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There's a question that tends to preoccupy me around this time of year, when the chefs start lining up their Christmas specials and the first mince pies start creeping into the office…when is The Right Time for the children to take responsibility for theÌýfamily's Christmas meal?

I'm not talking child labour here. I'm getting on for 30, I love cooking, and I work on a recipe website. On paper, I'm a perfect candidate for Christmas hostess. Yet however many times I might offer to make a dessert, bring a ham, or take over completely, year after year I end up going home and playing a minor role in getting the Christmas Day shebang on the road.

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I can only assume that, even though my mum finds Christmas stressful, she's trying to protect me from bearing the brunt of this annual feat of consumption.ÌýEither that or she's scared of the monster I'll become once let loose in the kitchen – whirling around it with hot pans, ducking and weavingÌýlike a champion boxer when anyone enters my space, and making loud verbal to-do lists in place of normal conversation.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being spoilt, and my mum's version of this meal is everything a girl could wish for. But I can't wait to put my own twist on the proceedings – and give my mum a rest.

So what's the benchmark when one generation is at lastÌýrecognised asÌýready to take over from its elders? Is it once you've bought a house big enough toÌýaccommodate everyone? Is marriage the answer – or do offspring make good bargaining chips?

Karen Mulholland, 45, from Northern Ireland, took part in the forthcoming series of The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best, due to hit our screens in the New Year. She told me I'll most likely have to wait until I have children before the mantle will be handed down.

"Our main reason [for taking over the Christmas dinner] was the children," she said. "They don't want to be taken away from their toys. When you get married you tend to have a few years of, 'Well, we’ll go to your parents this year and next year we'll go to mine'. When the kids come along it's more logical for everyone to come to you – and by that time you have more room. It's a natural progression."

When the time does come for me to take over, Karen recommends making gradual changes rather than stunning the family with a Tudor-style extravaganza or single-handedly trying to give Delia a run for her money.

"The first year I did parsnips instead of carrots. The parsnips were well received but the feedback was 'Can we have our carrots back please?'! Slowly but surely we tried different things."

Or perhaps I should take a leaf out of Rebecca Simpson-Hargreaves' book? Rebecca, another Mums Know Best participant, went to her parents' house for Christmas dinner every year until she got married – when her husband took over.

"The only time I made Christmas dinner was when I was about 30 because my mum had just got so fed up of cooking it," she says. "But usually I just make the gravy, the vegetables and the pudding."

I tell myself that I won'tÌýget my knickers in a twist over the turkey like last year, that it's only a meal and that it would be fun to try to feed the five thousand. But deep down I'm not sure that I really willÌýbeÌýa paragon ofÌýzen when I finally take the helm of theÌýfamily Christmas. However, even if I do bite off more than I can chew, I'd like to have a crack at it while my parents still have their own teeth.

Who makes the Christmas dinner in your house? And should I enjoy my extended childhood while it lasts?

Nicky Evans works on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Food website ...and is going back to her mum and dad's for Christmas.

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