Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Yes, I know, I'm late posting this, but hey, better late than never!
Spent the first half of Christmas Eve packing bags (as we were going to Ben's parents' place in Surrey) and trying to make mince pies. The dough for the mince pies was altogether too sticky to roll out, so I ended up just throwing dough into the muffin tray, throwing some mincemeat on, and putting some more dough on top. Surprisingly enough, they turned out OK - stickier and more doughy than mince pies usually are, but quite tasty if I do say so m'self. Loaded a bunch of foodstuffs into bags, as I'd offered to cook the Christmas Eve meal based on what my family used to have on Christmas Eve when I was small: hot-dog-style sausages (called Saiten (strings, as in guitar strings or piano strings or whatnot) in Swabian - crisper on the outside than hot dogs, really, but I've not found them here), sauerkraut, potato salad (German style, no mayonnaise), and red cabbage. At around three in the afternoon, we set off with two backpacks full of foodstuffs and books/CDs, and one rolling suitcase full of clothes and all the books we couldn't fit into the backpacks. Glass jars are heavy. Anyway, we made it just in time for the train, and we ate the sandwiches Ben had made us for lunch on the train. I spent largeish amounts of time on both of the trains reading my Bach score and listening to a disc of mp3s that Daniel had made me. This way I became very familiar with "Jauchzet, frohlocket" ;-) (Invariably I'd get stuck on "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe" because either the train would arrive at its destination, or I'd get called away to do something else at that point.) Anyway, we got there OK, and the meal turned out quite well. I was most pleased with the potato salad, as I got Ben to chop up the onions for me so they were nice and small and weren't as sharp as in the trial run we'd had a few days earlier. My brother-in-law came 'round for the meal, which was nice, then set off to be social. Much TV was watched, though I can't remember offhand what. I also tried to ring my dad as it was his birthday on Christmas Eve, but I couldn't get hold of him, so left voicemail.
On Christmas Day itself, we opened pressies once everyone was there, then had a nice big lunch with turkey and stuffing and sprouts and so on. I got mostly CDs and a few books. My collection of Rufus Wainwright albums is now complete, hurrah! Lovely decadent stuff, that is. We went out for a shortish walk after lunch, while the pudding Ben made (listed in the book we have as an Apple Charlotte or more accurately as an Ofenschlupfer) was baking. More TV was watched - can't remember if Belleville Rendezvous was that day or another. Strange film, but I quite liked it.
Spent the first half of Christmas Eve packing bags (as we were going to Ben's parents' place in Surrey) and trying to make mince pies. The dough for the mince pies was altogether too sticky to roll out, so I ended up just throwing dough into the muffin tray, throwing some mincemeat on, and putting some more dough on top. Surprisingly enough, they turned out OK - stickier and more doughy than mince pies usually are, but quite tasty if I do say so m'self. Loaded a bunch of foodstuffs into bags, as I'd offered to cook the Christmas Eve meal based on what my family used to have on Christmas Eve when I was small: hot-dog-style sausages (called Saiten (strings, as in guitar strings or piano strings or whatnot) in Swabian - crisper on the outside than hot dogs, really, but I've not found them here), sauerkraut, potato salad (German style, no mayonnaise), and red cabbage. At around three in the afternoon, we set off with two backpacks full of foodstuffs and books/CDs, and one rolling suitcase full of clothes and all the books we couldn't fit into the backpacks. Glass jars are heavy. Anyway, we made it just in time for the train, and we ate the sandwiches Ben had made us for lunch on the train. I spent largeish amounts of time on both of the trains reading my Bach score and listening to a disc of mp3s that Daniel had made me. This way I became very familiar with "Jauchzet, frohlocket" ;-) (Invariably I'd get stuck on "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe" because either the train would arrive at its destination, or I'd get called away to do something else at that point.) Anyway, we got there OK, and the meal turned out quite well. I was most pleased with the potato salad, as I got Ben to chop up the onions for me so they were nice and small and weren't as sharp as in the trial run we'd had a few days earlier. My brother-in-law came 'round for the meal, which was nice, then set off to be social. Much TV was watched, though I can't remember offhand what. I also tried to ring my dad as it was his birthday on Christmas Eve, but I couldn't get hold of him, so left voicemail.
On Christmas Day itself, we opened pressies once everyone was there, then had a nice big lunch with turkey and stuffing and sprouts and so on. I got mostly CDs and a few books. My collection of Rufus Wainwright albums is now complete, hurrah! Lovely decadent stuff, that is. We went out for a shortish walk after lunch, while the pudding Ben made (listed in the book we have as an Apple Charlotte or more accurately as an Ofenschlupfer) was baking. More TV was watched - can't remember if Belleville Rendezvous was that day or another. Strange film, but I quite liked it.