Boxing Day






We're laying low today, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to tell a little about how we celebrated Christmas this year.

K's mom and step-dad (J-Mom and J-Dad) have come to Winchester for about a week. They arrived on Thursday morning; naturally, a bit jet-lagged after an 11-hour journey from eastern Oregon. That evening, we took them to the Christmas carol service at Winchester Cathedral. A nice service, but most of the carols were unfamiliar to us. K and I are non-religious, while J-Mom and J-Dad are Catholic. The Winchester Cathedral is "C of E" (Church of England). So, there you have it. Nonetheless, it was a great way to start Christmas.

I worked on Friday and our tired guests tried to overcome their jet-lag. On Saturday, J-Dad and I noticed that we were getting a cold or perhaps bird flu. The gals were out Christmas shopping, so we ate some raw garlic cloves to try to stave off the sickness. Anti-social, but quite effective usually. However, the sickness had already gotten a good hold on us.

That night, Christmas Eve, we went to Loch Fyne Restaurant for Christmas dinner. Fantastic meal! We were all very stuffed by the end of it. Then we whisked ourselves back home to make sure our colds did not get worse. Luckily, the gals have not gotten ill so far. It's just us men-folk that have been TKO'd.

By Christmas Day, I was feeling a bit better. Well enough to open presents and cook dinner, anyway! We all had a light breakfast. K and J-Mom baked some "Mexican Wedding Cakes" and then we adjourned to the living room to open our "prezies" (presents). A good little haul of gifts! Many thanks to our family members for that!

Then it was time to start on the turkey. Before the cookies were baked, I had injected the turkey with Lea & Perrins Coconut Lime Coriander 5-minute Marinade and then placed it back in the fridge to suck up that lovely goodness. Then it got stuffed with Paxo Sage & Onion stuffing, massaged with butter, and dusted with Adobo seasoning. I'm normally a big fan of deep-frying the turkey, but I don't have the capabilities of doing that here in England, so we cooked it the old-fashioned way: in the oven. While it was roasting, we watched the Queen's speech and then National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, which was one of K's presents. For snacks, we had roasted chestnuts and caramelized onion, garlic, shallot spread on "croutes" -- I adapted this from Gordon Ramsay's "Aubergine Caviar" recipe which I had planned to make but was foiled by the lack of aubergines anywhere in town. Then as soon as the movie was over we sprung into action to finish cooking the Christmas dinner.

Christmas Dinner 2005:

- Coconut-Lime-Coriander Turkey with Sage & Onion stuffing
- Parsnip-Potato mash
- Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts and Bacon
- Pork, Sage & Onion stuffing balls (from the supermarket)
- J-Mom's gravy
- Homemade cranberry sauce

- Dessert: Chocolate & Bailey's Irish Cream creme-brulee cheesecake (from Marks and Spencer)

Plenty of left-overs. Tonight I'm going to make a wholesome, nourishing soup to try to fight this cold. J-Dad and I will probably eat some more raw garlic to send in some reinforcements for our beleagured immune systems.

K and J-Mom have gone out for a walk around Winchester, while we sicklings have stayed at home. Seems like a good time to play a little X-Box!

-RP-

PS - More pictures HERE.