Food Glorious Food.

[erastes]

OK: Here's what we'll be having on Christmas Day.  

Smoked Salmon starter of some kind. Roulade, or parcels, with salad. Whitebait.

Champagne Sorbet

A selection of Norfolk turkey, goose, lamb and beef
Sprouts with chestnuts, glazed parsnips and carrots, mange tout.
Roast potatoes
pigs in blankets
Yorkshire puddings
Stuffing
Definitely no cranberries.

Mince pies (shortcrust)

Christmas pudding with brandy butter, cream, custard.

Cheeseboard!

Just what we normally have, in fact.  The only difference is that I'm going to be going for the easy option in all cases - if it's ready prepared, I'm going to buy it. And no Christmas cake, because SOMEONE never wrote her recipe down, and so that's gone forever!!!  I'll have words with her when I see her next!!

Plan: Shove in Oven. Set Timer.

Loaf watching the telly with Pick and Mix (Oh My God - Where will I get that when Woolies shuts?) and Baileys until cooked.

Boxing Day: Whole Salmon with homemade chestnut stuffing.

Sausage rolls too, (puff)

Comments

[jgraeme2007.livejournal.com]

Boxing Day: Whole Salmon with homemade chestnut stuffing.

Oh my God that sounds great.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Well, the thing IS... I haven't bought as much as one peanut yet... So when I go to the supermarket tomorrow and find that all that's left is a slightly dented crab and some greenish potatoes, all I'll have is myself to blame...

:)

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad we leave the Xmas cooking to our hosts this year.

But your menu sound delicious. :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It should be pretty simple, just lifting in and out of the oven...

Have a great time!

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Thanks ... I fully expect to write even in Wales. Damn. Can somebody tear me away from this project?

[m-barnette.livejournal.com]

Wow quite a spread. We're planning Cornish Game Hens with stuffing, home made Game Hen gravy, mashed sweet potatoes, some kind of veggie (as yet undecided) and pie. I'm cooking everything but the pie.

We still don't have the sweet potatoes or pie. I'm hoping we're going for those late tonight after most people are home hiding from the cold.

Expecting a couple inches of snow tonight, but Christmas Day is supposed to be relatively warm with a high around 40.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I wish we had the snow!!

and Baileys until cooked

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

You, or the food? ;)

Re: and Baileys until cooked

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Both, with luck!

[marquesate.livejournal.com]

Ohhh WHITEBAIT!!! This is something I so miss from England. can't get it here North of the border. Yum yum yum!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

No whitebait, no Waitrose?

It's like Siberia!!

:)

[marquesate.livejournal.com]

Oh I can live with that in a city like this. ;-)



And we do have Waitrose, just tucked away in Costorphine. And we have haggis, neeps and tatties! YUM!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

You know, I've never been to Scotland. It's shocking.

I love Haggis and neeps.

[marquesate.livejournal.com]

Wot??? nNver been to the best small country in the world? (they stopped that tourism slogan) It's so beautiful here and so few people. Can't stand lots of people and noise, thus it's perfect up here, I'd never go back.

[dakotaflint.livejournal.com]

Randomly jumping in here...

I loved Scotland! Though my pics of Edinburgh didn't quite look as good as that. *g*

I'm saving my pennies so I can go back to the UK for a visit. I miss it.

[marquesate.livejournal.com]

"Pick and Mix (Oh My God - Where will I get that when Woolies shuts?)"

No problem, all the shopping centres have those stands/stalls with oodles of pick n mix. Surely .. even down in England? :-p

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Probably, but I live like... in the middle of nowhere (by choice) even a kebab is a ten mile drive...

Perhaps there's a pickandmix.co.uk.

[marquesate.livejournal.com]

Yup!

http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/index.php

[erastes.livejournal.com]

God i love the internet! Thank you!

[leni-jess.livejournal.com]

That sounds delicious, and if you're the designated cook, ready-to-cook is the way to go! Is this just your dad and yourself? You won't be abe to move.

I hope you both have a wonderful holiday season.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes - just us! :) (And the Yorkshire terrier) But it will all get used up. Curries, stews, sandwiches, etc etc! Keep us going all week!

Best wishes to you and yours too!

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Oh my lord. That sounds so ambitious (even with already cooked/prepared things). I don't even get that elaborate at Thanksgiving (which is THE elaborate meal in my part of the US).

For Christmas, we'll have oranges in the am (fresh from our stockings) and some kind of pancakes/toast/something carbohydrate-y, and then go out to the local Chinese restaurant for lunch. That's my new (five years old? Maybe, maybe less) tradition. Then home and probably peanut butter sammiches for dinner, since there'll only be the daughter and I and she'll be wanting to be a pain in the butt and do her games on the computer or go out with her boyfriend.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Nah. It's literally just shove in oven and bake - or shove into saucepans and water and boil. Easy peasy.

You Americans have peculiar things to eat.

Merry Christmas!

