Friday 25 December 2009: Merry Christmas
Christmas 2009 has been very peaceful, enjoyable and relaxing. It's been different to previous years, but different in a different way. The sun has been out all day today, warmer and balmier than yesterday.
Santa was very good to me, delivering amongst other things a pasta machine, a big Gorillapod with floating ball head, Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck Cookbook, two other great cooking books, clothes and other lovely things. One of the nicest things was the fact that my mum still does stockings for me (32), my brother (28) and sister (22), and that is what i've chosen to blip today. My sister also made stockings for my mum and dad, so we all opened the stockings first, which was lovely and different.
We went to the Mill House for some drinks, mice pies (made by my brother yesterday) and conversation.It is a very small community and most of them seemed to be there. It was very good to be part of everything, seeing people of all generations having good fun, at Christmas.
After that a quick walk on the beach saw me fall on my bum on the slimy rocks, and then catch two mad surfers attempting to navigate rocks to body board on Christmas Day.
My brother and I then had charge of Christmas Dinner. He prepped a lot of it yesterday, and my sister had already made the Christmas Pudding.
It was great to work side by side with my brother, and he taught me a great deal. He sourced huge hand-dived scallops, and local black pudding for starter (my job)...He taught me to clean and prep the scallops...interestng and not that hard. I pan seared the scallops, and griddled the black pudding. He made a foam with the coral, and I served with microherbs (horseradish).
Main was goose. My brother made a stuffing of sausage, orange, chestnut, and redcurrant and used this to stuff the boned goose legs. These were ballotined, poached and then roasted. The crown was roasted rare with redcurrants. The bones were used to make a very reduced sauce with red wine, port, and spice. This was glossy, unctuous and delicious. We had honeyed parsnip and carrots, brocolli, sprouts with bacon and chestnuts, and roast potato.
The pudding is yet to come...with chocolate and sloe gin...
Tomorrow we leave at 10, for a large family gathering in Surrey on the way back to Stortford.
Merry Christmas all.
PENTAX K100D : f/5.6 : 1/8" : 35mm : ISO 200
Comments
Lovely image and light! It sounds that you have appreciated especially your brother's company during Christmas. That is wonderful. Happy Christmas Day and a safe journey back home!
~ nina54
Sounds like you've had a fine day - and certainly with a load of lovely sounding food ("mice pies" aside ;-) ). Safe journey tomorrow.
~ SooB
Looks like a lovely old fashioned Christmas stylee photo. Love it. :)
~ sweetpotatosky
All sounds delightful!
~ Mags
Sounds fabulous! Glad you had such a great day!
~ Xtine
What a delicious sounding day, including the food!
~ Helen
I realise that we've visited Trebarwith Strand a few times, with old friends who live in/near Tintagel - but only in the summer when the sands are covered with scampering children and dogs and one needs to get out of the blistering sunshine. A distant memory.
But I'm impressed that the Mill House offers something as unconventional as 'mice pies' on the menu - very nouvelle cuisine!
Glad to hear you've had a good day.
~ meles
I think my brother watched Heston Blumenthal making dormouse on sticks...
~ acronymphomania
That sounds a magical Christmas day and I feel I've also eaten your Dinner along with you and it was delicious! Hope everything goes well tomorrow.
~ LadyFindhorn
Fabulous sounding food, and it's great to keep up family traditions even when you're all grown up. :-)
~ Annie
gifts in a big sock, that's really amazing.
~ visualbinam
What a treat. It is good to be together with family. Let me know how you get on with the gorillapod.
~ Gillipaw
Sounds like a great day. nice blip says it all.
~ Chippy
Sounds wonderful, I love the little stocking.
Merry Christmas to you and your family xxx
Thankyou for subscribing to me, Tracey x
~ traceyflowerpot
Happy Christmas to you - sounds like a great day of fest and drink!
~ Pingirl
Happy Christmas - keep on relaxing.
~ KathGordon
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