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Dec. 30th, 2012 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raynebowrangerHello everyone! I hope you all had a very merry and safe Christmas!
Things are finally beginning to calm down here after the festive period so I thought I better sit down and finally post about my Christmas!
I was ill the week leading up to Christmas. I had to have a couple of days off work after catching the sickness bug that was going around the school. It put me behind on my Christmas preparations since I had a lot of food prep to do that I couldn't do while I was contagious and gross.
I finally got all my food done in time though, so it wasn't so bad. And we did the last of our food shopping on Friday 21st - the last day of work before the holidays. Tesco and Aldi weren't too bad, but Iceland was heaving. We were queuing over an hour in there.
I got my three cakes marzipanned, iced and decorated. One for us, one for James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy, and one for Nan.
Our cake.
Cake for James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy.
Cake for Nan.
I also made marizpan balls coated in chocolate (white, milk & plain) as well as cookies for the dog and chocolates to use as table favours.
So, Christmas Eve we visited Nan and Roger, Barbara and Patrick were there too. Back at home I had the lemon possets to make, the tables to arrange and set. Mum prepared the veg and I prepared the turkey, sausage balls, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets and chipolatas. We made sure all the glasses were washed, the plates were washed and the cutlery was polished. I laid out the crackers and the name cards and favour boxes. We also cooked the Christmas ham and gave it a jerk glaze. It was delicious!
Mum put my hair up in curlers for me and I carried on with the last minute preparation while she went to bed. I joined her on the bed to watch the finale of Merlin - there was much crying in our household. And then I went back to making sure everything was ready.
Went to bed only for Dad to get me up when he came home from the pub to make him a cup of tea and a ham sandwich. Finally got back to bed and went to sleep.
SANTA CAME!
I still miss the days of opening presents in the morning.
Got woken up Christmas morning by Mum before my alarm went off telling me that she'd taken the pork out of the oven and put it into the halogen oven and had put the turkey into the oven and that I'd have to be up in an hour because the timer on the halogen oven only goes for an hour. She said she was going back to bed. So, I dragged myself out of bed and kept an eye on the meats. I prepared the cheeseboard and the after dinner chocolates and the crackers. I filled Lady's bone with mashed up wet biscuits and peanut butter. Prepared the last of the veg. Took the pavlova out the freezer. And prepared the pâté and prawn cocktails.
Went to check on Mum and find out what time the Christmas pudding needed to go in the steamer and what time the Hostess trolley needed to go on only to find out that when she said she was going back to bed she didn't mean for a few minutes, she meant all day. Cue panic and lots of it. I mean this is maybe the sixth year or so we've done Christmas dinner at our house (before that we used to go to the pub and before that we used to go to Nan's house until it got too much for her) but usually I sort the starters and the puds and faff around while Mum cooks the main course and suddenly I was on my own with no warning. I cook Sunday roasts almost every week but a Christmas dinner is so different since you have to adjust timings and keep main course warm through starters and sorbets. I felt a bit like I'd been thrown in the deep end.
But, it went pretty well. Better than I expected. James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy arrived early and Nan not long after. Jean and Ray popped in for a few minutes before heading back to Mansfield. They had been at Nan's for the morning to open presents but didn't want to stay for dinner because of Ray's dementia - he can have some rather unpleasant turns and Jean didn't want it to ruin anyone's day.
Starting time according to the menu was 1.30pm and I got starters out on the table by 1.35pm so not too late. Not bad, considering I was flying solo. Dad, Dylan and I had prawn cocktail. James, Dawn, Amy and Nan had pâté.
Next was the sorbet. Dad, James and I had raspberry. Dawn, Dylan and Amy had mango and pineapple. Nan didn't have any because it's too acidic for her these days.
Then came the giant main course of foody calorie goodness. Turkey, pork, pigs in blankets, chipolatas, sage and onion stuffing balls, sausage balls, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, home-grown broccoli, home-grown carrots, home-grown new potatoes, home-grown brussel sprouts, home-grown roast parsnips, roast potatoes, apple sauce, cranberry jelly, gravy, leeks in white sauce. No bread sauce, unfortunately, we thought we had a packet in the cupboard which we usually use as a base and then modify so I looked online how to make it from scratch and there wasn't enough time left. Still, people seemed to enjoy it. There was a lot of left-overs though.
A break for a bit of washing up and party games - James won the Dingbats and Nan won Pass the Parcel. Also, table gifts from Santa. Nan, Dad, James and Dawn got toffee, Dylan and Amy got colouring pads and I got a salsa jar. Washing up without Mum seemed to take forever and a lot of pots and pans got dumped into the porch until a lot later.
Pudding was next. Lemon posset for Dad, Dylan and Amy. Pavlova for Nan and James. And Christmas pudding for Dawn and I. Dawn had brandy sauce. I didn't. It was the last Christmas pud out of my Nan's pantry which is quite sad. She probably won't make any more in her lifetime now. It was made in 2010. She made three and it was the last to be eaten. Tasted great though. Hopefully she'll pass her recipe on to me like she did the Christmas cake recipe.
A little bit more washing up followed by cheese and biscuits. Dad helped me set up the coffee percolator since I've never done it before. So the coffee was busy brewing while we enjoyed a vast array of cheeses. Each with a hand-written flag by yours truly. And eventually it was time for coffee and after dinner chocolates - the chocolates went down incredibly well. James and Dawn demolished a good half plate and so did Dylan and Amy.
Nan's taxi came 15 minutes early which was a bit annoying, but I suppose we can't complain since it was Christmas Day! James went back with her to make sure she got in safely. And Dawn got the kids into their PJs. I started on the washing up and Amy was busy playing with ice cubes and Lady. It was so cute. She even gave Lady the biggest of hugs.
Once the kids were in bed (and I cleaned up the mess of a broken glass bowl - my only break of the day!) I did some more washing up while Dad, James and Dawn put the living room back together - clearing the tables and putting them back in their proper place.
Mum got up for a little while so we could open our presents.
Present list 2012:
From Mum and Dad: Supernatural DVD series 1-7 boxset, Crabbies ginger beer and personalised glass, peace sign t-shirt, 3D sequin art elephant, jumper, Story of Flower perfume, The Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, Pokemon White 2, and eyeliner.
From Dad: Pandora charm bracelet, manicure kit, and a lip gloss set in cute little drawers.
From James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy: Mini whisk for frothy drinks, and Burt's Bees Tips and Toes kit.
From Dylan and Amy: Owl money box, pink fibre optic lamp and a personalised teddy that says "We love Auntie Krissy" on his tummy.
From Nan: A bottle of Malibu.
From Jean and Ray: £20*
From Roger and Barbara: Next Just Pink perfume set with body wash and lotion.
From Sandra: Floral Secrets Lavender bath set.
From Duncan, Tish, Josephine and Anna: Painted Lady make up kit.
From Patrick: Next Cashmere Indulgent Bathing gift set.
From Gina: Angel necklace (with blue gems like Castiel's eyes) and a Bake for Britain cook book.
From Julie: Time to Unwind Essentials Collection bath set.
From Ailsa: Mini box of Lindt Lindor chocolates.
From Lady: Dog teddy and a pink scarf.
From Tandy and Charlie: Charlie Red perfume and body spray.
From Santa: Salsa jar, two pairs of fluffy bed-socks, two tubs of body butter (I love... winter berries and I love... glistening glow), and mini bath salts.
From the Fairy on top of the Christmas tree: Tube of Dairy Milk chunks.
From![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bas_math_girl: An adorable v-gift! Thank you, hon!
