Merry Christmas!

Christ's Nativity

Awake, glad heart! get up and sing!

It is the birth-day of thy King.

Awake! awake!

The Sun doth shake

Light from his locks, and all the way

Breathing perfumes, doth spice the day.

Awake, awake! hark how th' wood rings;

Winds whisper, and the busy springs

A concert make;

Awake! awake!

Man is their high-priest, and should rise

To offer up the sacrifice.

I would I were some bird, or star,

Flutt'ring in woods, or lifted far

Above this inn

And road of sin!

Then either star or bird should be

Shining or singing still to thee.

I would I had in my best part

Fit rooms for thee! or that my heart

Were so clean as

Thy manger was!

But I am all filth, and obscene;

Yet, if thou wilt, thou canst make clean.

Sweet Jesu! will then.  Let no more

This leper haunt and soil thy door!

Cure him, ease him,

O release him!

And let once more, by mystic birth,

The Lord of life be born in earth.

Henry Vaughan (1621-1695)

Lovely intangibles

So we arrive, slightly embattled, at Christmas Eve, and this year it really feels like a much-needed shot of cheer.  I think in troubled times, we gain a great deal of comfort from traditions - they give us a certain surety, and stand concrete in their reliability, so you know that after a torrid year, things are going to be ok.  Christmas traditions link us to our past and the people who shaped it, bound up in the happy memories.  I always watch Carols From Kings because it reminds me of my Grandma.  I like to open a tin of shortbread on Christmas morning, because that always seemed to happen on Christmas mornings at home.  And I always watch the film Holiday Inn on Christmas Eve - that's sort of a tradition I started myself.  What I love is that people across the globe are doing similar things, keeping their traditions and versions of Christmas alive throughout the ages, defying the difficulties that the world has thrown up this year, and delighting in those often-intangible joys.

I believe it is this warmth in the human spirit, this will to seek happiness, which so rejects the coldness of winter - both physically, and metaphorically.  In another of my favourite Christmas films, Miracle on 34th Street (the original Maureen O'Hara version obviously), a desperate Fred Gailey tries to convince love interest Doris Walker that her cold, cynical outlook on the world simply won't cut it, and that the only way you can make it through this life with heart and soul intact is if you let yourself linger on the small pleasures, however irrational or foolish they may be:

"Look Doris, some day you’re going to find out that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn’t work.  And when you do, don’t overlook those lovely intangibles.  You’ll discover they’re the only things that are worthwhile."

And really, isn't this a motto for our current time?  In a year where we've had to refocus our enjoyment and look inwards for our pleasures and our passions, do those lovely intangibles not mean more than ever?  To me they do, and I think to others they do too.  You only need to look at how early the Christmas trees went up in people's homes this year to see it - 2020 was the year that life fell back on some of the old fashioned things that we've always cherished, and often taken for granted - love, family, friends, unity, and home.

From the end of a truly tumultuous year, I as writer of this blog wish everybody reading a peaceful, loving, meaningful Christmas.

The Christmas Kitchen II

If it's the night before the night before Christmas, then it must be time to get busy in the kitchen.  I circled this day in the calendar as the day to get ahead of the game in the kitchen, and my productivity certainly didn't disappoint!

First up, homemade Christmas coleslaw.  Now, I love coleslaw (as long as it's good quality) but here's the thing - I'm the only person who has managed to make a coleslaw that Lizzie actually likes.  Even better, it couldn't be simpler - finely grate a few carrots, finely chop one onion, thinly slice half a cabbage, and mix together with mayonnaise.   Red cabbage arrived from the farm shop this week, which I think is just perfect for this tasty side, and to add an even more festive twist to it, I've chucked in a good number of dried cranberries - trust me, it's absolutely delicious!

Next up, a very simple potato salad.  Ensuring there are plenty of potatoes left for Christmas dinner of course, I peeled, sliced and boiled these for about 20 minutes, so that they're soft but not falling apart.  When cooled, I add a very finely diced onion, and stirred in with a copious amounts of mayonnaise.  It's really straight-forward - and you can garnish with chopped chives if you'd like.

"But what are you going to do with the remaining red cabbage?" I hear you ask.  I could save it for Christmas dinner of course, but since there's only so much room on the plate, I decided to pickle the remaining cabbage, as I know Lizzie's fond of it.  It's simple too - bring about 400ml of cider vinegar to the boil, and simmer with some bay leaves, dill, sugar and cracked black pepper (the recipe I read also throws in some red wine, but I'm not doing that.)  You should allow this to simmer for ten minutes.  In the meantime I thoroughly sterilise the (recently vacated) old mayonnaise jar using boiling water, then pack in the red cabbage.  Once the vinegar is ready, sieve and pour over the cabbage until the jar is filled.  I've also thrown in a tablespoon of mustard seeds.

Of course, you need something to go with the above, and what could be better than a festive bread?  I've found a brilliant bread flour made by Allinson's, called country grain, which I've found makes really delicious bread.  I use a fairly basic recipe - 400g country grain flour, 100g wholemeal bread flour, 20g dried yeast, 50g butter, and a pinch of salt.  Throw in a large handful of dried cranberries, mix it all together with 350ml of warm water, and then knead the dough for a number of minutes.  Then rest for an hour before transferring to a loaf tin, leave to rise for 30 minutes, then whack it in the oven for 40 minutes (I go longer than most recipes because I find it gives a much nicer crust.)  This will go with anything - for the best tea, I'm happy with a bit of butter and a nice wedge of cheese.

