[robtcorl]

It's all going to be traditional, non-fancy fayre at Chez BigMackCam...

A feast of feasts, Mike! I'd settle for eating with Boo Boo.
I've heard English food is boring, I say Balderdash!

[bertwert]

Well Mike, looks like you've got it all planned out... I'm feeling hungry now...

[BigMackCam]

Mike, you are cutting back a bit, eh?
Don't go too hard on the diet, you will fade away and your space helmet will be too heavy for you..

Ha ha

Portion sizes, Rod. It's all about portion sizes And, frankly, I don't think anyone will actually want a big breakfast on Boxing Day, nor much in the way of dinner on either day. But at least I have stuff available, just in case. Really, we're likely to be focused on the main meals...

Oh, and the wine. Did I forget to mention the wine?

Even so, I think we'll all have to take a couple of good walks over Christmas to aid the constitution

[dbs]

Wow Mike how many cousins are coming, all that can't be for 3 of you plus boo boo !


Dave

[BigMackCam]

A feast of feasts, Mike! I'd settle for eating with Boo Boo.
I've heard English food is boring, I say Balderdash!

Well Mike, looks like you've got it all planned out... I'm feeling hungry now...

Wow Mike how many cousins are coming, all that can't be for 3 of you plus boo boo !

Thanks, fellas

Bob - looking back, when I was growing up, typical English food probably would have seemed boring to others... But on Sundays and special occasions, we always had something really tasty (even if the meat and vegetables were, typically, over-cooked ), and quantity was never an issue either

On Christmas and Boxing Day, there'll be Boo Boo plus four of us "pets" - me, my Mum and Dad, and Cousin Chris. Aside from the two big lunches - and, yes, they will be on the larger side, I'll admit - I'm guessing we humans won't actually eat much else. If I've judged that right, I don't need to do another full grocery shop until New Year's Eve. If I haven't, I'll be off to the supermarket a little earlier than planned

[rod_grant]

new potatoes, roast potatoes,

...no mash?? There can't be any Irish blood in you then.

One last question, "pigs in blanket", qué?

[BigMackCam]

...no mash?? There can't be any Irish blood in you then.

That's a fair point There's no Irish in me, but I do love mashed potato made with milk and butter. But lately, my Mum and Dad seem to prefer new potatoes (is that what they call them over there? basically, small salad potatoes) - and I like them too, and they're less work Plus, we're also having roast potatoes, so we'll probably only have a couple of new potatoes each

One last question, "pigs in blanket", qué?

Heavens, man! "Pigs in blankets" are an essential Christmas garnish to whatever meat is served here. They're small, chipolata pork sausages wrapped in bacon...

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Last edited by BigMackCam; 12-22-2019 at 06:04 PM.

[MarkJerling]

Hola, folks

That's it - I'm finished grocery shopping, a day early (except for two small items). Decided I couldn't wait to get the rest of the stuff tomorrow. So we're all set for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

It's all going to be traditional, non-fancy fayre at Chez BigMackCam...

Christmas Day breakfast will be light, for obvious reasons. Maybe cereal, toast or crumpets. My cat Boo Boo will get a special treat, though, of a small tin of tuna chunks in spring water

Mid-to-late morning, my cousin will arrive, and we'll have a glass of Champagne to get us all in the mood (there's a bottle of Bollinger cooling as I write this).

My Mum and I will be making lunch together. We're serving up honeydew melon and Parma ham to start, followed by slow-oven-roasted pork shoulder spiked with fresh rosemary, cooked on a bed of onion wedges, carrots, celery, smashed garlic and thyme; served with "pigs in blankets", stuffing, new potatoes, roast potatoes, carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts, Yorkshire puddings and gravy made from the roasting tin juices (and Bisto!! ), and apple sauce. If anyone has any room left for dessert, I have a good, store-bought Christmas pudding to serve with either white rum sauce or custard, or a few different cheeses with sea-salt-and-black-pepper crackers and grapes, apples and strawberries. Oh, and chocolates to have with after-lunch coffee

Dinner will just be cold pork, stuffing and gravy sandwiches and/or store-bought Melton Mowbray pork, chestnut and bacon pie with sweet pickle.

