Now Maya is 3, the whole Nativity play, Father Christmas build-up will whip her into a frenzy and I’ll need all my energy to enjoy this wonderful time with her. And I need to be organised. I don’t want to miss out on mothering stuff because I’ve forgotten to buy something.

One thing I’ve decided to get sorted out ahead of time this year is the sweets. The enormous special-offer tins of “chocolate” that flood our high streets are tempting, but I want my indulgences to be delicious and have nutritious reasons for eating them.

So, if it’s chocolate, I’ll be choosing the good-quality kind. I’ll be indulging in some dark, wonderfully bitter (at least 75 per cent cocoa solids) chocolate. This way, I’ll not only get that intense cocoa fix in just a couple of squares but I’ll also be getting a therapeutic antioxidant hit from the cocoa beans. On top of that, it is virtually impossible to over-dose on dark chocolate, so my waistline won’t be bulging.

Maya’s taste buds, though, won’t be able to manage the dark stuff, so we’ll get milk chocolate, at about 40 per cent cocoa solids, and make our own chocolate truffles packed in pretty boxes. I can visualise the mess already.

Alternatively, you can buy very good quality truffles from Rococo (www.rococochocolates.com) or the Chocolate Society (www.chocolate.co.uk).

We’ll also buy dried fruits such as Medjool dates to stuff with marzipan. These dates, filled with a dark chocolate truffle mix, were a great success last year. The combination of sweet soft dates and bitter chocolate is utter heaven. The dates are delicious on their own, too, as are dried apricots and figs. It is best to buy organic brands and those that are free from the preservative sulphur dioxide, which can provoke an allergic reaction in some people. Organic apricots are darker in colour but, if your children haven’t tried the fluorescent orange ones, they won’t know the difference.

We think of nuts — walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, brazils — as a dry-store item, but they should really be treated like a fresh food because their high oil content means that they can turn rancid when exposed to the air.

Carefully check the use-by date and buy them from a shop where you know the turnover is pretty high. Not only do stale nuts taste bitter and disgusting, but also they can be high in trans-fats, the worst type for our hearts.

Although they can be a bit expensive, try to find fresh wet walnuts. Usually from France, these are available from now until Christmas, and when you pop them in your mouth you’ll experience what a truly fresh nut is all about — heaven on their own, or with white wine and pecorino cheese.

Jane answers your questions in Times2 on Mondays; e-mail Jane.Clarke@thetimes.co.uk and visit www. janeclarke.com. She cannot enter into personal correspondence

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