One thing I will happily admit to is being a Christmasaholic. Can't get enough of the seasonal joys, absolutely love the feast from start to finish. Basically, I am a big kid at heart and Christmas is the best time for that little trait to burst forth and assert itself. With that in mind, I have been thinking about Christmas and it occurs to me that there are things that my Christmas would not be complete without, but also the way my 'traditions' of Christmas have shifted over the years.
Being preoccupied with my stomach, and keeping it full, Christmas is a very important part of this. I need to lay down some good fat for the coming winter lest I shiver and wither in the cold. I have favourites that stretch from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day and would feel hard done by were I to miss out on any of them. Christmas Eve supper has to be sea food, although the precise nature of it is negotiable. Often however, I will prepare moules and devour them with some crusty bread to mop up the juices. Marinere with an extra hit of chilli works very nicely, but I have also had Scallops or Bass for my big day Eve supper. Christmas Day itself is very easy - it has to start with one of Mum's fry ups and a vat of tea, the fry up must have the works with it too as it has to stretch the barren seas of 8am till Christmas Lunch. Lunch was always at my maternal grandparents, but since they passed away, we spend it at my Aunt's usually and dinner is as you would expect - Turkey and the trimmings, although I would happily swap for Goose! Cold cuts, pickles and salad for Christmas tea and back to the parents for a good hit of the ginger lady (single malt) and a bit of Five Live for the MCG Boxing Day test match - even better in an Ashes year such as this. Boxing Day isn't Boxing Day without another fry up (including fried slices of Christmas Pudding!), cold meats and pickles and bubble and squeak. The rest of the holiday I like to have some particular breakfast favourites - smoked haddock and crusty bread, a gammon based breakfast and of course smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, the breakfast of champions!
I mentioned the single malt above, this is usually the first drink I get to have on Christmas Day as I usually drive, but a good drink is another essential part of the whole period! In the days when we went to my grandparents, and I did not tend to drive, we always used to go for a Christmas Day lunchtime drink at the Volunteer, a pub my Grandfather drank in his whole life, and which has sadly now closed down and been converted into houses (which it ironically was originally, him being born in one of them). Its something we seldom do now, but I do miss it - a stomach stretching drink or two before a stiff walk back to find lunch being served.... what could be finer?!
Another tradition that has lapsed is Christmas Eve drinkies. For the most part, my peers have married and have children of their own, so it is not appropriate anymore, but it was always fun nonetheless. In the days before employers got ridiculously squinky about lunchtime beverages, I used to enjoy working Christmas Eve. We would do an hour or so's work before breaking out the homemade mince pies, sausage rolls and such and head for the pub at approximately 11.01 (pub opening hours were 11am-11pm) where a 'few' pints would whet the appetite. Back to the office for a temporary giggle before management would send everyone home at 2ish. That would give a chance for a snooze on the bus home or at home before getting ready for the night out. Of course, before 24 hour licensing, Christmas Eve was one of those special nights that pubs could get an extension to midnight to see Christmas in. Over the years, the Roundwell (now a medical centre), the Reindeer, the Ten Bells and the Belle Vue have played host. After a good drink, back home on the late bus or a sneakily arranged taxi to stay over at Mum and Dad's (or, at the time, lived there anyway!) to raid Mum's selection of sausage rolls and other treats. Important to soak up that excess alcohol! Oh the Christmas Day's I spent hungover like a dog, desperate for the hair of the same dog at lunchtime to get me through. The things we do for fun!
Happy times, but I thought I'd wrap up (see what I did there? wrap?!) with a few potted memories I treasure, or where the record needs setting straight. There was the night over Christmas I walked through the snow and cold to meet friends Suzanne and Heather for drinks. This was back in the days I had a full on quiff up top - a quiff which froze in the frigid Norfolk air. Hairspray? pah! Then there was the year of the adopted pussy cat. Having got totally plastered and walking back through the 'nest' we came upon a friendly cat. Unfortunately, so friendly was he, he decided to follow us all the way home (ahem, with some drunken coaxing) and we had to explain to Simon's father why he had to go out at 1am on Christmas Morning to put a cat back where we first found it. Of less note was the dodgy taxi the same Simon and I managed to hail late one Christmas Eve/Morning who turned out to be totally incapable of driving, including a bizarre reversing manouvere back along a dual carriageway as he had missed the right turn before it. To say I was glad to get out is an understatement. Finally though, I need to set a record straight here. Edinburghgate. We were all going to go to Edinburgh for New Year and Christmas Eve (or perhaps it was the eve of the Eve), I cooked a roast for everyone. Now, completely coincidentally, after Christmas everyone who was at the meal got sick (except me!) and we had to call off the Edinburgh plans. Indeed, only I made it out New Year's Eve. The facts here are that no-one got ill until 5 days after the meal, the symptoms everyone had were flu-like and I did not get ill although I ate the same food. However, I have ever since been blamed for poisoning everyone. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to refute these scurrilous lies. The food was good, the grubby diners just needed to stop getting off with each other/living together down Cardiff Road. And with that, the little episode is hereby closed!
No comments:
Post a Comment