A mid-winter celebration with friends and family is a great way to cheer everyone up when the nights are long and the days are wet and chilly. Candles glowing everywhere, a hot toddy steaming in a gorgeous glass followed by a scrumptious feast; there’s no better way to banish the winter blues!  Style is all about expressing your personality.  This certainly extends to the dining table! You won’t be surprised to hear that The Warehouse gets my tick of approval for quality Homeware goodies to help achieve your desired look.  

If you are planning a mid-winter get together, here are a few tips from me:

- Use this great opportunity as a practice run for the Christmas, and go all out with the ham, turkey or roast of pork and a pile of golden roast potatoes.  Divvy up the jobs too and get everyone to bring a plate.

- Take the pressure off the clean-up by using gorgeous ‘oven to table to dishwasher’ dishes, bowls and platters from Harrison and Lane . One of my favourite brands, it’s a quality range, priced well, with a mix of some beautiful bright colours to liven up your table, and classic white for simple elegance.  A minimum of a 2 year warranty on the entire Harrison and Lane range gives you peace of mind – who else does that?!

- Invest in a Harrison and Lane Roaster with Lid .  I use this all year round in the oven or on the covered barbeque.  The stainless steel is easy to wash, withstands the heat and the lid traps any steam, creating mouth-watering tenderness in your chicken, beef, lamb or pork.

- Every roast needs a good carving knife.  And mid-winter is when you need to take stock of your knife-block.  Do you have a sharp carver?  Do you have a good quality paring knife or bread knife?  

- Bring the colours and shades of winter inside with gorgeous branches trimmed from a tree that has lost all its leaves.  They can make a striking statement in a large vase, and they’re free!

- String fairy lights through the trees and shrubs of your winter garden for a festive look.  In fact, you could leave them up all year round and flick them on whenever you need a bit of a lift in the evening.

- Get out your Arcosteel stockpot for a hearty vegetable or creamy soup as a starter.  And feel free to add potato and vegetable leftovers to a simple chicken stock to enjoy the following day. Easy!

- If you are lucky enough to have any leftovers from your mid-winter Christmas dinner use them up in a Shepherd’s Pie (roast beef leftovers), Chicken or Turkey pie or fricassee or a thick Pea and Ham Soup.  You can find all sorts of recipes on ecook.co.nz.

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