Christmas Eve. It’s too late now for anyone to change Santa’s ‘Naughty and Nice’ list, He’s already left the North Pole, Rudolph and Co pulling his sleigh through the stars. Have you hung up your stockings?  If you’ve got kids in the house, they’re bound to be worn out with excitement by the time darkness falls. Make sure you take them out to look at the night sky before they go to bed, to see if they can see the man in red, winging his way  across the sky. This writer remembers as a small girl, being lifted high in to the air in Daddy’s arms, for Santa spotting on Christmas Eve! Santa’s  imminent arrival is always a good excuse to get the children into bed early on this special night of the year. After they are tucked up and fast asleep,  we  hope you will be enjoying some quality Irish food from our esteemed Good Food Ireland artisan producers,  with a bottle of something nice, before the glee of present opening begins at the crack of dawn! Christmas Eve food should be non fussy and easy. We particularly like the simple ideas – a baked soft Irish farmhouse cheese like Cooleeney or Milleens, served warm from the oven with bread or crackers for scooping. Or a few slivers of artisan Burren or Connemara Smokehouse Smoked Salmon on home made brown bread, enjoyed in front of the fire. There will be plenty of cooking to be done on Christmas Day. No need to stress this eve.  Hark – we think we hear the distant sounds of sleigh bells! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas…