welsh hills again

Let's take advantage of all this austerity to have a simpler Christmas.  I know we are lucky to live in the country but you can have a simple Christmas anywhere. Let's start with Christmas cards.  I don't know anyone who really likes writing Christmas cards but I know loads who like receiving them.  But sending cards to people you see every day doesn't seem worthwhile to me - all those trees that go into cards!  Save the cards for those who really appreciate them: the elderly aunt who lives by herself who would notice and care if she didn't get a card; the friends who live at the other end of the country whom you rarely see but really want to stay in touch with.  If you are only sending a quarter of the number of cards you usually send, you can afford to spend a few minutes writing something personal in each one, not a round robin of achievements and middle class boasting, but a personal note that means something to the recipient.  And share it out. ...

I love Christmas dinner.  I don't get tired of it.  I love turkey.  I love roast potatoes.  Most of all I love the extras: really good stuffing, pigs in blankets, red cabbage, roast parsnips, bread sauce and gravy.  I don't feel like experimenting with goose or rib of beef, much though I love both.  I don't want to do unusual things with salmon and prawns.  I am a traditionalist.  For Christmas, only a turkey dinner will do. This year our turkey will come from friends who somehow find the time and energy to run their family, a business and a part time teaching career while keeping sheep and hens, sometimes pigs and, in the months coming up to Christmas, turkeys.  This is about as local as you can get without raising your own.  The turkeys will have scratched and strutted in their little orchard about a mile and half away.  They are fed organically, mature slowly, and will eventually be slaughtered locally too. The potatoes are o...

Cake: The home made marzipan was delicious, just lemony and almondy enough to kill any oversweetness.  I had intended the icing to be the classic rough snow version.  Sadly it was just not thick enough and ran gently over the cake and settled into a mildly rumpled appearance like the creases on a baby's brow.  Fortunately we have a month old  baby right here so we can regard the cake as a tribute to Joseph.  Tastes good too (the cake, not the baby). Pudding: it was yummy, served with a choice of white sauce, with extra sherry, for the traditionalists or cream for me.  A dark and rich chocolate log made by younger daughter was an alternative for those who don't like Christmas pudding, or an extra for the determined and enthusiastic eaters amongst us of whom there are plenty. Turkey: I leave this one to older son who said "I think this must be the best Christmas dinner ever".  How can this be?  It is the same meal every year so should come out r...