Christmas 2017

December 2017

Before I knew it, it was Christmas time, my favourite time of year! The UK (or Europe) is the best place to be in December, with the streets strung with lights and decorations, Christmas markets around every corner, mulled wine, hot fires, and freezing weather, the festive spirit here is the best! I was especially lucky this year, as I was able to have a triple Christmas, starting out with a little party at my flat before my friends all flew home for the year. 

I secured myself a tiny Christmas tree and decorated it with over-sized baubles, just to get into the spirit of things!

We cooked up an epic spread, and had a lovely afternoon with friends playing games and eating all the food.

For my second Christmas, I hung out with Yannick and Necia, as was our tradition. A quick hop to London, and I was sipping prosecco on the couch! We had planned a roast chicken, as we usually do,  but then two days before Christmas their oven went kaput! 

A handyman was sent over to fix it, and though the entire experience was highly dubious (he poked live wires with a metal screwdriver, leaving Necia and I to watch in terror, waiting for him to be electrocuted - somehow he escaped) the oven was fixed! 

On with the show!

We finished off with Necia's incredible Christmas cake, a recipe originally from mum, and the best Christmas cake I will ever have. 

For my third Christmas which finally occurred on actual Christmas day, I was spending it with my best friend Joy and her little family, and we were able to unleash ALL OF THE COOKING.

Also they had two Christmas trees, one in the dining room and one in the living room, so it was pretty much my dream come true. 

We started the night before, pre-cooking the ham and potatoes as Jamie Oliver recommends (did you know he has an entire recipe book devoted to Christmas? And yes, I want to buy it).  This was also my first time cooking a ham, and it was a roaring success, basted in marmalade and cooked to sticky perfection. 

We decorated the dining room accordingly, and had a rather jolly time doing it!

The centerpiece was my favourite and something I would love to try to replicate one year myself.

Harvey was also very excited about this apparently, as he stole the kitchen oven mitts, wore them like a penguin and ran around the room flapping. I assumed this was normal behavior and shamelessly took photographs.

























We started off with prosecco and a lovely cheese plate, soon followed by wine and ham and potatoes and vegetables (including brussel sprouts - why England, why!?) and by the time we got to dessert, we were too stuffed to eat it! (This is of course the joy of boxing day).

What an awesome December, family, friends and good food, I couldn't ask for more (except, maybe, Joy's partner Greg not accidentally killing the Christmas tree, but that's another story).