Happy New Year's Eve!

K and I are going to a small dinner party with some friend's in London. Our first New Year's celebration of such a kind. Should be cozy. See you all in the New Year!

Con mucho amor,

R and K

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.

...And to our friends & family practicing American Christmas:

Merry Christmas! and/or Happy Holidays!

Much love,

R & K

PS - For some Christmas laughs, an old classic: The Scared of Santa Gallery.

For our European friends and family*:

Merry/Happy Christmas!

Love,

K & R


*Note: That's Europe's Father Christmas. Not Santa Claus (you Americans will here from him tomorrow).

You're Quitting? Let's Celebrate!

In England it is customary to reward someone for quitting their job. The quitter's co-workers get together to buy a "farewell gift" and sometimes throw a "leaving do" (a party or night out) in their honor. This idea is absurd beyond my capacity to describe it. An example...

Someone at my current place of employment is leaving the project to start another job. He'll actually even be in the same building as us. The position he is leaving on our project still has another year (or more) of longevity. Now the project has to spend time finding someone to replace him and then train/brief them on everything that has been done to date. Despite this inconvenience, they feel compelled to reward him for leaving. We have been asked to donate money for his farewell present. K and I aren't even buying ourselves Christmas presents this year and now I'm expected to spend money on the guy that's quitting? He's a nice guy and I have no problems wishing him well in his new job, but I don't see the need to give him a gift. What is the point? It is politeness gone awry. I could see giving someone a gift if they had done something particularly great, were retiring, or perhaps become a parent or something. But a present for quitting a job?!

Furthermore, most of us are on a one year contract for this project. Does that mean we'll be buying presents for everyone when our contracts end and we all leave? Not bloody likely. So why are we rewarding someone who cuts out early? I can't find a reasonable answer to this question.

We also are in the pattern of celebrating people's birthday. Everyone chips in £2 and the birthday boy or girl gets some kind of present and a cake. I was being amicable when I went along with that and I must admit, I did get a present myself (an HMV gift card), but I'm not there to socialize. I'm there to work. Is that so wrong?

-RP-

PS- One of my coworkers agrees with me about this. However, we are the only two who feel that way. Everyone else thinks I'm some kind of asshole, I guess, for not wanting to chip in for this guy's gift. It's a hard life being a reasonable person!