* With the money from Jean and Ray I bought Miranda Hart's book 'Is It Just Me?' which I wrapped and used a gift tag from their gift last year to put under the tree. I also bought two owl necklaces. But they were ordered from Hong Kong and weren't here in time. One arrived yesterday but still waiting for the second.
We tidied up the mess from the wrapping paper and people made their ways to bed. I was on the sofa. Boxing Day came and the kids finally got to open their mountains of presents.
Amy fell in love with her tea set. She set her teddies up to join her and lost interest in opening more presents. Dylan liked his knights.
We had a buffet dinner for lunch - nibbles, smoked salmon pinwheels, dips, pork pie, cheese and onion hedgehog. And a buffet dinner for tea - purple chips, salad, Italian platter, Indian platter. I made a gateaux and Mum made a fruit salad.
James and Dawn went for a run in the afternoon and got soaked in the rain.
Once the kids were in bed we played a few rounds of Telestrations. I really can't draw. We also played chilli chocolate roulette. James got the chilli. Soon everyone was off to bed again - and I was on the sofa (again).
Next day was the day James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy went home. Dad and I took Lady for a walk (Dad kindly took her for walks both on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, for which I'm thankful). We went in the flooded park, all around the village and to the beck. My dog ended up having an impromptu swimming lesson after stepping off the shallow ledge into the deep middle trying to get her stick. Luckily she was unharmed but it shook her up a little bit. Hasn't put her off the water any though. She still loves it!
That night Lady finally got to open the rest of her presents. She opened her one from James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy on Boxing Day. But the rest were still in her stocking. She got a Frisbee from Mum and Dad, some chews from all of us, a packet of snowball biscuits from Santa and a bag of dog cookies and an edible Christmas card from me.
The last couple of days have been pretty quiet. I watched the War Horse with my Dad and I've watched the Glee 3D concert movie thing. Lazed about and eaten far too many nibbles.
Probably going to spend tomorrow night at home. Hoping to get a few games of SingStar with the parents and then on Tuesday I'm going to cook a meal for us - not sure if it'll be beef or pork with some of the trimmings.
Things are finally beginning to calm down here after the festive period so I thought I better sit down and finally post about my Christmas!
I was ill the week leading up to Christmas. I had to have a couple of days off work after catching the sickness bug that was going around the school. It put me behind on my Christmas preparations since I had a lot of food prep to do that I couldn't do while I was contagious and gross.
I finally got all my food done in time though, so it wasn't so bad. And we did the last of our food shopping on Friday 21st - the last day of work before the holidays. Tesco and Aldi weren't too bad, but Iceland was heaving. We were queuing over an hour in there.
I got my three cakes marzipanned, iced and decorated. One for us, one for James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy, and one for Nan.
Our cake.
Cake for James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy.
Cake for Nan.
I also made marizpan balls coated in chocolate (white, milk & plain) as well as cookies for the dog and chocolates to use as table favours.
So, Christmas Eve we visited Nan and Roger, Barbara and Patrick were there too. Back at home I had the lemon possets to make, the tables to arrange and set. Mum prepared the veg and I prepared the turkey, sausage balls, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets and chipolatas. We made sure all the glasses were washed, the plates were washed and the cutlery was polished. I laid out the crackers and the name cards and favour boxes. We also cooked the Christmas ham and gave it a jerk glaze. It was delicious!
Mum put my hair up in curlers for me and I carried on with the last minute preparation while she went to bed. I joined her on the bed to watch the finale of Merlin - there was much crying in our household. And then I went back to making sure everything was ready.
Went to bed only for Dad to get me up when he came home from the pub to make him a cup of tea and a ham sandwich. Finally got back to bed and went to sleep.
SANTA CAME!
I still miss the days of opening presents in the morning.
