Flavour of Christmas

It’s been a good Christmas. There’s been nothing spectacular. It’s been full of peace & love. The meal turned out to be excellent if I do say myself. Some of the morning was spent in frustration. I discovered the reason why jelly has a date stamp on it. The flavour or ultimate consistency is not spoilt, but it does take a lot of melting. I used up some jelly dated 2009 in the cheesecake. It took well over an hour to dissolve despite using boiling water to start with & then keeping it in a bain marie, full of very hot water, all that time. In the end I strained it through, as though I was decanting a wine. I squeezed out as much liquid as I could, & threw the remaining small jelly gobs out. However, and most importantly, the cheesecake did set & tasted good at the end of the day.

I managed to enjoy half a bottle of Chablis with the meal. I even had half a bottle of prosecco in the evening, without any adverse consequences. I’m now once more back on the non-alcoholic drinks most days.

A large part of the afternoon was spent watching “Calamity Jane”, a lovely film full of laughs & some good songs. I still remain stunned that in the early shots so many people couldn’t recognise the buckskin-clad Doris Day as the beautiful woman she was, & still is by all accounts. I just wish I could look that good.

Boxing Day saw us escape to the local village pub, as much to see a change of faces. At one point a couple of friends joined us. I was somewhat surprised when Lynn commented on my hair & asked where I’d had it done. I duly told her. I assumed she was referring to the new styling I had done not long before Christmas. As the conversation went on, I suddenly realised what she really wanted to know was where I had had my hair dyed. The blondness looked so bright & almost glittery, so natural, with no unnatural looking roots. I had to confess the grey was all natural. I’ve never dyed my hair in my life. A long time my mother told me that God seemed to have the ability to know which colours suit you best & I’ve tended to follow that view. No my “blondness” is the natural greyness that comes with age.

Yesterday got us to the golf club to catch up with other friends’ Christmases. Mrs B, the retired headmistress, had a wonderful time surrounded by all her children & grandchildren, playing all manner of games & quizzes, with ouzo shot forfeits.

Fran & Den had a less successful time. Fran has had another fall & once more she seems in a different world, her memory not there. As for the meal, Den’s attempt at getting crispy crackling on his roast pork, resulted in dried out meat – not the best of meals.

The Fox has already written his about his favourite Christmas gift in his blog.  I’m hoping to tackle the new computer in the next few days – try to get to grips with the new software.  I’m not sure whether I’m looking forward to it or not, but I would be relieved to get on top of the freezer list once more. My bit of paper is already covered with so many add-ons & crossings-out, it’s beginning to be difficult to see what is there.

But now it’s time to turn my attention to the dinner. I’ve been waiting for some puff pastry to thaw sufficiently to wrap it around some sausagemeat, mixed with apple, bacon & herbs to make sausage rolls for dinner – a return to more normal food, reinforcing the normality of the Fox’s special spicy spag bol of yesterday. The pastry should be ready by now.