The countdown to Christmas began last week, November 21, with Thursday Life suggesting to our readers how to shop for meat in a sustainable way during the present economic turbulence. Though there’s less than a month to go before the Big Day, we do encourage you to continue watching your costs, and purchase the non-perishable items that you wish to use close to Christmas in small increments.

Decide what dishes you want to be serving, work out the ingredients that you will need, cross off what you already have in your pantry, and make a list of the rest. It may seem like a lot, and your budget may not be able to sustain that all in one go. So break up the shopping in the next few weeks, and you might just be able to manage it.

Heading back to Hi-Lo very early (they open at 8:00 am) last Saturday, list in hand, I had an idea of which non-perishables I would be purchasing. At the same time, I still kept a separate list of the ingredients I’ll be getting between now and Christmas, because I wanted to ensure that Hi-Lo does in fact carry them.

Baking goodies for drop-in guests is a tradition in my family, so baking powder, baking soda, Benjamin’s vanilla essence ($110. 92 for 8 fl oz; $87.10 for 4 fl oz; $63.65 for 2 fl oz), and Roma cocoa powder ($235.74 for 115g/4.2oz) must be present in the Dalton-Brown kitchen. These four items can be used in cakes, cookies, desserts, fried breads like festival, and the latter two in drinks, as well. Accompanying them, there must be the bulk foods like icing sugar ($304.61 per kg), dark brown sugar ($128.20 per kg), granulated sugar ($212.33 per kg), counter flour ($97.28 per kg) and baking flour (102.10 per kg). Please be reminded that 1 kg is equivalent to 2.2 lbs.

Singer and songwriter Checkanya insists that baking is essential. “I like to bake my Christmas cake with the usual flour, eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, raisins and Appleton Overproof rum,” she told Thursday Life. “And then I like to drink Baileys,” she added with a cheeky wink. Checkanya showed us the bulk dried fruits in the fresh produce section of Hi-Lo. While it costs $637.78 per kilogramme (2.2 lbs) for prunes, $761.63 for raisins, $971.35 for currants and up to $861.81 for mixed peel, small packets for under $200 are put out for customers.

Then there are the added Christmas flavours that go with pretty much everything at this time of year — nutmeg, pimento, cloves, cinnamon leaves ($51.20 for a large handful); not to mention chocolate balls ($72 for a bag of 3) and Irish moss ($62.50 for a handful) for those warming beverages that you’ll be sipping in the cool evening Christmas breeze.

I like to be prepared for an influx of visitors in December, as does Patricia Robinson, who is retired. “I’ll have wine like Chardonnay,” Robinson told Thursday Life, “and there’ll always be nuts, cheeses in the fridge, and of course, crackers. I stay loyal to Jamaica, and stock up on Excelsior cream crackers.”

This got me thinking about possible hors d’oeuvres to have handy, and then I saw the new Hi-Lo brand of Vienna sausages ($69.35 for 140g tin) and the dinky plastic bottle of Grace ketchup ($57.57 for 11.2oz), which I’ll certainly be letting my kids handle. As well as having the option to serve one dipped in the other, I could also ‘dress up’ half-cup of the ketchup with some Scotch bonnet pepper, a tablespoon of Hi-Lo guava jelly (143.45 for 12oz) or Grace guava jam ($207.31 for 12oz), and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard ($301.77 for 7oz). This would make for a very nice dipping sauce, indeed.

Here’s a good tip for preserving your jellies and mustards: use a clean spoon in each jar every time, and store in the fridge once opened. The jellies and jams are also delicious on crackers with cheese, spread on hot toast, and as key flavours in any glaze for meats and fish. The mustard goes beautifully with beef, and adds a fabulous zing to salad dressing. Simply mix a tablespoon or so with equal parts Goya cider vinegar ($160.71 for 480ml) and Island Spice extra virgin olive oil ($515.13 for 250ml) — some people prefer to use more olive oil in their dressings. I like the tartness of the vinegar, and I’ll save the olive oil for roasting all sorts of vegetables in the oven over Christmas. The cider vinegar will keep for a long time in the fridge.

For some, Christmas is not complete without a ham that’s decorated with pineapple slices. Donna Stephenson and Dorraine Samuels, both attorneys-at-law, were looking out for Grace Pineapple Slices ($187.78 for 8oz). Stephenson was particularly pleased with what she found, remarking, “Oh good! At last they have a small size (8oz), as I often buy the regular and half of it goes to waste.” She usually uses the juice in the tin, along with cloves, to make a pineapple sauce.

Samuels, on the other hand, likes “to make a passion fruit glaze for my ham, using Grace Tropical Rhythms”. Hi-Lo was out of stock that day, so she picked up a mix of other Tropical Rhythms to see how they would turn out. Peeking in her trolley, I noticed that she had shopped for pasta. “I like to make mac and cheese,”

she revealed.

Off I scampered to the pasta aisle, where Sudihkar Bhoorasingh, a teacher, was choosing Grace pasta elbows ($141.50 for 400g – the spaghetti is the same price, $73.25 for 200g) and Grace macaroni ($131.13 for 400g) for his Christmas table. There is also Hi-Lo spaghetti ($102.19 for 400g), which would team up quite well with a tin of Del Monte tomato wedges ($209.66 for 14.5oz tin). I’ll probably season that with some garlic, onions, scallion, fresh herbs, and Scotch bonnet pepper for a spicy flavour! I could even stew that all down with the minced pork or beef I bought last week in the butcher section.

On the subject of farinaceous fare, Robert Harris, who works in publishing, was clearly thinking along the same lines since he was discovered searching for dried gungo peas to prepare his rice and peas. “I’m not one for cooking much,” he laughingly confessed, “but I get given the list and I am good at the shopping part.”

Hi-Lo has a selection of Jamaica’s favourite dried beans, which cost per kg: dark round red peas ($323.80), light red kidney beans ($356.65), black eye peas ($462), broad beans ($403.20), and gungo peas ($487.41). For those who don’t fancy soaking and cooking them, the tinned variations are always available. I am a fan of having some tinned beans stored away. Hi-Lo broad beans ($90.78 for 300g tin) are great mixed with Hi-Lo sweet corn ($105.55 for 340g tin), lightly steamed (and refreshed in cold water) string beans, chopped scallion, and enough of that same dressing I was telling you about earlier, with a good sprinkle of black pepper. What a yummy salad! My sons also love Grace baked beans ($106.40 for 300g tin), but I happened upon Grace BBQ baked beans ($112.66 for 300g tin) and think I just might serve that up with the smoked pork chops I bought at Hi-Lo last week.

I’m now quite excited about this sumptuous season that lies ahead, and you should be too. Christmas is indeed coming, so search the shelves and stock your cupboards!

emmadaltonbrown@gmail.com or follow me on twitter @JamaicaEmma