So there you go, a good festive morning in the kitchen, which frees me up to watch It's A Wonderful Life in the afternoon, safe in the knowledge that Christmas food and drink is well under control.  Unless, of course, the local puppy wants to stick her nose in...

Season's greetings

Well the tree is up, the lights are strung, each decoration has been lovingly placed upon its branch (and moved when it was found to be in reach of the puppy.)  Christmas is here once again!

I can't start a Christmas decoration blog without first showing off the nutcracker collection.  As a collection I think it's stopped growing now, but I do so love them, and they look so festive on our long windowsill (in fact if you trawl back through my blog, you'll see them on parade here pretty much every year since we moved here).  This year I've even given them their own set of lights, and I hope you'll agree that they look pretty excellent illuminated against the night sky.

Our tree is always an eclectic centrepiece.  Hanging off its branches are some of the decorations from our childhoods, ones we've given each other over the years, and ones we've collected from our travels.  We both like picking up a decoration when we've been somewhere memorable - a star from the Christmas markets in Salzburg; an Easter Island head from the American Museum of Natural History in New York; kiwi baubles from Auckland; a wooden harbour bridge from The Rocks in Sydney.  It makes our tree feel personal, like we're hanging up our own unique memories.

Of course, Christmas isn't just about decorations. One of the old-fashioned joys of the season is to sit for an hour or two and flick through the Radio Times, highlighting things that I'll never remember to watch, and inevitably ending up on a classic Christmas episode of Morecambe and Wise, the Two Ronnies, or a Top of the Pops Christmas Special from 1993.  And if that's not enough, I know a couple of links on Youtube that'll take me direct to the Dean Martin Christmas Show (1968) or the amazing Andy Williams Christmas Show (1966), all of which goes to show that the oldies are indeed the goldies.  And if the viewing runs dry, well that's ok too - one of the absolute pleasures of this time of year is that it allows time for books.  I've just finished A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon, and am moving onto a British Library classic crime novel The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly.  Then of course there are the anthologies, which I'll dip in and out of as the season winds on.  I'm loaded up with books for the next several years I think, so time to pause and snuggle into the armchair on a winter's night is music to my ears.

So it's fair to say that Christmas has arrived, and we intend to make the very best of it here at home.  How are you spending your Christmas, this year?

Thought of the Month - December

 Watch the sunrise at least once a year, put a lot of marshmallows in your hot chocolate, lie on your back and look at the stars, never buy a coffee table you can’t put your feet on, never pass up a chance to jump on a trampoline, don’t overlook life’s small joys while searching for the big ones.

The Christmas kitchen I

 So really this is a follow-on from the last blog.  As I mentioned, I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately, especially on my Wednesdays off work, where I've been busy producing pies and soups for lunches and teas.  On my last Wednesday off, I decided to get ahead a little bit with Christmas dinner, by making the Christmas gravy.  I use a Jamie Oliver recipe (more or less) which really hits the spot, in my opinion.  

I start by boiling up the carcass of the roast chicken we had for dinner last weekend - I always make stock from the chicken bones, it's a brilliant way to get as much use as possible from the bird, which I think is the most respectful thing you can do.  Simply pull the carcass apart and place it into a large pan, cover with water and boil for a good couple of hours.  

Next, roughly chop a handful of carrots, a few celery sticks and two onions, and throw into a pot, along with a good helping of sage, rosemary and a couple of bay leaves.  You can also add some good quality smokey bacon of you want.  Jamie chucks in star anise, but I despise the stuff so out it stays for me.  Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then give it a good hour in the oven.

Once it comes out the oven the veg should be tender and smell beautiful. I remarked to myself how this was enough of a meal in its own right, like a pot of winter goodness.  Put it on the hob on a low heat, and if you can resist the temptation to eat it all, get a potato masher and mash the contents.  I took time to mash it really well - the mushier the better.  Once its a total mush, add four tablespoons of flour, stir it in well, then give it five minutes or so to lightly fry.  If you want to add sherry or port, Jamie Oliver says to do it at this stage, though I didn't bother.

Once it's had a few minutes to fry, add your chicken stock, straining it through a colander so you catch all the bones.  You may also need to top-up with boiling water, so you're about 1cm from the top of the pan.  The whole thing now needs at least half an hour on the hob - bring it to boil, and then just let it simmer, stirring occasionally.  The stock will absorb so many of the flavours released from your mashed veg (it's making me hungry just writing this).  After half an hour or so, the gravy should have thickened and should smell and taste wonderful - this is where I get a spoon and have a taste.  I then add three teaspoons of cranberry sauce, stirring it in well.  Finally, strain the gravy through a sieve, making sure you push lots of the flavour through with the back of your spoon.  And voila!  You have Christmas gravy.

I made mine early this year because a). I want to get ahead of the game, and b). I had celery at home, and didn't want it to go to waste (neither of us can stand the stuff in any other form so it is not a regular feature, but its pepperyness is perfect for gravy.)  So off the gravy goes in a big Tupperware box, into the freezer for the next three weeks, ready for the big day itself - beautiful!

The kitchen really is the heart of the home, so I might share a few more recipes over the festive season, as I discover them.  In the meantime, we also added a couple of festive touches to the kitchen sideboard - I can't wait to see those platters stacked high with mince pies!