OK serious foodies alert!!!!!! Run us through what you're planning for your Christmas and new year celebrations!

[moondog]

No talk of Paxo or Bisto puhleeeeeeeze!!!!!!

How about the booze issue????

I think Christmas Eve will be a seafood feast as usual (crabs from the lleyn peninsula are the best in the world!)
Lashings of Miuscadet to accompany and perhaps tropica lfruit afterwards.

Christmas Day.......goose and stuffed apples with spiced red cabbage,brussel sprouts,root vegetable mash (turnip,parsnip and carrots with cream and nutmeg) and roast potatoes. Good Burgundy avec
Smoked salmon and caviar blinis to start with vats of Champagne.
Christmas pudding,Stilton and oatcakes with a Sauternes.

New Years Eve....rolled pork belly and quince compote followed by a pavlova. Not sure of the accompaniments or the wine at present.

Over to you lot.....

ooh I like that beetroot and horseradish relish with cold roast beef

Ooh enid, do you know what you're having yet (baby wise)? Ah pph, a girl, lovely, will she be Araminta?

funnily enough managed to talk dh out of turkey today hurray! as promised to cook one for fim earlier in the week so he can have as many Cardboard Sandwiches as his heart desires
what to do insetad though??
duck?
never cooked goose?
would I be able to get a decent bit of lamb this time of year?
prob do Delia's raised game pie on Christmas Eve mmmm

I massively fancy goose too but have never cooked it and no time to try it before and it would be a PITA if it was inedible!

I know, that's what I thought
I like the idea in theory though

goose is lovely if you dont care about leftovers

very easy just deal with the fat

Delias prunes in armangnac very lovely with it

not fenella, not araminta (such SOOPER choices though, thank you!)

someone told me that market rate for a goose this year was about £70.
I just don't think they are delicious enough for that really!

Waitrose were stocking Welsh lamb last week but have moved to NZ this week. Don't know if this will be the same with butcher. May try a few internet sites - Eynons in St Clears near Carmarthen do fabulous lamb and brilliant Welsh Black beef. So many things to think about...

lol even more at the fact that bumbleberry juice exists! Thought it was a quirky synthetic moniker for all the non alcoholic things you will be drinking.

Prunes in Armagnac...God that sounds fab.

Ditto game pie..more details forthcoming???

Oh,oh must find an excuse to exercise my cocktail making skills over the coming weeks.
Margaritas and Mint Juleps are my speciality.

Where's MI?? She gives good foody talk.

Had goose a couple of times - delicious but we should have had two (for 4 people). Tiny tiny legs & lots of fat (albeit yummy). V expensive for what you get.

Has anyone done the bird in a bird in a bird thing? My BIL did once but his boning skills are second to none.

Yoyo I'd love to do that (sounds sooooo mediaeval!!) but doubt I'm up to it. Seen a couple of companies advertising them and am tempted.

..'his boning skills are second to none'
Lol. Surely deserves to win the most pretentious foodie phrase of year award??? (Hey,I'm not knocking..I'm the queen of pretentious foodie talk!)

Moondog - I've been pondering your stilton partner and wondered if you have tried the Somerset Pomona? Quite a revelation to us. www.ciderbrandy.co.uk (too much red wine to do a link).

"Boning" bit of a dodgy description but he is a bloody good cook (and he lives off the land (or sea) as much as possible too).

I'llcheck that out.
I do like the idea of keeping it British.

Note your penchant for Caerphilly. Here in north Wales we do alright for cheese, seafood (that which isn't whisked off to France anyway as most people seem happier buying bloody fishfingers in Iceland)and lamb.

ok...dh said I should fess up and admit that the menu I printed was for Xmas Lunch in our restaurant!!

Sorry.

I will be eating it when everyone has gone home though.

And we are fully booked for Xmas Day so we are very happy!

Not surprised you're booked up.
Sounds deeelish.

My dh is wonderful and an appreciative collaborator in menu planning degustation and cleaning up but not into the actual cooking.

I wish he was....so seductive to have a man cook for you.
Once had a boyfriend who was a fantastic cook-would surprise me by organising impromptu picnice in parks with white plates,linen napkins,perfectly poached salmon and hollandaise sauce.

and you didn't marry him instead?

No,he was a tosser in every other way as I rapidly found out.

As I said,dh is happy to do the drudgery in the kitchen while I get on with the actual cooking so I can take that!

Degustation - such a good word. DH went to Degustibus at Borough Market today

Yeah,I love it too,hence contriving to use it.

Oooh what's that place then??

I dream of a trip to BM....

We buy some fab stuff in Turkey though (where we are a lot of the time with dh's work).My utility room is groaning with quinces,walnuts,honey,cheese and baklava.

Christmas day...
Turkey crown roast, stuffing balls, mini sausages (loads extra for the kids), sprouts parboiled then fryed off with bacon, carrots with honey etc etc.

Boxing Day....
Steak pie, boiled tatties and a couple of veg.

Ok here goes with my initial thoughts

Christmas day
Breakfast - Bucks Fizz in Bed while opening stockings, eating satsumas (kids and dh eat chocolae )
Christmas Muffins (cranberry and orange) from Nigellas Dom God. Scrambled eggs.

Lunch at MIL (Yuck) but I am veggie so I'll take a nice veggie thing (probably leek, cranberry, goats cheese thing)

Evening Nothing except more bucks fizz.

New Year - having dinner party with 8 of us, still deciding, but so far I am on an italian thing
Antipasti a la Jamies Italy (long raised plank with salamis, hams, mozzerella, bruscheeta etc)
Pasta roll with Butternut squash and spinach (need to test recipe first )
Main course fish or meat - totally undecided
Pudding - maybe pannetone, or something italian (need to look at books)

Lots of nice wine, maybe try Bellenis if I can get good peach puree

Peach Bellinis would be wonderful....

Skrimble,what the hell is a crown roast??? Is it (as I suspect) the chest hacked off a poor turkey so bloated on antibiotics and weird foodstuffs that it is unable to stand???
If so,then begone! There is nothing for you here.........