So this is Christmas…

Well here we are at yet another Christmas and hasn’t the year just zoomed by.

This year has been pretty quiet as Christmases go. I went out to the shops yesterday and didn’t see the usual rush of people that I would normally see on Christmas Eve. Maybe the rising interest rates are curbing the spending a little this year.

I also took a trip up to our local hospital yesterday to visit a good friend who suffered three heart attacks over the past week. Spending Christmas in hospital is not the most fun. I’ve been-there-done-that so I know the feeling. A couple of Christmases ago my appendix burst and I spent the week before Christmas in hospital. Fortunately they let me out of the hospital on Christmas morning but as you can imagine I didn’t really enjoy dinner that day.

Today we just spent the day relaxing, or at least I did, as I didn’t have to cook. Mind you I did have to wash up and that can be harrowing enough but thank goodness the cook in the house knows how to clean up as he goes along so the washing up was minimal.

This year we decided to go with a more traditional style lunch so we had Pepper Crusted Fillet of Beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, peas, cauliflower and brussel sprouts.

Yorkshire Pudding would have to be one of my favorite foods so I had three of these. These didn’t fluff up like they normally do but it didn’t matter as they tasted great.

The gravy was actually from a Delia Smith recipe. Since the gravy was for beef her suggestion was to add Madeira which helps to enrich the flavor of the beef.

For pre-dinner snacks we had Empanadas which are a Spanish pastry that can be stuffed with a variety of fillings. In this case the fillings included hard boiled eggs, green olives, ham and cheddar cheese.

These were delicious and kept off the hunger pangs I was having while waiting for the roast to cook.

We have plenty left but they won’t last long. We will most likely eat them tomorrow while we are watching the Boxing Day cricket match on TV.

The cook also made a traditional fruit cake which was extremely easy to make and turned out beautifully with an almost caramelized crispy crust and moist centre. I can see myself having a piece tonight with a nice cup of green tea.

I think we have been in a perpetual state of drunkedness over the past few days with the constant state of alcohol which has been entering our systems. We made Mulled Wine from a recipe I found somewhere on the net and that was just wonderful and very warming.

We have also had some Limoncello brewing over the past couple of months and we love a nip or two of that. Plus the bottle of Baileys Irish Cream in the fridge that was bought for the Baileys Creme Brulee recipe (which I am yet to make) is quickly running out.

And then there was my contribution for the day which was to make up the egg nog. I found a recipe for Coconut Eggnog with Rum over at the bFeedMe blog. According to the recipe I am supposed to refrigerate it overnight but there wasn’t a chance in heaven of that happening. As I am writing this blog post I have a glass of this delicious eggnog sitting by my side. I am sure we will have it finished before the nights end.

So as you can tell, it has been a great Christmas. Hope you all had a great one as well!

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