’Tis the the season to be truly joyous and what better way to celebrate than to throw a giant-sized Christmas party that will have the whole town talking? The festive spirit alone will see you sailing through the preparations and of course, we’re here to give you a hand (metaphorically speaking).

Decorations? Check. The nibbles? Check. The toasts and the treats? Check, check. And surely, music to make sure that the party is rocking. So take a dekko at what the city’s offering and go throw yourself the biggest bash of the season. It’s partytime, folks!

DECKING UP

First things first. Christmas is synonymous with colours, lights, bells and more and you can’t dream of throwing a party without the perfect Christmas tree and lights and all the works. Head to New Market, where there are stacks of trees of all sizes for you to choose from. A 2-ft tree would come at about Rs 350, while the 6-ft one — a beauty — would cost about Rs 2,500. Another place where you can find Christmas trees is Starmark at South City Mall. A beautiful Christmas green, the 4-ft tree comes for Rs 1,299.

But if you want to keep things low key yet opulent, grab a limited edition Christmas tree from Lladró. It’s priced at a whopping Rs 1.75 lakh and is a show stealer in its own right. This will definitely — and it had better be, at that price — the conversation piece of the party.

New Market is a veritable treasure house for all sorts of decorations and lights you may want to pick up. Check out the dazzling bunch of red, golden or blue bells with tiny balls hanging from them. They are priced between Rs 300 and Rs 550 each, depending on the size.

Red, blue, green and golden balls to add sparkle to your Christmas tree come at Rs 20 per packet, and colourful wreaths of faux mistletoe (very handy for a light-hearted do) would come for Rs 40 each. As for candy sticks, you’ll have to shell out only Rs 60 for a pack of 12.

You can also drop into Mini Flower on Mirza Ghalib Street. Lights in the shape of balls, bears and stars are irresistible and come between Rs 100 and Rs 170, while decorations for trees come between Rs 60 and Rs 220 per packet. You can even pick up the pack of six silver and golden angels here for Rs 100. And for those who’d rather revel in the luxe feel, Swarovski has a whole range of crystal Christmas decorations in myriad shapes — stars, winter birds, angels and more. Price on request.

RAISING A TOAST

What’s a party without the festive spirit? If you’d rather not play bartender yourself, just go and pick up a few bottles to start with. For the rest, you can always depend on the Christmas spirit of your guests. The city’s hotels and stores are bringing you some amazing wines this season, and for jaw-dropping prices too.

The Hyatt is a real boon for time-starved souls. At The Bakery, the hotel’s gourmet shop, you get customised hampers with Christmas puddings, stollen, cookies and more with imported champagnes and full-bodied red wines that you can pick and choose. The price is on request though, informs Chef Mohit Khanna, executive chef at The Hyatt.

The Street Café at Park Hotel is another pit stop. A bottle of Beaujolais and a Rocadet Merlot could be yours for Rs 2,500. A Terrazas comes for about Rs 3,000 here and a bottle of Alamos would cost about the same.

Spencers at South City Mall has a fine collection of wines this festive season too. And they’re going all out to introduce mulled wines to the city’s swish set. Not only will you get a Longchamps Rouge (Rs 680) or a 2005 Beaujolais Village Henry Fessy (Rs 1,185) at the wine store.

The DIY brigade will also find packs of spices to make mulled wines at home. Each such pack, containing cloves, cinnamon, ginger and so on in a muslin cover, comes for a mere Rs 100 and is potent enough for an entire bottle of wine. What’s more, they’ll tell you how to make it too!

BITE RIGHT

Now hungry guests can prove to be quite a handful. Keep the supply of calories handy and you know you’re in the winning lane. To add that personal touch, try making some of the goodies at home and we have a couple of tips from the experts.

Rajesh Dubey, executive chef, Speciality Restaurants, suggests Crab Rangoon, a perennial party favourite. The sweet delicate flavour of crabmeat and the crunchy texture of deep fried wonton make for an intriguing combination, says the chef.

Crab Rangoon

Ingredients: 200gm fresh crab meat, drained and flaked • 200gm cream cheese • 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce • 1/2 tsp light soy sauce • 1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper, to taste • 1½ green onions, finely sliced • 1 large clove of garlic, finely minced • 1tsp chopped red onions • 1 packet wonton wrappers • 1 small bowl of water for wetting wontons • Oil for deep-frying

Method: Mix the crabmeat and the cream cheese. Add the remaining ingredients one at a time. On a flat surface, lay out a wonton wrapper and wet the edges. Add a teaspoon of filling to each wanton wrapper and fold over the edges of the wrapper so that it forms a triangle. Seal the edges, adding more water if needed. Cover up the rangoons with a damp towel to prevent them from drying out. Then, heat the wok and add oil. When the oil is hot, slide in the crab rangoons. Deep-fry until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Cool and serve.

Sujan Mukherjee, executive chef, Taj Bengal suggests a delectable stuffed portobello dish that suits the festive mood completely.

