Christmas 2024

 

Christmas Eve: All was merry and bright as we started with Wonton and Hot Sour soup and then joyously tucked into a scrumptious set meal from our favourite Chinese restaurant. Conversation ebbed and flowed as we munched dinner. 

Christmas Day: It was a mix of no fuss and carefree leisure to the start the day. Bakery cinnamon buns, yoghurt and mandarin oranges were breakfast. Buck Fizz and Christmas chocolates followed as we waited for guests to arrive.

Christmas dinner was traditional festive fare with a few added vegetables. It was a full house and full plates of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, lightly glazed carrots, steamed Brussels sprouts and steamed green beans. All nestled with gravy, cranberry sauce, I added some after I took this photo, and dashes of pepper. A selection of wine was poured to toast festive cheer. For dessert Stollen and my baking, which each guest left with a bundle of both.

Boxing Day: Relaxed, restful and quiet. It was a lovely day to be out and about and share nibbles later on. I made a tasty Chicken Moroccan Stew, which I will post about later, for us to warm up to which brought much comfort as we settled in for the evening. 

And of course our annual Fortnum's order arrived. Such a lovely selection of biscuits, teas, crackers, jams, honeys, pudding, sparkling tea and pickled olives. Christmas and the year ahead would not be complete without it!   

Christmas 2023

Christmas Eve: We decided to head to one of our favourite pubs for our festive meal and fish & chips with cider hit the spot. As we tucked in we sang along to Christmas songs, laughed and chatted before making our way home. 

Christmas Day: Christmas morning was bright and early for us and those infamous lemonade scones and mandarine oranges were served as we toasted Yuletide and Christmas with a round of Bucks Fizz.

 

Christmas Day dinner was a mid-day affair as we had company and gave us not only an opportunity to mix and mingle but an early start meant reasonable time to digest and relax with a walk. Dinner was full of the usual festive culinary delights with all the trimmings, turkey, seasoned garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet glazed carrots, brussels sprouts, with lashing of gravy and cranberry sauce. Glasses of wine flowed as we toasted the seasonal best. 

Boxing Day: We were invited out for the better part of the morning and early afternoon so it was a more paired down late lunchette that saw us grazing on into the dinner hour. There were plenty of nibbles paired with pea hummus dip, mini quiches and cauliflower bites, an abundance of crackers with a selection of cheeses and meats, dried apricots, tangerines and dates, sweet candied apple cinnamon walnuts, sweet and spicy gherkins and onions, a selection of my baking and a tiramisu swiss roll for dessert. 

  

... and of course we had our annual order from Fortnum & Mason. With savoury sables, crackers and biscuits, jams and jellies, tea, hot sauce, honey, condiments, horseradish, fizzy sparkling non alcoholic tea, plenty to share through the coming year. 

The gifted Marks and Spencers order was lovely and full of some of our favourites and and new delights. Crackers, jam, soups, biscuits, Christmas pudding, chocolates, savoury nibbles and a fruit and nut butter, which is absolutely wonderful on toast, definitely the highlight of the gift package.  

Christmas 2022

 

Christmas Eve was quiet and although we had a few last minute errands the temperature was cold and kept us indoors for the evening, so ordering from our favourite Chinese restaurant was a must. 

Christmas morning we woke to a light snowfall and a slice of Métis cranberry bread, topped with a coconut whip cream and a dusting of cinnamon sugar... and a couple of Bucks fizz to toast the day and family. 

No lunch was needed after breakfast, nibbles and Buck's fizz. An early dinner did nicely, traditional turkey dinner with trimmings of herbed mashed potatoes, carrots with squash, savoury stuffing and mushy peas with lashing of gravy and cranberry sauce. White wine was our beverage of choice for the meal and although not the typical wine option, most often it is red, it accompanied well with crisp refreshing notes.

Dessert was Fortnum and Mason's Magnificent Plum Pudding... and it was gloriously magnificent! Decadent, rich and seasonally moist and flavourful, it was divine. It was, the most flawless way to end Christmas dinner.

      

Boxing Day was shared with friends and guests. A midday brunch fare that consisted of homemade bacon and bean soup, a selection of cheese and biscuits, pickled onions and beets, Tuscan herbed olives, munchies of Mackie's crisps in turkey dinner and Boxing Day curry, corn chips and Baba Ghanoush for dipping, savoury nibbles, toasty cheese sticks, my baking, Border's section of chocolate biscuits and a delightful Pandan cake. Wine along with non alcoholic drinks were served as the conversation and laughter flowed. 

... and of course our Christmas would not be complete without our annual Fortnum and Mason order. A lovely selections of teas, biscuits, crackers, coffee, mustard, honey, jams, pickle and savouries to see us through the coming year.  

Christmas came with a few surprises, such as this gift, of Marks and Spencer's and British food. An abundant selection of scrumptious sweet and savouries for us to devour, enjoy and share.  

Christmas 2021

A new Chinese restaurant opened in our neighbourhood so we decided to order a takeaway from there as our Christmas Eve meal. It was lovely, absolutely delicious and a filling meal and the fortune cookie fortunes were spot on!  

Christmas Morning we woke up to chilly temperatures and started our day with a round of homemade scones, with Devonshire cream and redcurrant jam, a handful of dried strawberries and a seasonal orange. By midday we snacked on mixed nuts, toast with mushroom pate and a soothing warm cup of tea. 

Christmas dinner was traditional and delightful. Oven roasted turkey with all the trimmings... homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, steamed Brussels sprouts and maple glazed parsnips and carrots. Lashing of gravy and a dollop of cranberry sauce complimented greatly. Dessert was a rich and spongy slice of Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cake. 