Got woken up Christmas morning by Mum before my alarm went off telling me that she'd taken the pork out of the oven and put it into the halogen oven and had put the turkey into the oven and that I'd have to be up in an hour because the timer on the halogen oven only goes for an hour. She said she was going back to bed. So, I dragged myself out of bed and kept an eye on the meats. I prepared the cheeseboard and the after dinner chocolates and the crackers. I filled Lady's bone with mashed up wet biscuits and peanut butter. Prepared the last of the veg. Took the pavlova out the freezer. And prepared the pâté and prawn cocktails.
Went to check on Mum and find out what time the Christmas pudding needed to go in the steamer and what time the Hostess trolley needed to go on only to find out that when she said she was going back to bed she didn't mean for a few minutes, she meant all day. Cue panic and lots of it. I mean this is maybe the sixth year or so we've done Christmas dinner at our house (before that we used to go to the pub and before that we used to go to Nan's house until it got too much for her) but usually I sort the starters and the puds and faff around while Mum cooks the main course and suddenly I was on my own with no warning. I cook Sunday roasts almost every week but a Christmas dinner is so different since you have to adjust timings and keep main course warm through starters and sorbets. I felt a bit like I'd been thrown in the deep end.
But, it went pretty well. Better than I expected. James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy arrived early and Nan not long after. Jean and Ray popped in for a few minutes before heading back to Mansfield. They had been at Nan's for the morning to open presents but didn't want to stay for dinner because of Ray's dementia - he can have some rather unpleasant turns and Jean didn't want it to ruin anyone's day.
Starting time according to the menu was 1.30pm and I got starters out on the table by 1.35pm so not too late. Not bad, considering I was flying solo. Dad, Dylan and I had prawn cocktail. James, Dawn, Amy and Nan had pâté.
Next was the sorbet. Dad, James and I had raspberry. Dawn, Dylan and Amy had mango and pineapple. Nan didn't have any because it's too acidic for her these days.
Then came the giant main course of foody calorie goodness. Turkey, pork, pigs in blankets, chipolatas, sage and onion stuffing balls, sausage balls, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, home-grown broccoli, home-grown carrots, home-grown new potatoes, home-grown brussel sprouts, home-grown roast parsnips, roast potatoes, apple sauce, cranberry jelly, gravy, leeks in white sauce. No bread sauce, unfortunately, we thought we had a packet in the cupboard which we usually use as a base and then modify so I looked online how to make it from scratch and there wasn't enough time left. Still, people seemed to enjoy it. There was a lot of left-overs though.
A break for a bit of washing up and party games - James won the Dingbats and Nan won Pass the Parcel. Also, table gifts from Santa. Nan, Dad, James and Dawn got toffee, Dylan and Amy got colouring pads and I got a salsa jar. Washing up without Mum seemed to take forever and a lot of pots and pans got dumped into the porch until a lot later.
Pudding was next. Lemon posset for Dad, Dylan and Amy. Pavlova for Nan and James. And Christmas pudding for Dawn and I. Dawn had brandy sauce. I didn't. It was the last Christmas pud out of my Nan's pantry which is quite sad. She probably won't make any more in her lifetime now. It was made in 2010. She made three and it was the last to be eaten. Tasted great though. Hopefully she'll pass her recipe on to me like she did the Christmas cake recipe.
A little bit more washing up followed by cheese and biscuits. Dad helped me set up the coffee percolator since I've never done it before. So the coffee was busy brewing while we enjoyed a vast array of cheeses. Each with a hand-written flag by yours truly. And eventually it was time for coffee and after dinner chocolates - the chocolates went down incredibly well. James and Dawn demolished a good half plate and so did Dylan and Amy.
Nan's taxi came 15 minutes early which was a bit annoying, but I suppose we can't complain since it was Christmas Day! James went back with her to make sure she got in safely. And Dawn got the kids into their PJs. I started on the washing up and Amy was busy playing with ice cubes and Lady. It was so cute. She even gave Lady the biggest of hugs.
Once the kids were in bed (and I cleaned up the mess of a broken glass bowl - my only break of the day!) I did some more washing up while Dad, James and Dawn put the living room back together - clearing the tables and putting them back in their proper place.