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

*nomnom*

We still need to get our pigs in blankets *whine*

We have severe cheese overload which makes us both very happy. Camenbert gently heated tomorrow so we can stick crusty bread in it and go all weak at the knees over it.

Christmas Day...the usual.

Boxing Day...me at work *pout*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Cheese overload is GOOD. I like the idea of heated Camenbert - I'll have to try that.

Merry Christmas, hun!

xxx

[dementedsiren.livejournal.com]

Good luck picking up everything - it sounds absolutely delicious! Hm.. I don't suppose you have the recipe for the chestnut stuffing and wouldn't mind sharing?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Got everything except the sausage rolls. Disaster!

Chestnut Stuffing:

this is the one I use - an 18th century one (naturally) from Delia

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/eighteenth-century-chestnut-stuffing,914,RC.html

[mongrelheart.livejournal.com]

That all sounds amazing! Happy eating :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Very piggy of us, but it's only one day! Merry Christmas!

xxx

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

We are going to have cinnamon buns for breakfast, and go out for delicious vegetarian Chinese food later in the day.

I have just completed my ritual holiday indulgence for the year -- I made latkes. From scratch, not from a disgusting mix. In order to save my shoulder, I used the food processor for the potato and onion -- first the grating disk, then the regular blade. Wring out as much excess moisture as possible in a kitchen towel. Add salt and one egg. Do NOT add any flour, matzo meal, or baking powder if you've wrung out enough moisture, you don't need the flour or matzo meal to soak up excess liquid, and it will just make the latkes too heavy. If you're not adding flour or matzo meal which will make the latkes too heavy, you don't need any baking powder to "lighten" them again, and it makes the flavor and the texture weird. Just potatoes, onions, egg, and salt, fried in oil. Remove from pan onto a baking sheet lined with a brown grocery bag. Everyone gathers around the stove and eats them as soon as they're cool enough to pick up, while you're still frying the next ones.

THAT is the essence of latkes.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

You Americans! You are WEIRD.

;)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

It isn't because I'm American, Erastes dear, it's because I'm Jewish. The humble latke, or potato pancake, is traditional Hannukah food, not because of any ineffably sacred quality of potatoes, but because they're fried in oil (miracle of the oil burning eight days and all that). The potato pancake was simply one of the easiest fried-in-oil foods for Eastern European peasants to make to celebrate with.

In Israel, they celebrate Hannukah with jelly doughnuts.

[dakotaflint.livejournal.com]

Mince pies....yum! I can't say as there are many food items I miss from England, but I do miss mince pies.

And the whole menu sounds scrumptious.

*iz envious* (my family always has seven seafood dishes--it's a Catholic thing--and even though I like most seafood, it's always a bit...much)

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

My god, you're ambitious. I'm trying to decide whether to venture forth tomorrow (6" of snow so far, more snow & freezing rain by morning) for mozzarella and make spinach lasagna, or just do something like a curry. The exam season stretched out this term (partner just finished checking the last finals) and unexpected socializing has kept us hopping. And there's that snow... or whatever it's doing now.

I hope you find everything you need and the weather behaves!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Not at all - everything pre-prepared - so it just gets shoved in the oven. Nothing else to do. Mother used to make her own Christmas pud, christmas cake, sausage rolls, mince pies, yorkshire puds but I can't do any of that!

There's nowhere TO venture out to here. Everything's shut.

Hope you have a great Christmas!

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

You too - we went for Italian, after all. There's a 5-lb chunk of mozzarella in the fridge... I hope I can freeze some of it!

[ginnhale.livejournal.com]

You have put my spread of both types of cat food--dry and wet-- to shame.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Well, it's only once a year, and there's only 2 of us, so I try and make it special.

*hug*

Merry Christmas!

[ginnhale.livejournal.com]

Cat food is special... just not good special. ; )

Your menu sounded wonderful and I envy the lucky individual who gets to share it with you. The very best of Holidays to you both!

Ginn

[emlynley.livejournal.com]

OMG, i want a plane ticket!

I think the best Christmas dinner I had was in Hereford one year with an old boyfriend whose mother taught cooking at one of the local schools. We had such an amazing array of delicious food but I think you might even surpass that. Turkey, goose lamb AND beef? I guess you have no vegetarian friends? I've always wanted to try goose... and then anything with chestnuts makes me happy.

Champagne sorbet is just wonderful. Have you ever tried making risotto with champagne instead of white wine? I recommend it if you are also a big fan of champagne. Just not with the cheap stuff since it gets all concentrated down.

I think it's time for lunch here.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

No, no vegetarians - just me and Dad.

I don't think I've ever made risotto!!

:) Merry Christmas!

[aunty_marion]

Pick & Mix - do you have a Wilkinson's in your nearest Large Town? Because they seem to have a similar sweet selection, usually. (And I bet they take over the Woollies' 'mantle', too - they're pretty close already to what Woollies used to be like!)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think there is one in Great Yarmouth, and you are right, they are pretty much what Woolies used to be like too.

:)