What other part of the year do you have the excuse to eat if not for Christmas? For the season of giving, the holidays is often an opportunity to enjoy food that are often made available only during Christmastime, when they taste especially good. If you're planning to do some Christmas cooking, here are tips to help you make the best and most delicious meals to celebrate the season:

Shop ahead of time.

If you must make reservations, do it well before Christmas season. Christmas shopping brings a horde of consumers to the stores so it's easy to run out of the vital ingredients for cooking. Decide what you want to cook and make a list of the ingredients required for each dish. You'll be able to plan a successful meal a lot better if you know what you'll need.

Use the standards and then whip up a surprise.

Christmas cooking usually involves the Christmas ham, the eggnog and the pudding. However, don't be afraid to use other ingredients, too. There's beef, lamb, mutton and yes, chicken. Make the celebration of the season sweeter with desserts such as gingerbreads, chestnut finger cookies, meringue and of course, a good helping of deep, dark chocolate cake.

Go crazy with color.

If you don't like using food coloring, you probably have no excuse come Christmas time. Food colorings run amok around the holidays especially when you're preparing baked goodies. Shape is also a consideration, so don't be afraid to bring out all those Christmas-themed cookie cutters and use them without guilt or shame. Use a lot of reds, greens, gelds and whites.

Christmas cooking with alcohol and spirits

What is Christmas cooking if you can't make fruitcake? Definitely a must-have for the holidays, fruitcake that is rich, moist, filled with nuts and dried fruits and blessedly drunk is perfect both as a gift and as a terrific end at a Christmas meal. Prepare the fruitcake ahead of time and make sure the rum has aged it well. Fruitcake is best when it's a few days or even a few weeks old.

But don't just stop there. There's alcohol aplenty during the holidays and you have plenty of reasons to use them for your Christmas cooking. Make beer flavored bread, tequila chicken, whiskey pudding and champagne chocolate truffles. If you've cooked with alcohol before, you probably have an idea of the endless possibilities it offers.