Did you think I'd disappeared underneath a pile of Christmas wrapping paper ? Floated away on a sea of brandy sauce ? Sorry I haven't posted since Christmas day, but I've been enjoying some festive fun with friends & family & haven't been online much !I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas .... mine started off with a cat underneath the Christmas tree - as you can see above ! (No, not another 4-legged addition to our family, but rather That Tessa Cat !)
I spent the entire day before Christmas on my feet in the kitchen, preparing food to take up to our neighbour's farm for Christmas lunch (we split the cooking between us) .... their farm is around an hour from ours, and this is their driveway/entrance below ....
Before we hit the bumpy part of their road, I asked hubby to stop the car so that I could check that all the food in the back was still okay. Here's our car below - just after we'd stopped on our neighbour's driveway to check that all was still intact !
I had packed everything into large plastic crates with old bath towels layered between them to prevent spillages and breakages .... turkey, stuffing, chippolata sausages, gravy, roast potatoes, strawberry cheesecakes .... then of course there were the bags of presents, coolerbox of booze, case of beer .... not to mention spare clothes, books, toys, nappies & gear for baby son - and everything else you need for 2 kids for a day out ! (Oh. And hubby's gun. Just visible in the photo. Incase of 'bandits' on the road home at night - I kid you not).
Everything made it there safely - thank goodness ! The Christmas table (below) was laden with all manner of goodies, including ..... honey glazed ham, cauliflower in a cheese sauce, minted peas, brussel sprouts cooked with bacon and chestnuts (brought over from the UK in someone's suitcase !), roasted pumpkin slices, sweetcorn on the cob, green beans in butter, spinach gnocchi, bread sauce, apple sauce, cranberry jelly and raisin gravy (first time I'd ever tried the latter - which was delicious !)
The dessert table (below) consisted of .... fresh plums, strawberry cheesecake, vanilla cheesecake, pavlova (our hostess is an Australian and pavlova is commonly served in Australia over the Christmas season) with raspberries and kiwi fruit, carrot cake, brandy tart, trifle, custard and cream. (So much for my post pregnancy 10 kg/22 lb weight loss - I think I gained at least half of it back after sampling EACH and EVERY dessert ..... I have such a sweet tooth !)
Oohhhh ... and should I mention the champagne, red wine, tea, coffee, Bailey's Irish Cream, Van der Hum (Orange) Liqueur and Mince Pies ? Or the delicious Boxing Day "tea and sundowners' spread laid on by my dear friend J. at her house the following day ........ traditional mince pies with brandy butter, meringue topped mince pies (I've GOT to make these next year - they were fab !), cucumber sandwiches, cheese & marmite biscuits (recipe to follow soon !), Christmas cake, fudge, cheese and biscuit platter, cold sliced ham, Panettone ..... Pimms Punch and Mulled Wine. Ah ! My thighs are moaning just thinking about it !On our way home on Boxing Day we hit heavy rain (which - although annoying, is still better than bandits !), which delayed us somewhat. We also managed to somehow get ourselves STUCK in the mud for around an hour on the farm itself. Luckily I had blankets and pillows etc in the car for the kids, and I never travel anywhere here without bottles of water, juice and 'snack boxes' for my daughter .... we got back home just before 10 pm and still had to bath the kids and get them to bed - on battery power (generator was already off for the night) and tepid bathwater (rain had made all the wood wet so we could not heat the boiler properly). But it was a fun couple of days (and we had a long lie-in on Sunday morning) & we are just catching up before heading off to the African bush for a few days over New Year. But more about that later.
In the meantime, pass me the Mince Pies, won't you ? We can't let all that brandy butter go to waste ;)
