The food and drink sheet, divided into eight headed sections rather than one long column: starters and nibbles, the main, vegetables and sides, sauces and stuffing, pudding and baking, cheese and biscuits, drinks, and extras and store cupboard. Each heading carries a small reminder of what belongs under it, and every line has a narrow quantity column beside it.
Sections stop things being forgotten
A single list is written in the order things occur to you, which means the bread sauce and the foil get left off because nobody thought of them. Eight headings prompt in the order a Christmas table is actually built, and the grey hints under each one do the rest: crisps, olives, pate under the first, foil, candles, bin bags under the last.
The extras and store cupboard section is the one that earns the sheet. Foil, candles, batteries and bin bags are not food, so they never make it onto a food list, and they are what you end up driving out for on the twenty fourth.
The quantity column
Every section has its own narrow column headed qty running down the right. Writing six against sprouts rather than a tick is what makes the list work for a table of twelve, and it is also what stops a second trip for cream.
There are six ruled lines under each heading on the single sheet version, forty eight lines in all, which is enough for most households without leaving half a page empty.
Two sheets if you are cooking for a crowd
The writing room control switches between One sheet and Two sheets. Two sheets puts four sections on each page and doubles the lines under every heading to twelve, and each page is marked sheet one of two or sheet two of two at the top.
That version is worth printing if you are catering for more than about eight, doing two sittings, or buying for somebody else's house as well as your own.
Questions
- What sections are on the Christmas shopping list?
- Eight: starters and nibbles, the main, vegetables and sides, sauces and stuffing, pudding and baking, cheese and biscuits, drinks, and extras and store cupboard.
- How many lines are there to write on?
- Six under each of the eight headings on the single sheet, which is forty eight lines in total. The two sheet setting raises it to twelve lines under each heading across two pages.
- Is there a column for how many I need?
- Yes. Each section has a narrow column headed qty down its right hand side, so a number can go beside every item rather than a tick. It is the column that matters for a large table.
- Can I type the list before I print it?
- Yes. The shopping for and date fields and every line are text boxes, and what you type comes out in the PDF. Most people print it blank and write in the aisle instead.