'I cook Christmas dinner a month in advance - it tastes just as good as from fresh'

'I cook Christmas dinner a month in advance - it tastes just as good as from fresh'

A mum finished cooking her Christmas dinner a month early - minus the Turkey - to save her three hours in the kitchen on the big day. Claire Gillies, 47, from Harpenden, Hertfordshire, has been preparing her Christmas dinner ahead of time for the last 18 years.

She starts shopping for the meal in November - and preps and cooks it as she goes - before freezing it all in her chest freezer. Claire has the meal frozen by December - a month early - before defrosting it on Christmas day and cooking it in an hour.

She cooks the meat fresh on the day but it says her hack saves her three hours in the kitchen. She says the food is enough to feed her family of six with leftovers for Boxing Day - and Claire spends j