Christmas Dinner

Mostly we have prepared the bulk of Christmas dinner in advance and frozen it.  The day has always been minimal in the kitchen, with the main part of the meal from freezer to oven and a few veg and sauces cooked to order.  It has been some time since we cooked a full Christmas dinner on the day and this year the only prep was Rosie's pre-cooked Christmas pudding and a purchased jar of brandy butter.

Breakfast was a bowl of mixed fruit and some yogurt followed by coffee and croissants.

We have shuffled the furniture in the conservatory this year.  Sitting at the table in the afternoon is now free from the direct sunlight and many of the plants have been trimmed or removed to the greenhouse to give a bit more space.

Mid morning was a good time to prepare the food for dinner.   I made a chestnut loaf in pastry and cooked down some cranberries for a sauce.  Root vegetables for roasting, stuffing balls, brussels sprouts, and bread sauce were all prepared whilst the Christmas pudding started steaming.  I made a list of times to put each item into the oven or on the hob and off we went.

The only drawback was when eating on the small table, we have to plate up the food to table.  Yum!

Rosie found a novelty firework for the pudding, so we gave it a go - just light the touch paper and stand back.  It looked splendid, but it did set the smoke alarm off - what fun......

The pudding was one of the best we have made, just enough to avoid that bloated feel that sometimes follows a large meal.  Carols on Radio Classic FM and the patter of rain on the windows.  It is good to relax at home in the knowledge that there is nothing more to be done.

We are now reflecting on our neighbours problems, in hospital after a fall.  We did have the joy of their dog sleeping between us on our bed last night, after the ambulance left to whisk them of to the casualty department just after midnight on Christmas Morning.  Every year has its issues and all is settling down amidst the confusion.  Merry Christmas