Breakfast: freshly made soda bread, topped with garlic and herb Philadelphia, smoked salmon, and scrambled eggs. Orange juice, because no wants to get squiffy that early in the day!
Various cocktails as the morning progresses and I get more involved in cooking the beef Wellington, but refuse to panic over it. A shot of whiskey to get me going on peeling and prepping the spuds and veg. This is roughly when DH will piss off to the pub.
A happy hour or so preparing spuds, parsnips, sprouts, carrots, black pudding sausage, sage and onion stuffing, and pigs in blankets that we'll have as a nibble course before the Main Thing. Also sprouts, carrots, broccoli.
30 mins trying to get DH to respond to me to tell me how long it'll be until he gets home. This is a Good Thing because it gives the meat time to rest.
DH returns home and I pile everything on plates, then remember I've forgotten the gravy, so go make that. Decide that bread sauce is worth making (from a packet) so do that too.
We eat. We can't eat it all, but there is a very hopeful dog sitting under the table. This is her favourite day of the year.
Four hours of sprawling in chairs follow - with both of us moaning about how full we feel. Then a bit of a doze, which revitalizes us
, and we start looking for cheese and charcuterie. Having found and consumed it, we now crave chocolate - and so the chocolate orange, the After Eights, and the tubs of Heroes etc. come out. DH dives into them as though he's never tasted chocolate before. I refrain.
About now I get the urge for something fishy - so raid the fridge for whatever fish patés etc are in there. Have to bake some part-baked loves to eat it with, so that takes another 15 minutes.
It's about time the dog went out - so she and I will wander down our field in the dark trying not to fall into the septic tank or other unpleasantries. We stay out long enough for her ablutions and for me to get thoroughly chilled - makes coming back indoors such a pleasure!
Maybe one more wafer thin mint before bed - or a hot chocolate. Turn all the Xmas lights off and go crawl under the duvet. A perfect day, for me :)