A short lull

Well everyone came and ate and went and here we are with a short lull in the proceedings until the next lot come tomorrow.

I quite like the little interludes. We had twelve for dinner on Christmas Day and rather too many people to seat and feed, although none of the visitors seemed to mind. As is often the case, having planned the food carefully, the best meal of the three days of festive food was on Christmas Eve: Guinness-baked ham, parmesan roast potatoes with fennel and orange salad followed by lemon tart or Chocolate brioche bread and butter pudding, both the puddings made by my mother. Yum.

The best part of the Christmas day meal for me was, as it often is, the stuffing, a cranberry and chestnut stuffing roll, wrapped in bacon. As always I cooked sprouts but carefully avoided eating any, the prerogative of age. I never did get to like them through trying them, even decades on. My father believes this is because I never tried enough and gave up trying when I was about twenty; clearly just a lightweight with no real commitment to sprout consumption.

Today we have checked all the apples hanging up in the workshop and, somewhat to my surprise, having checked the freezer I have ended up making chutney with some ageing garden produce so the kitchen is full of the smell of brown sugar and vinegar. That wasn't part of the plan. So I had better go and check it and survey the last sad wreckage of Christmas food in the fridge. From tomorrow we are allowed to start afresh!

Hope you all had a good day. No need to get back to work just yet!