Gorgonzola stuffed portobello

Ingredients: For the mushrooms: • 50gm fresh breadcrumbs • 4 portobello mushrooms • 100gm gorgonzola crumbled • 25gm pine nuts

For the salad: A handful of fresh basil • 50gm rocket lettuce • A handful of fresh parsley • 40gm pears, sliced thinly • 1tbs extra virgin olive oil • salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the cranberry relish: 5ml olive oil • 10gm onion, chopped • 2ml red wine vinegar • 5gm brown sugar • 50gm cranberries

Method: For the stuffed mushrooms, make the stuffing with basil, chopped portobello, gorgonzola and pine nuts. Clean the portobello, scrape off the hair from the mushrooms and stuff the mushrooms. Grill the portobello in olive oil, put breadcrumbs on top and put it in the oven. Make the rocket and pear salad. For the cranberry relish, heat oil in a saucepan, put in onions, vinegar, sugar and cranberries and cook for 5-6 minutes. To serve, place the salad on a plate with the mushrooms on top and the relish spooned over.

SWEET NOTHINGS

You’ve probably got the cakes coming in and puddings make the whole affair too messy. Marzipans and chocolates in colourful wrapped boxes are probably adding themselves in a steady heap on your coffee table. To give your guests a taste of something more, there are two easy-do recipes at hand.

Chef Harpawan Singh Kapoor, Senior sous chef — Pastry at ITC The Sonar suggests Zimtsterne cookies — a traditional part of Christmas in Germany.

Zimtsterne cookies

Makes 3 1/2 dozen, 2-in cinnamon star cookies.

Ingredients: 4 egg whites • 390gm powdered sugar • 400gm raw almond powder • 2tsp ground cinnamon • 1 oz. Kirschwasser

Method: For the meringue, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, beating for a minute between each addition. Continue beating for five minutes after the last addition. The meringue should be very stiff. Set some aside for icing. Add the raw almond powder, cinnamon and the Kirschwasser to the meringue and chill for about an hour to form the cookie dough. Then, using ample powdered sugar on your baking board, pat the dough into a square, ½-in thick. Cut out stars with a cookie cutter. Powder the cookie cutter with icing sugar between each cut. Then, place the stars on a non-stick cookie sheet. Spread the icing on each star, working it out to all the points. Dry for 24 hours. The next day, heat the oven to 325°F. Place the cookies on baking trays and bake each tray for 10-15 minutes. Remove the cookies before the icing turns brown. Store in a dry place at room temperature.

Sanjeev Kumar Mishra, senior sous chef, Flurys, suggests a Christmas Baklava Roll, a fitting fusion of eastern and western culinary art and perfect for the festive season, he feels.

Christmas Baklava Roll

Baking time: 15-20 min. Baking temp: 180°C

No. Of Portions: 4

Ingredients: Christmas mixed fruits • 20gm chopped mixed peels • 55gm cashew nuts, broken • 25gm cherries, chopped • 25gm walnuts, broken • 50gm Tutti Fruitty • 100gm raisins • 15gm almonds, broken • 100gm green apple, chopped • 25ml orange juice • 15gm jam • 15ml rum • 10ml beer • 2gm garam masala • 2gm ginger powder • 6 phyllo pastry sheets • 20gm butter for greasing • 25ml honey

Method: Mix all the fruits together and soak in the liquors for a few days. Grease the phyllo pastry sheets, stuff with the fruit mix, nuts, jam, orange juice, spices and ginger powder and roll them. Apply butter again on top, arrange on a tray and bake at 180°C till they turn golden brown. Pour honey over the baklava, cool and serve.

MUSIC MANIA

If you’re planning to host the best party in town, you’ve got to pick out the choicest music to keep your guests on their feet. So, from evergreen classics to Xmas hymns to dance music, make sure you have a balanced collection for the night.

On top of the classics list is Nat King Cole’s hugely popular album, The Christmas Song (Rs 395) and Bob Dylan’s first Xmas album, Christmas in the Heart (Rs 399), both of which are available at M3 at South City Mall. More must-buys are Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone (Rs 599), which includes his Xmas hits, The best Christmas of them all and Blue Christmas and the Essential Country Christmas Album — Silver Bells (Rs 399), a 3-CD collection that includes folksy-renditions of popular Xmas songs like Senor Santa Claus (Jim Reeves), Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (John Denver) and Joy to The World (Johnny Cash). Both are available at Starmark.

To get the party going, you could buy the Xmas Dance album (Rs 360), a compilation of tracks featuring artists like Tiesto, The Edge, ATB and more. Or, go for Sting’s brand new Xmas album – If On a Winter’s Night — though this one’s yet to hit the city’s stores.

A word of encouragement: in case you don’t find these albums on store racks, there’s always the Internet.

Compiled by Suktara Ghosh, Tania Bhattacharya and Anindita Mitra; Photographs by Rashbehari Das