Christmas Food

Shiney they hadn't finished cooking. (Goose Fat) I took them out of the oven to take the photo of them and to turn them over so that they would crisp up even more

 

I cooked for my daughter & grandaughter today, feeling rather bloated, I'll try and force down some chocolate later.
Happy Christmas to you all............. roll on spring

 

Still early here. Have the rack of lamb thawed. Made the crepes, hold in the fridge. only 2PM here. Going for a walk soon. will start it all when I get back at about 3 or 4 pm. should not take a long time. saving the Pecans for New Years day. we have other dessert stuff around.

 

On my way Leaf clearing and Pecan Pie mmmmnn Merry Crimbo Happy New Year

 

Never occurred to me to photograph and post my Christmas Dinner so you will all have to take my word for it that it was scrummy (well, it was if clean plates at the end of the meal is any indication ). The venison "Pigs in Blankets" were so tasty I'll look out for them again next year

Looks like someone stole some before you even got a chance to cook them
How's your tummy today? (Noticed the "Use By" date was for Friday )

 

@"M" There are four missing because they were already in the oven cooking with all the other stuff.Even cooked some nice thin sausages but without the bacon to go with them so have more for today to go with the cold turkey

Have you never heard of a freezer @"M" ? They are brilliant bits of kit for storing things like pigs in blankets etc when you have to buy them in advance because of our usual supermarket running out of them early last year so I got them as soon as I saw them and popped them into the freezer,hence the use by date looking like we would end up with food poisoning.I actually defrosted them on Saturday so they would be ready for yesterday

My tummy feels good as we didn't go too mad yesterday and I ended up recycling some of my Christmas dinner as I hadn't got the appetite to eat the whole plate full.

 

That is something that I do not only at Christmas, but also at other celebrations. This next photo is the traditional first course here...



Starting at the bread, and working clockwise. Bread, eggs, salmon (with a sauce) and 3 kinds of raw pickled herring. The drinks were Christmas beer and Skåne (=Scania, ie this region) aquavit.

Then came the second course....



..which was ham, boiled potatoes, meatballs and something we call "Prince sausages." Again accompanied by beer and aquavit. Then came the third and final course...



...quite a simple one of rice pudding and strawberry sauce accompanied by more beer and aquavit. Of course, Sweden celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. That leaves me free to have a traditional British Christmas dinner on the 25th. ...



As the previous days beer and aquavit had ran out we were forced to accompany it with wine. In this case, a rather nice Barossa Valley Shiraz.

 

Of course! Silly me

 

Manicotti for Christmas dinner, also Italian sausages, salad. and small rack of lamb. & lots of wine. and homemade bread.

 

Not sure how the tradition started @"M", nor how old it is, I know for certain that cold rabbit pie
was the traditional Christmas Day breakfast for many rural folk in East Anglia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and probably well before that too.

Possibly it goes back to the days when most rural folk worked on the land and were very poor, often struggling to put food on the table to feed their families. It was often the custom among the wealthy farmers and landowners to present their workers with a 'gift' of some kind at Christmas and possibly this largesse often took the form of a rabbit caught and provided by the gamekeeper.

Taking a rabbit or any other game without the landowner's permission would, of course, have been poaching, so this gift would have provided some welcome extra nutrition in the depths of winter and so, for many, have been an extra treat for the festive season during what was often a pretty gruelling existence.

Like many traditions it has largely died out now, although I do know of a few like myself who keep it going, almost as a kind of 'folk memory' handed down from our ancestors.

 

Regarding tradition--- Anyone hear that story about the Ham. Great grand daughters buy a ham. Get it home, and cut the ends off of it, place it in the oven. They say to each other that is tradition, as their mom did that. So, when grandma comes over later, one of them asks grandma Why? the ends are cut off---Grandma says, she only did that so it would fit in her pan.

 

Didn't know you could buy gravy