And I'm cooking!!!
This year Tom and I are hosting Christmas in our little flat, and I am cooking the dinner! I've never cooked Christmas dinner before, not on my own and in my own kitchen anyway! Tom's mum keeps saying "I'm so excited that I don't have to cook this year!" which makes me wonder what I'm in for!!
So far it hasn't been so bad, as I've done everything that I can do in advance. I spent hours this morning grilling aubergine slices, sauteeing mushrooms, whipping ice cream and marinating olives, not to mention having to brave the crowds at Sainsbury's and M&S for the things that weren't available at 9pm last night! Seriously, the fruit and vegetable section looked like a tornado had ripped through it!
I took my menu planning very seriously, as you know I would, and a few weeks ago I "auditioned" various dishes for my Christmas main course. All of us are non meat-eaters, except for Tom's dad, so I wanted to do something that was a bit more exciting than the standard nut roast. Tom was the chief judge, as I thought anything involving mushrooms, chestnuts and goats cheese would be delicious!! The first dish was pretty good, but the second audition was the standout, by far. I'm keeping it under wraps for now, but it really was to die for! Let's hope I can pull it off on Christmas Day!
The vegetables I'll serve it with will be:
Roast potatoes with rosemary and clementine peel
Jamie Oliver's roast vegetable mega mix, including carrots and parnsips
Sauteed brussels sprouts with salt, pepper and pine nuts
I took my menu planning very seriously, as you know I would, and a few weeks ago I "auditioned" various dishes for my Christmas main course. All of us are non meat-eaters, except for Tom's dad, so I wanted to do something that was a bit more exciting than the standard nut roast. Tom was the chief judge, as I thought anything involving mushrooms, chestnuts and goats cheese would be delicious!! The first dish was pretty good, but the second audition was the standout, by far. I'm keeping it under wraps for now, but it really was to die for! Let's hope I can pull it off on Christmas Day!
The vegetables I'll serve it with will be:
Roast potatoes with rosemary and clementine peel
Jamie Oliver's roast vegetable mega mix, including carrots and parnsips
Sauteed brussels sprouts with salt, pepper and pine nuts
Steamed green beans with lemon
My desserts are:
Tom's mum's homemade Christmas pudding
Poached pears
Homemade gingerbread icecream
And of course we have chocolate and various kind of grog coming out of our ears, so it's going to be one merry Christmas!! I've been so looking forward to Christmas this year, it will be lovely to have a break. It's also the one day of the year that I let myself eat whatever the hell I like :P
No snow in London - it all seems to have melted from the other day! - but it's certainly cold!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Wish me luck for my first ever Christmas dinner!
Till next time dear friends - take care and thank you for reading! Merry Christmas! xxx
I'm sure your lunch will be a huge success Phil. And I'm assuming there'll be photos of it to follow? :o) xxx
ReplyDeleteOf of course there will...Lia, you know me so well ;) xxx
ReplyDeleteYum! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas :)
I'm sure it went off well Phil! And I'm dying to know about your main course. I'm always looking for new ideas for veg main meals. We had a delicious nut loaf this year, even though it was a bit standard :) We also did an organic turkey on the kettle BBQ!!
ReplyDeleteLove you!
Sar
Oh I can't wait to see what you had, especially all the vegie options!
ReplyDeleteWe had a BBQ lunch yesterday, a group of traveling orphans, was brilliant. One day, a white christmas though would be awesome. Although being Wellington, I did put on my jumper later on, due to the wind!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas Phil!! Sounds delicious what you were cooking! Am very eager to find out what your main course was!
ReplyDeleteLil x
Sounds delicious! Especially the ice cream! Mmm...
ReplyDeleteOh yummo! How did it turn out?
ReplyDeleteEverything sounds delish. Hope you had a wonderful time. Too bad its all over and done with. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeletecan we have the recipe for your main? I'm eager to try it!
ReplyDeleteKt
xox