Now that we’re into December, it’s the perfect time to start planning your Christmas table. While most of the planning goes into the food itself – ordering the turkey or being super-organised and ordering the whole Christmas shop ready for pick-up or delivery nearer the big day – it’s important to visualise your tablescape too. Whether it’s Christmas Eve nibbles with cold meats and cheese, the festive dinner with all the trimmings or bubble and squeak on Boxing Day, why not give your table the care and attention it deserves. We’ve picked some of our favourite products that you can buy online at AGA Cookshop, with ideas and inspiration to make your Christmas tabletop stand out…
Let’s start with the glassware. As it’s Christmas, make sure you include flutes, wine glasses and glasses for soft drinks or water. The Empire collection is made from mouth blown glass and is available as gin glasses, champagne flutes, wine glasses, hi-balls and tumblers. They are gift boxed in sets of two, so they make wonderful Christmas presents as well as enhancing your own collection. If you’re hosting a drinks party, serve nuts and nibbles in little olive wood bowls and dishes and keep wine perfectly chilled in a Rangemaster wine cabinet so you’re always ready for unexpected guests.
Perfect for pre-Christmas get-togethers or light snacks after the big day, a charcuterie and cheeseboard is a lovely interactive way to catch up with family and friends. Buy a good selection of hard and soft cheeses as well as salami and ham and serve on a walnut board with charcoal crackers and a fruit chutney. This walnut charcuterie board is made by a local Shropshire craftsman and is hand cut and finished, so each one is bespoke and unique. The timber is supplied by sustainably managed forests so it’s eco-friendly, too.
As well as bowls and boards, the Olive Wood collection also includes salt and pepper mills, salt pot, rolling pin, lemon reamer, salad servers, nut cracker, dishes and pestle and mortar. Mad from Mediterranean olive wood, this tableware is strong and durable with each piece being unique as well as sustainable, as the wood is taken only by pruning fruit bearing trees to create new growth and from dead branches. Use to serve salads, bread, meats, cheese and sides for a festive lunch or supper.
To cook up Christmas dinner on the big day, it’s worth investing in quality cast iron cookware. This Olivine collection comes as a 26cm casserole, 30cm buffet casserole, 26cm square grill pan and griddle. Take straight from oven and hob to table, as the cast iron retains heat well so it helps keep food warm for serving. It also seals in flavour and is handcrafted and made in France using 80% recycled material. It’s also suitable for all fuel types, including induction hobs, and is stick resistant so easy to clean, too.
Hearty stews and casseroles will be full of flavour when cooked in an AGA cast iron casserole. These black and white designs are perfect for slow cooking, so prep your evening meal first thing and let the oven do the rest. They are double enamelled for durability and easy cleaning and suitable for all hob and oven types, including induction. For recipe inspiration, Rangemaster has plenty of mouth-watering meals online here. Check out the Christmas section, which has everything from Yorkshire Pudding and Miso and Maple Glazed Gammon to Mince Pies and Mulled Wine.
Season your festive dishes with salt and pepper that can be easily accessed when cooking with these attractive Forged Salt and Pepper Pots. Handmade in the fires of a Somerset workshop, the ‘black’ stainless steel finish is achieved by heating steel to over 850 degrees, which forms a dark oxide on the surface. The pots are dishwasher safe so easy to clean and look great on the table, too.
Christmas is a time when guests come and go, so it’s handy to always have a bowl of fruit on display so family and friends can help themselves This beautiful Peacock Bowl is perfect for pomegranates or satsumas. It’s hand painted and features blue teardrops outlined in gold to create a peacock feather look.
Here at Rangemaster we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Here’s to a healthy and happy 2023.
