It actually was quite a scenic church and was a very traditional style service, I was told, with carol singing and the whole nine yards. Very festive way to start the morning.
Once we got home from the church, we opened a few presents then off to the kitchen!
P.S I got a lovely pair of woolly socks, a Mumford and Sons cd, Lindor chocolate and a little bottle of whisky in the same box (I don't know why Canada hasn't thought of this before...), a really interesting looking book on sustainable fashion (which means I will actually have a book in my dissertation bibliography and not just websites...take that harvard referencing system!), some beautiful handmade paper and a bag made from recycled newspapers by a community in Delhi.
Thanks again for the wonderful presents everyone!
While we were cooking dinner, we left a string of dirty dishes and messy substances sprinkled throughout the kitchen...
And didn't quite get the timing of everything down pat for when it needed to be in the oven...
...but it all turned out well!
(except the bread sauce...but we won't talk about that.)
We made steamed brussel sprouts, which despite tasting sort of like broccoli, are much more work to prepare. You have to take the outer leaves off each one, then cut the nobby bit off the end, then make little Xs in each to help them cook properly. Not sure if they're worth all the effort or if I'd rather just eat broccoli instead.
The parsnips were a bit of an experiment. I tossed them in honey, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and olive oil, but since we'd run out of space in the oven, we had to put them in tinfoil satchels on the BBQ. Which then burnt the ones on the bottom, and left the rest in a soggy, honey-covered mess. So we tossed those in the oven for a bit to crisp them up. Still came out a bit soggy but the flavor was quite nice.
The potatoes were even more of an experiment. We wanted to try cooking them in animal fat (goose fat was what we ended up with...which looks a bit like milky snot when it comes out of the can...not that different from how the bread sauce turned out, to be honest.) We had to heat up the goose fat, then place the parboiled and precut potatoes in it, coating them, then tossing it all in the oven. They didn't quite brown up as nicely as I'd expected but the flavor the fat gave them was good nonetheless.
We also had the turkey, with sausage meat stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes with cream cheese/cinnamon/nutmeg/butter/brown sugar/walnuts, chipolatas (tiny little greasy sausages wrapped in bacon), and homemade cranberry sauce. Oh and a never ending supply of wine, sherry and whisky to top it all off. In the end, we were too stuffed to have our dessert (Christmas pudding) and opted to save it for Boxing Day.
P.S That bowl in the upper left hand corner that looks like cream colored baby food in the bread sauce. Think I may have to try it again as I refuse to be defeated by double cream and breadcrumbs but might opt to let it sit long enough to thicken next time...
Happy Christmas Everyone!
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