Boxing Day was again, paired down as we mostly kept to ourselves and another day of extremely cold weather had us all tucking into a hearty homemade winter vegetable stew with homemade garlic herb crostini's, a selection of meat, cheeses, olives and crackers, mixed nuts, assorted dried tropical fruit, haggis crisps and pretzel sticks a selection of my baking and Walker's mince pies, had us nibbling and noshing for most of the midday and evening.   

... and of course our annual holiday Fortnum and Mason order. A lovely selection of jams, marmalades, sauces, vinegars, sparkling teas, biscuits, crackers, chocolate, delicate mincemeat pies, bonbons, sweet meats, cooking herbs and spices, mushroom pate, mustards, and teas to see us through another year. 

Christmas 2020

Christmas Eve: We couldn't do our usual festive celebrations so ordered a meal in from our favourite local Chinese restaurant. Packed with vegetables, noodles, rice, spicy beef and lemon chicken this was a delicious way to start the holiday off.

Christmas Morning: My daughter made these iced cinnamon buns which we all enjoyed with fresh fruit. Starting our morning in a sweet relaxing way. 

Opting to skip lunch and have an early dinner; our holiday meal was traditional and simple, oven roasted turkey with roasted vegetables (parsnips, carrots, potatoes and yams) steamed Brussels sprouts and homemade stuffing. All with lashings of gravy! Dessert was the Pepper Cake and or a selection of my baking.

Boxing Day: Not being able to spend Boxing Day how we usually do, I put on a more modest spread for us, homemade herb and garlic tomato soup, roasted vegetable galette, a selection of cheese and crackers, selection of sliced meats, pickles, olives, dried fruit, spiced nuts, corn chips, Glenfiddich mincemeat pies and a selection of my baking. This held us throughout the day and into the early evening. 

... and as usual we did our Fortnum and Mason order. A lovely selection of mustards, honey and jams, chocolate covered oranges, peppermints, tea, coffee, biscuits, crackers, fizzy tea and mulled wine spices, to be enjoyed throughout the coming year. 

Hope everyone had a nice holiday, as possible. Ours was restful and quiet. 

 - JD  

Christmas 2018

Christmas Eve we did a late night simple savoury snack of a bacon sandwich and apple slices because we had visited the local pub, earlier, and had a few drinks and nibbles there while meeting and greeting friends.

Christmas Day started with fresh fruit, eggnog muffins, coffee and a round of Bucks Fizz that kept us going until mid afternoon. 

Christmas Day dinner was more traditional then ever this year. Our late afternoon dinner was turkey, roasted vegetables (potato, carrots, brussel sprouts, and parsnips), stuffing, pickled cabbage, pickled onions, pickled walnuts and a lovely garlic chutney. 

Boxing Day we did our usual get together of close friends and shared an array of cheeses, meats, olives, dried fruit, my baking, of course, a vegan frittata and a minced beef Wellington, unfortunately not shown, as there was no room on the table. So that remained in the kitchen where guests could served themselves or we could serve them. We also had a wonderful mulled wine to enjoy and warm up to. As usual everyone left with a nice selection of my baking. It was a great afternoon... evening for all. 

... and of course no Christmas, of ours, may be complete without another tradition; that sees us throughout the year...  our Fortnum and Mason order. Last year, I forgot to post about our annual order... I may still have the photo somewhere. That being said, this year, I remembered and thought it would be appropriate to share within the Christmas/Holiday post. We ordered plenty of chutney's, sauces, preserves, biscuits, savouries, tea, coffee, Turkish Delight and a Single Malt Whisky Dundee cake to share and enjoy.     

Christmas 2017

Christmas Eve found all of us enjoying fun and frolicks at our local pub so we enjoyed a nice light dinner of turkey bacon and cheese quiche paired with a spinach side salad tossed with almonds and dried cranberries in a sesame vinaigrette dressing. 

Christmas morning was started with a slice of coconut pie and an array of fresh fruit. All washed down with a Buck's Fizz or two... 

Christmas Day dinner we enjoyed oven roasted Cornish hens, vegetable stuffing, sautéd Brussel sprouts in a blood orange balsamic reduction, and mashed potatoes.  

Dessert was one of the many delicious things that came in our annual Fortnum and Mason order, the Praline Mince Pie. Which was exquisite!

Boxing Day found us hunkered down with warmth as the temperatures plummeted outside to a frigid -36 degrees! Our lovely guests that braved the elements to visit were greeted with the warming glow of a mixed savoury and sweet table. Homemade vegetable curry pies, ginger cake and my holiday baking were amongst the delectable edibles.

'Tis the season for sharing. Just a sampling of my baking which ended up leaving with some guests. 



Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas... holiday and hope it is continuing throughout the week. - JD 

Christmas 2015

Christmas Eve was our traditional English fry-up. Poached eggs, lean sausages, bacon, baked beans, mushrooms, tomato, onions, spinach and arugula and a Scotch bap. Plenty of brown sauce and a crisp white wine. 

Christmas Day dinner was mini beef Wellington's with seasoned oven roasted vegetables; potatoes, carrots and parsnips and a full bodied red wine. 

Boxing Day, we hosted a party at our house with close friends. A selection of cheese with biscuits and crackers, red wine salami, an array of dried fruit, olives, wasabi peas, olive spread with dill and onion bread, that was lightly toasted, Fortnum's Smackerels, green goddess dip with multigrain corn chips, a selection of my own baking and chocolate ginger thins... which are like those after dinner mint thins... After 8:00's however instead are filled with a lovely syrupy ginger filling. Non-alcoholic beverages and wine were on hand.  

All guests left with a homemade pumpkin loaf and an assortment of my holiday baking.

It was a lovely Christmas, shared with those near and dear ones, and I hope yours was too. - JD