Boxing Day breakfast is "to order". For sure, there's enough bacon, sausage, eggs, pancake mix, Canadian maple syrup, bread, deli meats, cereals and milk to keep us all fed

Lunch will be cold cuts of a honey-and-mustard-glazed gammon ham I'm cooking at the same time as the pork shoulder. I'll serve that with the left over vegetables and pigs in blankets, chips (fries) and maybe a mustard and honey sauce or mayonnaise (haven't decided which just yet).

Dinner will be ham sandwiches, cheeses and/or store-bought pork and game pie with fruit.

Wine, beers, coffee and tea as required. I expect it'll be my cousin and I that do the most damage to the wine and beer stocks

As it's Christmas, Boo Boo will get to try very small amounts of anything he wants at breakfast, lunch and dinner. He tends to like deli ham, buttery scrambled egg, gravy made from meat juices mashed up with a little potato, and the meat from pork pies, so there's plenty for him to choose from

The two items I wasn't able to get today when I did my shopping... Fresh rosemary, and fresh thyme. I'll have to try a different supermarket or two tomorrow...

Just three sleeps to go, folks!!!!

EDIT: I'm saving my Christmas wishes to everyone here for the day itself...

That all sounds lovely Mike. I wish I could say "I'll be right over!"

Annabelle and her boyfriend will arrive from Wellington tonight. Tomorrow night, we'll have our good friends over for Christmas Eve dinner, a tradition that goes back quite some years, with us alternating who's house we're at - ours or theirs. Our turn this year. On offer will be glazed ham and salads and some lovely wines.

Christmas morning we'll start with presents and breakfast and after that Annabelle and her boyfriend will go see his mom. Then, we'll go pick up my mom and we'll do a late Christmas lunch with roast turkey and a slow roasted stuffed deboned leg of lamb, veges and salads and a variety of deserts.

Then, on Boxing Day, we basically have a repeat of it all at another friend's home.

I need to remember to feed the neighbour's calves as he's away until the 27th. Note to self!

[bertwert]

I do love mashed potato made with milk and butter.

That's how we always do them, though recently we've also been mashing turnips (swedes for you silly English folks/rutabagas for you silly American folks) in with them, and I quite like it.

However, for roast dinners, such as at Christmas, it's always roast potatoes, Roasted in lard. Very nice.

[bertwert]

I need to remember to feed the neighbour's calves as he's away until the 27th. Note to self!

Huh? Did he leave his legs behind, and looking to your cycling expertise to keep them in shape...?

[dbs]

That all sounds lovely Mike. I wish I could say "I'll be right over!"

Annabelle and her boyfriend will arrive from Wellington tonight. Tomorrow night, we'll have our good friends over for Christmas Eve dinner, a tradition that goes back quite some years, with us alternating who's house we're at - ours or theirs. Our turn this year. On offer will be glazed ham and salads and some lovely wines.

Christmas morning we'll start with presents and breakfast and after that Annabelle and her boyfriend will go see his mom. Then, we'll go pick up my mom and we'll do a late Christmas lunch with roast turkey and a slow roasted stuffed deboned leg of lamb, veges and salads and a variety of deserts.

Then, on Boxing Day, we basically have a repeat of it all at another friend's home.

I need to remember to feed the neighbour's calves as he's away until the 27th. Note to self!

I'm sure one of the calves is feeling the heat better put him in the freezer to stay cool...

Dave

[dbs]

That's how we always do them, though recently we've also been mashing turnips (swedes for you silly English folks/rutabagas for you silly American folks) in with them, and I quite like it.

However, for roast dinners, such as at Christmas, it's always roast potatoes, Roasted in lard. Very nice.

And Canadians aren't...?

[MarkJerling]

I'm sure one of the calves is feeling the heat better put him in the freezer to stay cool...

Dave

No no Dave! No veal for Christmas lunch!

[bertwert]

And Canadians aren't...?

I never said that.

[reh321]

Every now and then this site pops up with the message "1 posts to go". Even a furriner like me knows that is not correct

I guess it will stop in not too long

It's telling me 30 to go... but I every time I get there it resets to 100
How are we ever meant to get it complete...

Every time it resets you get another ticket, and ever time we comment on it we get hit it the head by some guy wielding a baseball bat.