By Claudia Kwan, award winning broadcaster and writer

I must have gone temporarily mad, driven to it by the crowds at the airport and the throngs at the mall and those carols that keep playing playing, playing, playing everywhere.

For somehow or another, I've volunteered to make Christmas Eve dinner by myself for 14 people (which includes four kids 5 and under), cooking in my tiny tiny condo kitchen. There's only room in there for one person at a time for heaven sakes, and I'm already trying to figure out how I'll keep everything moving along with just four burners on the stove and not much more room inside the oven than for a chicken and a couple of potatoes. I'll manage somehow, although I may tear out half my hair in the process.

I do have a back-up plan in case everything goes kablooey -- the high class equivalent of ordering takeout if you burn the roast. I'm fortunate enough to live in a region rich with Chinese restaurants, and one of the major benefits -- along with richly varied delicious food -- is this fact: Chinese restaurants are an awesome option for Christmas dinner, either on the 24th or 25th. They stay open for New Years Day as well, in contrast to other establishments, who try and save on paying employees double time by simply shutting down operations.

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