Festive Food

The frost has gone for now and it’s wet and windy. Most people prefer the crisp bright days but I’m relieved that it’s a few degrees warmer. At least you can move about without icy hazards underfoot.

The garden looks a little bedraggled after the harsh frosts. Fortunately the hellebores, winter clematis and jasmine perk up again once the frost has melted.

The leucojum, like a giant snowdrop, is sending up its leaves again and will flower in a few weeks’ time. Always a reliable early Spring flower.

Indoors, my Christmas cactus is a bit slow to flower this year. It’s an old plant and probably needs repotting.

Like me, it’s getting old and can’t quite manage the full performance. Sometimes I need to just put my feet up and keep warm. It was a busy week, so why not?

Our family were here for our early Christmas get-together. It was a happy occasion with good food and gifts and began the festive feeling for all of us. One member of the family will be working for some of the Christmas days so this time together was precious.

For our own Christmas dinner, just two of us, we have a vegetarian meal. Trust me, this is as tasty and satisfying as any meaty dinner. I started this a few years ago when we’d had a lot of meat for our family meal before Christmas. I felt almost like I needed a detox! So I looked for an alternative and came up with my festive flan. We loved it so much that it has become a tradition.

It contains ground cashews, winter vegetables and apple in a pastry base and I serve it with roast potatoes and roast parsnips. It’s truly delicious.

The recipe is a bit too detailed to give here but it’s in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook, if you’d like a lovely vegetarian alternative that doesn’t contain cheese. There is a kindle version as well as a paperback. If you’re interested you will find my book with this link

https://geni.us/eANQu

There are also easy recipes for cranberry sauce, rum sauce to have with Christmas pudding, and simple desserts to have as an alternative or to enjoy with other festive meals.

Here’s one of my poems about the magic of Christmas.

Christmas Day
The wine flows, chocolate melts on our eager tongues.
The kitchen buzzes and tempting aromas fill the air.
As days go, this one belongs
Among the very best we share.

This is the magic that Christmas brings-
Traditional pleasures, the giving of gifts,
The thrilling sound when a choirboy sings,
The feeling that our soul uplifts.

As once again this special day is dawning
With bright-bowed presents waiting there,
We wake to another Christmas morning
Full of merriment, peace and prayer.

Time to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and everything good in 2023. I will be with you again in the new year.