My mother made it with icing sugar alone, whereas I mix it with muscovado sugar for its smack of caramel.Since brandy butter keeps so well, it's worth making double quantities, so that there is plenty for mince pies as well as the Christmas pudding.Serves around 8-12240g/8oz unsalted butter, cut in pieces60g/2oz icing sugar60g/2oz light muscovado sugar3 tablespoons brandysqueeze of lemon juicegrated nutmegPut all the ingredients into a processor and process until evenly mixed Pile into two small bowls and smooth down. Store in the fridge (it will keep happily for a week or more), or cover tightly and freeze until needed.MULLED GRAPE JUICE JELLYAs a child, one of my favourite Christmas morning tasks was to decorate the cold lemon souffle my mother made as an alternative to Christmas pudding (the recipe is in her book Good Things.) It remains a favourite, but now I save it for some other festive meal, preferring something less rich. This jelly is light and refreshing, with a flavour that echoes hot mulled wine, but is still suitable for children (both of mine love it). Serve it with scoops of high-quality vanilla ice-cream, or thick rich cream.Serves 8110g/4oz caster sugar1 cinnamon stick3 cloves3 strips orange zestjuice 1 large orange4 allspice berries1 blade mace20g/3/4oz gelatine leaves1 litre/13/4 pints red grape juicePut all the ingredients except the gelatine into a pan and set over a gentle heat. Heat slowly, without letting the mixture boil, until just below simmering point. Turn heat down to a thread, and keep the mixture at this heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally Taste and add a little more sugar if it needs it. Draw off the heat and strain.Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves for three minutes in cold water.

One by one, take each leaf out, shake off excess water, then stir into the hot strained grape juice until completely dissolved. Pour the mixture into a jelly mould (or several moulds) rinsed out with cold water. Leave to cool, then transfer to the fridge to set, allowing a good six hours or so to be on the safe side.. Last Year we published a Christmas list based on the premise that most people want to buy their Christmas wine from one supplier, rather than dashing about choosing different bottles from three, four or five places. There's just too much else to do at this time of year, I reckoned. Judging by the mail that came in, I got the impression that the idea struck a chord So here it is again, in slightly modified form.

Once again the underlying aims were convenience and the household budget. Not "What do I feel like drinking?" but "What can I afford to drink, and where can I buy it easily?" With these assumptions in mind, I asked wine-buyers at some of the major multiples to assemble a set of lists for "shopping by numbers". The requirements: three or four bottles to drink with the traditional Christmas meal of a starter, turkey or goose, and Christmas pudding. The price variables: flexible, but as a rule of thumb I wanted one at pounds 20 or less, one between pounds 20 and pounds 30, and one - dubbed the Fantasy list - for those able to spend more than pounds 30.Here are the results.