Recipes

My Christmas – a truthful account. Read now and relax!

Hi my Musers, today as we’re getting close to the glorious event I’m gonna have a chat to you about my Christmas. Please don’t worry this is not some Instagram ready, perfect, idealised version of Christmas designed to make everybody jealous! I do not have that kind of Christmas and neither do most people. What this is is a warts-and-all look at how I actually spend Christmas because most of the time we stick to a fairly similar schedule.

If this isn’t your thing then please don’t worry. I’ll be going back to my normal body positivity and mental health vibe soon. I think people put far too much pressure on themselves at Christmas so I wanted to let you know what Christmas is for me. Ok?

Cheese Night!

A few days before Christmas, usually around the 20th to the 22nd, we have cheese night. It is definitely one of my favourite nights of the year! We have cheeses, pates, crackers, apples and sometimes even get port. It all sounds very sophisticated doesn’t it? What’s less sophisticated is that cheese night is always paired with the watching of Home Alone 2. We spread all of our goodies out on the coffee table and sit and eat while we watch the movie. It’s my personal belief that with exception of the ending Home Alone 2 is better than the first one. If you don’t agree it’s up to you – you’re wrong but it’s up to you 😉 

Because all the food is left spread out in front of us for the duration of the movie a lot of nibbling occurs. We all end up uncomfortably full but it is Christmas, it’s what you do right?

Christmas Eve 

Christmas Eve starts at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon for us. A lot of the time in the last few years I worked a half-day so I wasn’t around. I’m not this year though, yay! It starts at 4 pm because my husband is utterly obsessed with The Snowman. If you’ve never seen the Raymond Briggs cartoon you must check it out. It’s wonderful.

Mike used to always be made to watch it by his mother as a child and hated it. Over the years as he grew he came to love it. I will admit he does cry a little a the end! It is very sad though. It truly is the proper start of Christmas for us. 

We watch with tea and a sweet treat or with Baileys. We used to watch The Snowman until a few years ago when The Snowman and Snowdog arrived. They’re usually on Channel 4 in the UK at about 4:30 or 5 o’clock on Christmas Eve. We do have the DVDs of both of these but Mike says there is something special about watching it when everybody else is watching it so we watch it live.

More Food!

When The Snowman is finished we relax and do any bits of last minute prep we might have – any presents we haven’t wrapped, fudge to make etc. Then later in the evening when it’s time for our evening meal I cook. We’re going to be eating a lot on Christmas Day so we usually try and keep the Christmas Eve meal quite small. I’ve made cheese soufflés, Nigella’s deep-fried prawn cakes which are divine and sometimes we just have a few little snacks. 

On Christmas Eve we always but always watch Love Actually. it is the only time of the year we watch it and I look forward to it every single year. Some people hate it but I love it. I know some of the stories are very annoying – like a little kid who is in love with a girl in this class but I love it. The Colin Firth story is so lovely. The Colin character going to America to get laid is hilarious. Finally, no matter how many times I watch it, my heart breaks for Emma Thompson’s character every single time when she realises that her husband is cheating on her and she is crying alone in the bedroom. It is awful and wonderful all at the same time.

Christmas Day

No alarms set and as we don’t have kids we don’t wake up particularly early. My sister Jayne has always stayed over the night before so we get up and I make Nigella Lawson’s Christmas morning muffins. A variation of them anyway. I have my own ironclad muffin recipe and I use her flavourings and as overall inspiration. They’re totally delicious and are the most delightfully Christmassy bite you can imagine.

 Once the muffins are ready we have them with a cup of tea. While we’re doing it we open presents 😃 I love giving presents almost more than receiving them. I love making people happy. After the presents are opened we clear up the paper and breakfast. Then we sit and “play with them” for a while and we watch Scrooge. It is a musical version starring Albert Finney from 1970. My mum used to watch it every Christmas when we were growing up so now we watch it. I love it and it’s a critical part of Christmas Day for me. 

After the movie, we have showers and get dressed. By the time we’re done it’s lunchtime which is prawn cocktail. That’s a tradition from my Dad’s side of the family although they had it as a starter before Christmas dinner. We are on the other hand have it as lunch because we make a Christmas dinner in the evening, sort of 6-7 pm. The reason for this is that we want to actually enjoy Christmas day and not have to start cooking the second we get up. Lots of people forget you’re supposed to actually enjoy the day and not run around feeling tearful and put upon to make it nice for everyone else.

The Main Event

My sister and I make the Christmas dinner and we have my mum, stepdad and little brother over. If you read my previous post about Christmas you’ll know my mum is horrendous when it comes to cooking. She gets so stressed she makes everyone miserable so we’ve done the dinner for probably about 20 years now. They’re not allowed to turn up too early can we just get everything done in peace. They arrive about 10 or 15 minutes before we eat.

We have lunch, I’ve always made Nigella’s raspberry and lemongrass trifle for after but often we’re too full so we’ll have tea and either a biscuit or Christmas cake. We watch tv and try to chat without arguing for a few hours. My parents are very hard work but we usually manage. Then they leave and Mike cleans up while Jayne and I relax. We usually have an early night cos we’re so tired.

Boxing Day

We go to my (and Jayne’s) Dad’s house. He and my stepmum make food and have friends over. We all drink, chat, laugh and play games. It’s very relaxing and we have a great time. This hasn’t happened I’m the same way for the last couple of years since my Dad died. He was the one in the world Jayne and I were both like. We had a rocky relationship but it had gotten better over the last few years. We were closer. I really miss him.

The Inbetween

In the days between Christmas and New Year Jayne goes home and I’m usually working at least some of the day. Apart from eating a lot more chocolate than normal nothing much happens.

New Year’s Eve

Nothing! We never go out. We stay in, drink Prosecco and watch tv. Events are too crowded and too expensive. I’m sure many think this is particularly sad as this is also Mike’s and my anniversary. Not our wedding anniversary, the day we met. We kissed at midnight and this year will mark 16 years together. One of the reasons we’re still together though is that our interests are so similar. We’re much more about staying in. We watch a film followed by Jools Holland’s Hootenanny. We recreate the kiss at midnight and then go to bed and snuggle together. Try not to throw up!

All Done

So Musers, that is my entirely normal and uneventful holiday season. Nothing spectacular or extraordinary. Large parts are spent doing nothing. We do nothing on New Year’s Eve. I still love it though. Please feel free to share your schedule and favourite Christmas in the comments.

Love CMoo