Rukmini aka Trumatter shares tips to 'sleigh' Christmas preps like a pro

Smrithi Mohan

24 Dec 2020 14:42 IST

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Interior Designer Rukmini aka Trumatter shares her home decor and Christmas baking tips to fill your home with the spirits of the season.

Rukmini is an Interior designer who began her blog Trumatter to document her everyday life. Her realisation of the love that she shares in creating the feeling of home wherever she goes propelled her to continue with her blogging and recreate the magic for other houses.

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She is one of the few decorators who began the celebration of the season at an earlier stage sharing her ideas with her followers. Focusing on the spirit of the season and guiding the people with their Christmas decor ideas, Rukmini has been spreading joy. She believes that the famous thing about Christmas and the holiday season it's certainly the feeling. “The holiday season really resonates with me and I love it. And, of course, I love the fact that having boozy Christmas cake is completely acceptable in the middle of the day.” She knows for a fact that one can just blame it on the weather and have a few extra cinnamon buns, put up twinkly lights, cozy up and watch movies.

She believes that if one has the eye they can find inspirations from around them. It can be ‘anything, a snippet from a hallmark movie, Pinterest, Instagram, or any vintage book’.

No matter how much you enjoy Christmas, prepping for it is never easy. Which is why Trumatter aka Rukmini has shared some expert tips that you can follow to reduce your stress and make Christmas merrier.

Expert tips to kill last minute stress:

Get your supplies, a little ahead of hand so you are not stressed out at the last minute.
If you have an idea of what you're going to cook, write it down and the supplies, which will help you, again, a couple of things that you can plan pre Christmas dinner
Christmas pudding can be cooked well ahead as they stay good for about a year in colder climates. In our climates, it can be prepared a week before.
If you are cooking chicken, you have to take a little bit care to see that it's not dry so basting the chicken every, you know probably, 30 minutes, would be really fine.

One of the many charms of Rukmini’s Christmas includes a Chicken roast which is a British recipe she picked up from her best friend, Reema Bannerjee’s mom.

Here’s how to make the Chicken Roast:

Cook chicken liver with salt pepper, ginger garlic paste and a bit of sugar. Add garam masala or allspice. Cool and make a paste. Add breadcrumbs to it. I also add cranberries.
Get a full chicken with skin on. Mix butter with rosemary and orange zest (my twist) and run the butter underneath the skin. It helps keep the bird moist. Add salt and pepper to the chicken. Marinate overnight.
Next, stuff the chicken with the liver mixture. Sew the cavity and tie the legs and wings with twine.
On a hot pan, add a tbsp of butter and thyme. Seal the chicken on the gas until the top is golden. Sealing is a process where you fry the chicken a bit so the juices are sealed in and it also gets a bit of colour.
Crank the oven to 220 and cook the bird for about an hour turning it twice in between
Save the juice in the pan for gravy.

Check out her tips on Christmas gifting:

“I think food gifting is probably one of the best gifts because it's very personal other than something that is store-bought. There is nothing like it if you make it yourself. I also like gifting a lot of DIY things that for example, you can probably do paper mache crafts, or, you know, probably you can sow you can make some needlecrafts.

You can also gift something that is functional, for example, you can gift winery, you can gift candles. You can gift, you know, shawls, stoles which are probably used all year round. So you know, in a nutshell, it has to be something functional and it has to be something that has a very organic touch and feel to it, whether it's bread or cake or food or, you know, a linen shawl or a linen cushion cover everything. It has to be functional, and it has to have a touch of comfort and a personal touch to it.

Also, wrapped a lot of Christmas presents with soft mulls and tie them with twine because wrapping papers often end up you know as in the garbage bean. Because most people do not save wrapping papers, Most people don't so these are just unnecessary expenditure on your part and landfill on their part. So, Yeah, gifting should be something that is personal. And that sort makes it feel nice.”

We hope Rukmini’s amazing Christmas tips help you with your X'mas preps!