The big roast day

IT’S BEEN a hectic week, this, what with workmen in evidence and with our various toing and froing. By the end of the day I’ve been too tired to come along a post a blog and for that I have to apologise to regular readers.

It’s going to be a busy weekend, too. Dave C is coming round in the morning to replace a second double glazed unit which has lost its seal. The Mr P, the music teacher, is holding one of his carol services at the local priory church and he’s keen for us to go; I really would love to oblige him but I don’t know if we’ll have to time. The BIG event of this weekend is the roasting of our Christmas turkey. It’s thawing away beautifully even as I speak – a five and a half kilo bird, free range and corn fed. Naturally, we shall be having all the trimmings: stuffing, roast spuds, Brussels sprouts, both cranberry and bread sauces – the full Monty.

Why do we have Christmas dinner so early? Quite simply, to make life for us easier on the Big Day. This way, we get the trauma of a four hour roast out of the way, and all that’s left for us to do is to freeze the leftovers. On Christmas Day itself we usually take a couple of slices of leftover breast, coat them with a mixture of cream, mustard and grated cheese – pop them under the grill for a few minutes and Bob’s your uncle! With just a few veg on the side, the whole Christmas Day dinner takes about half an hour. In the meantime we can open a bottle of champagne and put on a DVD of Calamity Jane, or Casablanca, or It’s a Wonderful Life.

I must say, though, that this year it’s all going to be a bit different because we’re have Christmas Day lunch out with our friends, Helen and Mike K. This should be very agreeable, too, and we can save our grilled turkey thing for Boxing Day.

Oh, isn’t it all very exciting!