Well, I am really rather late to the party this week but I couldn’t resist doing a ‘What I Ate Wednesday’ post containing all the yummy delights of Christmas Day! To be honest, I was far too busy stuffing my face, spending time with family and opening presents to even think about writing a post yesterday!! Thanks go to Jenn at Peas and Crayons who still found time to post, even on Christmas Day! Anyway, here goes….please don’t judge me too much as I really was a bit of a glutton!!
Breakfast – Our usual tradition on Christmas Day morning is to have smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast, washed down with some bucks fizz (or just plain champagne for the hardcore and those who don’t have to drive anywhere!) however, I decided to do something a little different this year! I came across a recipe in this month’s Good Food magazine for Mincemeat Chelsea Buns and thought they looked lovely. Unfortunately, I did not read the recipe and just looked at the picture so I thought it was for mincemeat cinnamon swirls so they came out rather different to how I thought they would!! I think Neil was a little disappointed but I thought they were pretty tasty and a nice alternative to our usual tradition! You can find the recipe here.
Snacks – As it was Christmas Day, it seemed rude not to have some chocolate early on! If you can’t be indulgent at Christmas when can you?! I had a few Celebrations at Neil’s Mum’s house along with a few from my Dairy Box selection which was a yu7mmy present from Neil’s brother and sister in law.
Lunch – Neil had Christmas lunch with his Mum and family whereas I journeyed over to my parents who rather conveniently live only a short drive from Neil’s family. Nowerdays, my Mom, Dad and I have our Christmas dinner rather late in the day but, as we were drinking bubbly we thought we should have a little something to stop us from becoming too merry! We all tucked into my Mom’s artichoke heart dip which is served warm and is full of cheesy deliciousness and was a most welcome savoury snack!
Dinner – After the Queen’s speech and a few more glasses of champagne, Neil joined us and we sat down for dinner. Yes that’s right, the greedy boy managed to eat two Christmas dinners!! To start, we had avocado’s with prawn cocktail. For me, this was the perfect starter, not too heavy, fantastically retro and full of goodness!! I especially love the dishes my Mom uses which she purchased from Abraxas, one of my favourite cookery shops here in Northamptonshire. It was then time for the main event, beautifully moist turkey with all the trimmings! We tend to be fairly traditional and have stuffing, gravy, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, brussel sprouts. carrots along with my Mom’s delicious red cabbage and a variety of condiments! My Mom always makes cranberry salsa which has a bit of a kick to it and isn’t as sweet as the jarred stuff you can buy in the supermarket. Watch this space for the recipe; it makes a really nice change from traditional cranberry sauce and we remain very grateful to our American friend for the recipe!
Snack – We were all rather full after our huge lunch so took a bit of a break before enjoying some cheese in front of the telly. I pre-ordered our cheese selection from the ever-so-wonderful St Giles Cheese in Northampton; one of my very favourite foodie stores! This year we feasted on Colton Basset Stilton, Cornish Yarg, Glastonbury Cheddar, Dorset Red and Brie de Meaux. The Brie was perfectly oozy and the Dorset Red was so wonderfully smokey. My Dad and I couldn’t resist a glass of port to accompany the delicious selection! I would thoroughly recommend going to St Giles for all your dinner party needs or special meals – they always offer such excellent customer service, expert knowledge and are very good value!
Unfortunately we really could not manage any Christmas pudding which was a shame but my Mom sent us home with some lovely homemade Christmas cake before we journeyed back to Neil’s Mum’s for a wonderful Boxing Day buffet today!!!! The diet really must begin now……
Wishing all my readers a very merry Christmas and a happy 2014!!