll find the breakdown of prices in the menu below. I can’t ever remember being this excited after a week’s recipe testing. The most exciting bit of all being that everything homemade is quite certainly far more luxurious and flavoursome than anything that came out of a factory!  Get to it then, no excuses. If you don’t know how to make pastry etc. all you have to do is press a button here on Delia Online".

Delia's fee was donated to the charity Crisis at Christmas.

Christmas Menu for 6 People

(Per person cost in menu as of November 2019)

Warm Potato Blinis with Smoked Salmon
Crème Fraiche and Dill
(Total cost per person 90p)

Braised Turkey Drumsticks with Port and Chestnuts
Served with Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing,
Bacon Rolls, Roast Chestnuts and Cranberry Sauce
(Total cost per person £2.01)

Roast Potatoes, Parsnips and Brussels Sprouts
(Total cost per person 68p)

Delia’s Christmas Pudding with Brandy Sauce
(Total cost per person 86p)

Extras

Traditional Christmas Fruit Cake
(Total cost 34p per slice)

Absolutely Homemade Mince Pies (18)
(Total cost 12p each)

Note: the costings above are solely for the ingredients used in each dish. In the event you may well already have a number of store-cupboard ingredients - such as flour, oil, sugar, spices, red wine, spirits etc - in which case the costs will be much lower. Shop bought Christmas cake and Mince pies versus Homemade

Bought luxury decorated Christmas cake = £1.04 per slice verses 34p for the equivalent weight of our homemade cake

Based on weight shop bought luxury mince pies would be 37p for the equivalent weight of a homemade mince pie at 12p