Vegetarian Christmas menu for 6

With drinks: Beet, fresh goat cheese and walnut verrines; Comté gougères; Mini cherry tomato, mozzarella and basil skewers. To start: Chestnut soup with crushed hazelnuts. For the main: Mushroom and chestnut Wellington. For the cheese course: Cheese board. For dessert: Vanilla raspberry ice cream yule log.

For 6 guests, the big picture: cooked chestnuts (480 g), button mushrooms (900 g), Brie de Meaux (140 g) and vanilla ice cream (60 cl). The full grocery list, aisle by aisle, is right above.

In two trips. Three days before, the stuff that keeps (12 items: produce, dairy, pantry and frozen). Then the day before, the fresh stuff (14 items, like mini mozzarella balls, Brie de Meaux and fresh goat cheese). You'll dodge the last-minute crowds.

To sit down at 8:15 PM, the first step of the big day starts at 6:15 PM: wrap the Wellington in the puff pastry. The main (mushroom and chestnut Wellington) goes in the oven at 7:15 PM. Every step of the game plan is timed backward from when you sit down to eat.

This menu is vegetarian from appetizers to dessert, pork-free and free of fish and seafood. Kids get dishes they'll actually eat, and count as half a serving.

Yep, from 2 to 12 guests: change the number at the top of the page, and the quantities, the grocery list, the budget and these answers all follow.