When Noelle O’Mahony entered Irish Country Living’s competition to learn how to cook Christmas dinner with Neven Maguire, she told us she wanted to create a really special festive feast for her family. It just so happens that, at the time, Noelle didn’t realise just how special a Christmas it would be.

A week after she visited Blacklion, her boyfriend Don went down on one knee while they were enjoying a trip to Hayfield Manor in Cork for her birthday.

“Honestly, winning this competition was the start of the best Christmas yet. I was completely shocked when Don proposed, but it was fantastic to get engaged before Christmas and we already have the wedding booked for the same date next year in Fernhill House in Clonakilty.”

On top of the engagement celebrations, Noelle’s sister Anne-Marie was home from New Zealand for the first Christmas in three years. A fantastic festive dinner was needed to accompany all the excitement. So, how did it fair out?

“Honestly, it all went great,” beams Noelle. “I really listened to what Neven said – preparation was key. I started the dinner on the 23 December by boiling the ham, making my stuffing and preparing my Coole Swan truffles. On Christmas Eve, I made the potato gratin and my soup. I also started preparing my turkey in the buttermilk brine and chopping the veg.

“Once I came back from mass on Christmas morning, I put the turkey in oven, glazed my ham and made my sprout crumble. The turkey took exactly four hours and 20 minutes, so we sat down for dinner at 4.30pm.”

A bone of contention in the O’Mahony household was the fact that Neven’s recipe was a turkey crown and not the full bird.

“Mam was even going to put on the legs separately for my Dad but, in the end, he was so impressed by this new turkey recipe there was no need. The ham also went done a big hit. We usually just boil it up but the marinade from Neven’s recipe really gave it that extra flavour.”

Speaking of Noelle’s mother, Imelda has been cooking Christmas dinner for 40 years. So how did she feel about letting go of the reins?

“Well, she still did her own triffle. Even though Neven’s recipe looked delicious, sometimes you’ve got to stick to family tradition, don’t you? But other than that, she really did let me take control. After I made a roast lamb dinner on Stephen’s Day though, she did tell me enough is enough and take a break,” Noelle laughs.

“Don was joking though that the next book should be called Possessed by Neven.

After the cookery course, there was a lot of “Neven said to do the turkey like this and the ham like that” between me and Mam, but in fairness I stuck to the recipes and the dinner overall went exactly to plan.

“I couldn’t believe there wasn’t any drama. It was definitely a lot of work but I really didn’t mind when everything turned out a success.”

For more details about Neven Maguire’s cookery courses, click here.If you’ve already started thinking about next year’s dinner, click here to view Christmas recipes still availble on our website.