Mum got up for a little while so we could open our presents.
Present list 2012:
From Mum and Dad: Supernatural DVD series 1-7 boxset, Crabbies ginger beer and personalised glass, peace sign t-shirt, 3D sequin art elephant, jumper, Story of Flower perfume, The Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, Pokemon White 2, and eyeliner.
From Dad: Pandora charm bracelet, manicure kit, and a lip gloss set in cute little drawers.
From James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy: Mini whisk for frothy drinks, and Burt's Bees Tips and Toes kit.
From Dylan and Amy: Owl money box, pink fibre optic lamp and a personalised teddy that says "We love Auntie Krissy" on his tummy.
From Nan: A bottle of Malibu.
From Jean and Ray: £20*
From Roger and Barbara: Next Just Pink perfume set with body wash and lotion.
From Sandra: Floral Secrets Lavender bath set.
From Duncan, Tish, Josephine and Anna: Painted Lady make up kit.
From Patrick: Next Cashmere Indulgent Bathing gift set.
From Gina: Angel necklace (with blue gems like Castiel's eyes) and a Bake for Britain cook book.
From Julie: Time to Unwind Essentials Collection bath set.
From Ailsa: Mini box of Lindt Lindor chocolates.
From Lady: Dog teddy and a pink scarf.
From Tandy and Charlie: Charlie Red perfume and body spray.
From Santa: Salsa jar, two pairs of fluffy bed-socks, two tubs of body butter (I love... winter berries and I love... glistening glow), and mini bath salts.
From the Fairy on top of the Christmas tree: Tube of Dairy Milk chunks.
From
bas_math_girl: An adorable v-gift! Thank you, hon!* With the money from Jean and Ray I bought Miranda Hart's book 'Is It Just Me?' which I wrapped and used a gift tag from their gift last year to put under the tree. I also bought two owl necklaces. But they were ordered from Hong Kong and weren't here in time. One arrived yesterday but still waiting for the second.
We tidied up the mess from the wrapping paper and people made their ways to bed. I was on the sofa. Boxing Day came and the kids finally got to open their mountains of presents.
Amy fell in love with her tea set. She set her teddies up to join her and lost interest in opening more presents. Dylan liked his knights.
We had a buffet dinner for lunch - nibbles, smoked salmon pinwheels, dips, pork pie, cheese and onion hedgehog. And a buffet dinner for tea - purple chips, salad, Italian platter, Indian platter. I made a gateaux and Mum made a fruit salad.
James and Dawn went for a run in the afternoon and got soaked in the rain.
Once the kids were in bed we played a few rounds of Telestrations. I really can't draw. We also played chilli chocolate roulette. James got the chilli. Soon everyone was off to bed again - and I was on the sofa (again).
Next day was the day James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy went home. Dad and I took Lady for a walk (Dad kindly took her for walks both on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, for which I'm thankful). We went in the flooded park, all around the village and to the beck. My dog ended up having an impromptu swimming lesson after stepping off the shallow ledge into the deep middle trying to get her stick. Luckily she was unharmed but it shook her up a little bit. Hasn't put her off the water any though. She still loves it!
That night Lady finally got to open the rest of her presents. She opened her one from James, Dawn, Dylan and Amy on Boxing Day. But the rest were still in her stocking. She got a Frisbee from Mum and Dad, some chews from all of us, a packet of snowball biscuits from Santa and a bag of dog cookies and an edible Christmas card from me.
The last couple of days have been pretty quiet. I watched the War Horse with my Dad and I've watched the Glee 3D concert movie thing. Lazed about and eaten far too many nibbles.
Probably going to spend tomorrow night at home. Hoping to get a few games of SingStar with the parents and then on Tuesday I'm going to cook a meal for us - not sure if it'll be beef or pork with some of the trimmings.
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