HOSTING Christmas parties can throw up a whole range of conundrums for the discerning party host.

You want to be the ho-ho-hostess with the mostest but your fail-safe repertoire of fish fingers and oven chips just isn’t going to cut the mustard this time... especially if you’ve got guests coming over you haven’t seen much of all year.

So here are some festive treats which all take under 30 minutes to prepare (and cocktails you can make in five minutes flat):

Potato, Feta and Watercress Parcels
Makes: 18 Prep time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes You’ll need: 450g/1lb potatoes, peeled and chopped 1 (85g) bag watercress, roughly chopped 15ml/1 tbsp chopped fresh mint 200g/7floz feta cheese, drained and crumbled salt and freshly ground black pepper 10 sheets filo pastry 60ml/4 tbsp olive oil What to do: Cook the potatoes in boiling water until just tender - about 15 minutes. Drain thoroughly then ‘dry’ in the saucepan over gentle heat. Roughly mash, stir in the watercress and leave to cool. Stir in the feta and mint and season with salt and pepper. Work with one sheet of pastry at a time, keep the others covered with cling film and a damp tea towel. Brush the pastry lightly with olive oil on one side and cut into 3 long strips.

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan180C/Gas Mark 6. Place a spoonful of the filling at one end of a pastry strip. Fold the corner of the pastry over the filling so that the top edge of the pastry is now over the right edge. Take the point of the strip and fold this down towards the bottom of the pastry to create triangle shapes. Continue folding in this way and brush with any remaining oil. Repeat to make 17 more triangles in the same way.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 mins or until crisp and golden. Serve fresh and warm from the oven.

Per serving: 100 calories, 5.1g fat, 1.8g saturates, 0.4g fibre, 0.67g salt.

Shallot, Brussels Sprout and Potato Croquettes
Serves 4 Prep time: 20 minutes (plus chilling time) Cooking time: 10 minutes You’ll need: 200g Brussels sprouts trimmed & sliced 500g potatoes cooked & crushed 1 egg, beaten 50g plain flour100g finely ground breadcrumbs seasoned300ml vegetable oil 200g tin chopped tomatoes Small bunch of coriander chopped 1tsp Worcester sauce 1 shallot finely sliced What to do: Drop the sprouts into boiling water and blanch for 2-3 minutes. Drain and refresh with cold water.

Combine with the potato, mashing them together with a fork. Season well and form the mixture into 12 croquettes.

Place the egg in a bowl, the flour on a plate and the breadcrumbs on a second plate. Dip each croquette into the flour first, to coat, then the egg and lastly the breadcrumbs. Make sure each is fully covered. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours To make the dip combine the tomatoes, coriander, Worcester sauce and shallot, season and set aside.

Pour the oil into a large, deep frying pan, to a depth of about 4cm, and place over a medium-high heat. Fry the croquettes until golden all over for a total of 5 minutes – you may need to do this in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately with the dip Notes: You can leave the dip chunky or, for kids, blend it smooth

Fenland Bloody Mary
A delicious Bloody Mary recipe complete with Fenland celery sticks and the requisite balance of fresh and bold flavours. This can be made to taste depending on your guest. The addition of the radish with the lime presents a really effective new twist to a classic drink.

Serves: 4 Preparation time: 5 minutes You’ll need for the Bloody Mary 100ml vodka 50ml sherry ½ tbsp freshly grated horseradish 25ml Worcestershire sauce Tabasco to taste ½ tsp celery salt cracked black pepper to taste 750ml tomato juice to serve 500g ice cubes 100g sliced radishes 1 lime cut into wedges 4 Fenland celery sticks What to do: Mix together the vodka, sherry, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, celery salt, black pepper and tomato juice in a large jug.

Fill another large jug with the ice, sliced radishes and lime wedges.

Pour the liquid over the ice, and serve straight away in chilled glasses with celery sticks in them. Alternatively you can let your friends mix their own, making them as spicy as they like!