The Christmas countdown has begun, which means there’s no time like the present to embrace the festive spirit. And no better way to celebrate all that the holiday season has to offer, than by picking up a copy of our bumper new December January edition.

Granted, this festive season will be different to previous years… there will be limits on guest numbers, domestic travel restrictions and plenty of hand sanitiser, but rather than bemoan all of 2020’s challenges, trials and limits, we’ve opted to make every Christmas moment count. In this edition, we’ve decided to help you have the best possible time in the current circumstances.

We’re also unveiling a brand new service: delicious. Drinks Delivered, which –– for the very first time –– allows you to have each recipe’s ideal vino partner delivered directly to your doorstep. Each month, delicious. Drinks Delivered will bring you a selection of exquisite wines, hand-picked by our wine experts to pair perfectly with the recipes from each edition. To read more about it, head to the delicious. Drinks Delivered page.

Inside, you’ll find out bumper Christmas gift guides for books, drinks, gadgets, table settings and food, along with a whole host of our favourite Christmas recipes.

Cookie queen Helena Moursellas rolls, cuts and ices her way to cookie crowning glory in Merry & Bright; Yotam Ottolenghi shares a zesty, comforting and joyful lemon sponge upside down cake; and the Studd Siblings create a cheesy Gruyère gratin that will cap off your Christmas feast perfectly.

Food Director Phoebe Wood delivers a Christmas Eve feast for the books, including a decidedly Aussie mango version of the classic dark and stormy; as well as our cover recipe, Turkish delight pavlova with raspberry sherbet. Kirsten Jenkins rediscovers and reinvents some classic entertaining recipes from the 1980s, including prawn cocktails, blinis and vol-au-vents.

If you’re looking for summer salads and seafood, then you’ve come to the right place. Emma Knowles is sharing some fresh takes on iceberg lettuce, including a spiced potato and yoghurt platter and a zesty iceberg and pea salad with minty dressing; and Rick Stein whips up some of his favourite summer seafood dishes, from cured salmon to spicy tuna tostadas to tempura oysters, they have your holiday entertaining sorted.

Some of your favourite chefs come bearing the gift of snacks and cocktails, including Monty Koludrovic’s epic spicy chicken wings, Matt Moran’s ham-and-cheese bread and Silvia Colloca’s tomato foccacia. Phoebe Wood’s nostalgia-inspired Christmas desserts will make any celebration a little sweeter: from a unique take on the classic bombe Alaska to a pistachio and cranberry nougat trifle… there’s truly something that will speak to every palate.

And last, but definitely not least, Dominic Smith and Helena Moursellas are sharing their zero waste guide to Christmas banquet leftovers, and showing you how to create the most lavish Boxing Day brunch ever.

You’ll find all that, and so much more in the bumper December January edition of delicious. on sale now.