The "X"-day is not too far away, and you should, maybe, be thinking about what you are going to do when it dawns. One way of making life as simple as possible for yourself is to head up to John Downey's splendid butcher's shop in Terenure, for he has made a concerted effort to source all his Christmas meat, game and poultry from free-range and organic farmers.
So, he can offer free-range geese, Barbary duck and Ailesbury duck, reared by Ken Moffat in Co Cavan. He has free-range bronze turkeys, and the rare Norfolk Black turkey, from Damian Jordan, of Co Wexford. There will be wild boar from the orchards of Liam Taylor, Co Galway, and organic beef and lamb from the farms of Desmond Thorpe and Nicholas Redmond, Co Wexford. Downey also makes a splendid spiced beef. So make sure you book early.
Downey's Connoisseur Foods, 87 Terenure Road East, Dublin 6W tel: 01 490 9239