Festive Food
Is it just me or is the food around Christmas the best all year? Is it the combination of cinnamon and vanilla or the fact that we allow ourselves to become gluttons?
Part way through the pandemic we began meal planning. In all honesty food was really all we had to look forward to. From deciding what to eat, acquiring the food (which has actually become dangerous) from supermarkets or deliveries, to spending time (some time hours) cooking it, then devouring it in seconds. Food really has been the highlight of the year.
When we realised that we wouldn’t be able to spend Christmas with Mamilein and Papichen in Deutschland we decided to hunker down and just spend the festive season together. We didn’t break our bubble we didn’t see anyone or go anywhere but we did want it to be special. So GO began planning the big meal himself, he has never been a fan of whole turkeys as they can be quite dry. He wouldn’t tell me what he was planning but did mention that he was thinking of ham (doesn’t he always?).
My job was Christmas Eve and I knew I didn’t want anything too heavy or fussy but I did want something festive. Christmas is always such a meat feast and often brings on heartburn and indigestion. I wanted some kind of fish dish but didn’t know any. As luck would have it one morning, I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a Recipe Tin recipe for baked festive salmon. It was easy, light and with all of the fruit and herbs looked extremely Christmassy.
I also planned our breakfast, having spotted a recipe for a French toast casserole on Pinterest years ago, it struck me as a yummy thing to have on Christmas morning. Ma and Pa have very set ideas about breakfast it’s either a feast (fry up) or famine (toast) and never anything else. I knew that if/when I was in charge of Christmas I would have the casserole on Christmas morning. We have lots of fruit (berries, grapes and oranges) and yoghurt to dress it and it was yummy. It was really easy to make, I just can’t find the recipe again. I will hunt it out one day to make again I’m sure...
We decided that as our breakfast had been so filling we would have our big meal in the evening. I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the kitchen GO had everything under control. He had ordered a “box” from Pappy’s BBQ which had a smoked ham and Turkey crown for four, stuffing, gravy and deserts. He cooked it all along with some vegetables and without much fuss we had a delicious Christmas dinner. It was a lovely meal and for days/weeks after I could smell the smokiness of the ham and turkey. It has permeated into the pots, pans and microwave and no amount of cleaning got rid of it. It wasn’t bad, it’s just smoky porridge isn’t a thing for a reason.
Boxing Day/Zweite Weihnachts Tag is a day for laziness, long walks, movies and reheated leftovers. As the BBQ turkey was meant to serve four people we had two meals leftover. We also had some smallish baking trays left so we portioned up the food into two trays reheated them, added gravy and had two Christmas tray meals to enjoy on the sofa. It was yummy and it went a little way to easing the guilt I felt for taking GO on a walk that ended up with him slipping in the mud, it wasn’t funny, it really wasn’t....
Betwixtmas for me is just full of festive snacks and boxes of chocolate. I love sitting down on the sofa and drinking coffee out of a lovely cup and not a travel mug. We had lots of “picky” teas and cheese boards so could both relax as no one needed to cook anything.
I had big plans for New Year’s Eve, we were going to have a Raclette with a selection of meat and veg. We had chilled the Bucks Fizz and got our selves all glammed up and as we sat neither of us could be bothered to set up the Raclette, so we had the most German meal ever; Bratwurst, Brat Kartoffeln and Sauerkraut. It wasn’t what we had planned but it was quick, easy and tasty and filled a hole.
Recipe Tin recipe - www.recipetineats.com/christmas-baked-salmon
