Skye McAlpine's Christmas: Venetian magic, festive feasts and the fun of imperfect gatherings

It is a crisp November afternoon and Skye McAlpine is already thinking about Christmas cakes – not just one, but as many as thirty, all soaked in brandy and destined for friends and family. “The moment I get the dried fruits out with the brandy and start soaking them, that’s when I’m kicking off into the season,” she says, eyes bright with anticipation. For McAlpine, author of A Table in Venice and A Table Full of Love, Christmas is more than a date on the calendar. It is a mood, a run of shared rituals and, above all, a celebration of connection.

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The magic of a Venetian Christmas

McAlpine’s Christmas is a story shaped by two worlds. Raised in Venice from the age of six, she now divides her time between Italy and England, creating a festive season rich with blended traditions. “We usually spend Christmas in Venice,” she says. “We’ll have lots of celebrations in London with friends in the build-up, then just before Christmas, we go out and have Christmas with my mum.” Venice, she insists, is at its most magical in winter: “At Christmas it’s lovely and empty. It’s magic, the tourists are gone and it feels like the city belongs to you.”

Christmas Eve in the McAlpine household nods to Italian custom, with seafood or truffle pasta, followed by midnight mass. “On Christmas Day, my mother always cooks a full English, and turkey with all the trimmings,” she laughs. “It’s a hybrid Christmas. The fun thing about being from one place and growing up in another is you get to pick and choose your traditions.”

Christmas stretched and savoured

McAlpine believes the idea of Christmas as a single day misses the point. “It isn’t one day, it’s a whole moment, a whole season, a feeling,” she says. “Stretching it out makes it less stressful. It’s a source of joy at a time of year that can be quite bleak and miserable.” Her new book The Christmas Companion reflects this spirit, filled with recipes, crafts and simple planning tips. “For a long time, the book’s working title was ‘A Manual for a Happy Christmas’. It’s not about the perfect Christmas, just one that feels right and joyful for you.”

She begins her preparations in mid to late November, armed with lists and diary dates for festive gatherings. “I like to start early, partly because it eases the stress, but mostly because it’s fun to get started,” she says.

Recipes with heart... and a little rebellion

“I’m not a trained chef, not a food scientist. I’m not someone who’s going to reinvent the wheel, I just want to cook what I want to eat,” she says. Her recipes are shaped by story and emotion as much as technique. “What captures me with food is the stories in it, the emotions. Cooking is a love language, a way of articulating feelings we often don’t have words for.”

One of her most loved festive dishes is baked gnocchi with pumpkin, sage and melted cheddar, a “highly controversial” English-Italian mash-up. “It’s almost like a mac and cheese vibe,” she says, “with crumbled panettone on top instead of breadcrumbs. It’s comforting, celebratory and you can make it ahead. It’s a crowd pleaser, but also perfect for a cosy night in.”

The joy of leftovers and embracing imperfection

For McAlpine, the best part of Christmas might be the leftovers. “I genuinely almost think the leftovers are better,” she says. “There’s something about the magic of leftovers; the Christmas sandwich is the best thing in the world, with roast potatoes and cranberry sauce all in one bite.” Her tip? “Don’t reheat, don’t serve fridge-cold, let things come to room temperature. Most things are completely delicious that way.”

She is refreshingly open about shortcuts and shop-bought treats. “I always serve ready-made stuff, I take all the shortcuts I can. If something’s really good, like panettone, I would never make my own. But brandy butter, that I always make myself, nothing shop-bought compares.”

A season of abundance not perfection

What does good food mean to Skye McAlpine? “It’s all about the people, really, isn’t it? It’s the people you eat with, the memories and the feeling of abundance. I always like the feeling that there’s plenty, not just two roast potatoes on your plate and that’s all you’re getting.” For her, food should be comforting, not challenging or formal. “It’s not pretentious, just delicious.”

She has had her share of mishaps, including the time she accidentally served a friend with a nut allergy a bowl of chilled almond soup. “He had his EpiPen, he was fine, but it’s quite hard to pedal back from actually poisoning one of your friends!” she says, laughing.

McAlpine’s Christmas is a reminder that the heart of the season is not perfection but warmth, generosity and the stories shared at the table. As she puts it, “Christmas is about making a happy one, not the best one. One that feels right for you.”