'I'm channeling Florence Pugh this holiday season and, yes, there will be cheese.'

Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year. 

The festive decorations, the joyful and at-times-nauseating music, the cosy movies, the copious amounts of food: it's all very exciting. 

Each year I look forward to the return of the familiar, nostalgic traditions, like watching Klaus on Christmas day with family and making an apricot-glazed ham. But with each Christmas comes the arrival of newer additions. 

And this year, I'm cranking Christmas up a notch and going full celebrity-inspired. 

Watch: Florence Pugh making garlicky crostini. Article continues after video.

Some of you may remember that last year I decided I was having a Stanley Tucci Christmas. It was all homemade meat balls, Pasta E Ceci, and soft, sultry tones. 

But in Christmas 2025, I will be channeling none other than our favourite foodie and unbothered style icon, Florence Pugh. 

This year, we're ditching the quiet sophistication for a charming, slightly chaotic, and food-obsessed celebration.

What is a Florence Pugh Christmas? 

I'm glad you asked, because I've been giving this a lot of thought since I first saw her Cooking with Flo videos that she started during the global pandemic in 2020. 

It's no secret that Pugh is a phenomenal actress. From Midsommar to Little Women, she is a force to be reckoned with on screen and arguably one of the best actresses of her generation. But in addition to her acting success, Pugh is the comfort cooking queen we've been waiting to see in Hollywood for years. 

In a world of Goop detoxes and extreme celebrity diet culture, it's so refreshing to see a young actress embrace food for what it is: a source of immense pleasure and community. 

Image: Instagram/florencepugh

Across countless interviews over the years, Pugh has gushed about the important role food plays in her and her family's lives, and talks about the art of eating and cooking with such passion. 

To this day, her Harper's Bazaar Food Diaries interview is one of my favourite things to watch on YouTube. It's the equivalent of watching a scrumptious food movie like A Hundred Foot Journey or Chef. 

Florence Pugh doesn't just eat food; she reveres it.

It's about the connection, the nostalgia, and the utter lack of pretension. She speaks in such visceral detail that you can practically taste it — from the savory comfort of her dad's nostalgic roast chicken to the adventurous spice of exploring new cultural cuisines. 

For Florence, cooking is a communal activity that actively brings people together.

This genuine passion shines through in her famous, wonderfully messy and real cooking videos. They are so relatable — a flash of flour here, an accidental splash there — yet the end result always looks delicious. 

Image: Instagram/florencepugh

She talks about food, and instantly, you want to eat it. It's a delightful antidote to the sterile, over-produced perfection often seen online.

Pugh famously loves cheese. All kinds of cheese. And I have never related to a woman so much as when she described eating an entire cheeseboard for dinner. Same, Florence, same.

"I go for dinner like gagging for the cheeseboard or the starter... I'm more about the cheese to start my evening," she said in her Harper's Bazaar interview. 

But at the crux of the Florence Pugh Christmas, is the unapologetic enjoyment. And I want what she's having. 

How am I having a Florence Pugh Christmas? 

Aside from embodying her general whimsy and enthusiastic spirit when it comes to cooking, in the lead up to Christmas, I have personally attempted and adapted one of Pugh's famous recipes — her garlicky crostini. 

I will preface this by saying, I had to adapt the recipe as a result of dietary restrictions and general pickiness amongst my friend group but, I promise, the essence of it remains the same. 

Image: Supplied

Here's what you need (Pugh's recipe modified by yours truly): 

• A nice bread of your choice (I used a baguette and sliced it up thinly)

• Cherry tomatoes 

• Garlic

• Chilli or chilli flakes 

• Olive oil

• Vinegar 

• Garlic powder 

• Anchovies (optional)

• Feta (optional)

• Coriander (optional) 

Chop up your bread, add some olive oil, and pop it in the oven until it's golden and crispy. Once it's done, rub a whole garlic over the top to add flavour — this part is the key. Chop up your tomatoes, then add olive oil and vinegar. I added some chilli flakes and garlic. Mix, mix mix. Add the tomatoes to the bread and top with feta and coriander (if you want and your friend group allows). 

Pugh also adds some anchovies to the dish, which is blasphemous in my opinion. But to each their own. 

The reason I love this recipe is because it is just so easy. It took very little time, but every single person at the dinner table gushed about it. 

And of course, in true Florence Pugh form I had to make a hefty cheeseboard to finish things off. 

Image: Supplied

On Christmas Day, I will absolutely be remaking these two crowd favourites but I will also be swapping out my own usual roast chicken for Pugh's famous recipe. 

Wish me luck, and may we all be as messy and magnificent as Florence Pugh this Christmas. 

Feature Image: Instagram/florencepugh / ABC / Supplied.