I toyed with the idea of not posting today, but it’s a difficult habit to break. The only drawback to posting on Christmas Day is that people might think I’m a miserable, anti-social misanthrope with no friends, but if you’ve read the blog before you’ll know that’s a fair description.
We’ve had a reasonable Christmas. There was a minor panic yesterday when I realised that I had mis-calculated the cooking times. We have had a fresh turkey crown for so many years that, having bought a frozen one this year, I’d completely forgotten about thawing times. Buying a frozen crown made it easier to buy everything in advance but it did mean I should have started thawing the crown several hours before I actually thought of it.
I dropped Julia off at the shops and the way to work and she rang soon after to tell me that she had been able to buy a fresh turkey crown.
Panic averted.
Today, after a late start and a bacon sandwich, we opened presents, ate chocolate and watched TV before I started on the lunch.
This was turkey, stuffing, redcurrant jelly, pigs in blankets, Hasselback potatoes (done with goose fat), roast potatoes (ditto), roast carrots and parsnips (with cumin), stir-fried sprouts with chestnuts, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. The potatoes, when cooked with goose fat, were better than with olive oil, and made a good centre-piece for the meal.
After a number of successful quizzes on the net we are now watching TV again and eating Turkish Delight. It’s one of the things that defines Christmas, the only time we have Turkish Delight.
Tomorrow we will have another of those defining moments – the only time of the year we have turkey sandwiches.
Our casual Christmas was slightly disturbed by Number Two Son ringing to wish us a Happy Christmas. He is currently the facilities supervisor in a budget Toronto hotel, and spent the night dealing with rambling junkies before returning home to microwave a leftover McMuffin. Travel, as they say, certainly broadens the mind.
Finally, the report on last night’s Brussels Sprouts in batter. After a pleasant interlude consuming the nutty-tasting knobby greens, I can confirm that nothing untoward happened and I remained socially acceptable at all times. Apart from the fact that they are breeding less sulphrous sprouts these days, it appears that their famous capacity for inducing wind occurs mostly when they are over-boiled.
Recycled photos again I’m afraid – I didn’t think of photos until I was looking at an empty gravy-stained plate…
I feel sorry for your son in Toronto. Especially missing the sprouts!
He’s thinking of applying for permanent residence so the lack of sprouts doesn’t seem to have put him off.
😁
All sounds wonderful, except maybe your son’s Christmas dinner, but that would be ‘the joys of youth.’ Happy Holidays!
He’s young, he’ll look back on it and laugh. 🙂
That plate might have been worth photographing – evidence and an interesting abstract
I really should remember to photograph the food before eating it. Photographing it afterwards just isn’t the same. 🙂
Turkish delight is a uniquely Christmasy treat in our house to.
🙂 Good to know I’m not alone!
I am glad you were OK after eating the sprouts. 🙂
Julia probably had more to fear than I did. 🙂
🙂
Good news on the sprout front. I have been often been caught out on the unanticipated need for defrosting so you have my sympathy for that. Seeing that you presumably have frozen turkey in your freezer, you may well have to have turkey sandwiches twice this year or next.
You are ahead of me there, but you are correct. We are planning on turkey early in the year as we are trying to empty the freezer.
Haha, love it and of course maybe a miserable, anti-social misanthrope with no friends would read it 😂 Happy Christmas 😉
And to you. 🙂