Preparations

[vinteuil]

My personal bugbear about Cheddar is that I don't like it with red wine.

... sometimes I find cheddar goes well with some sherries - a good amontillado, fr'instance. Better than with most red wines, anyhoo...

[EdgeleyRob]

How are we all doing with our Christmas preparations?

Not sure,I'll check with my wife.

[teamsaint]

How are we all doing with our Christmas preparations?

Not sure,I'll check with my wife.

Very wise.
got that Andre Rieu album yet ER? Maybe there is a box set edition?

[french frank]

... sometimes I find cheddar goes well with some sherries - a good amontillado, fr'instance. Better than with most red wines, anyhoo...

Yes, I like sherry. I suppose the fortified wine's a bit on the lines of port and stilton, though I don't like either (sherry or port) too sweet. A fino might be good too.

[Serial_Apologist]

I still have to get my cards, though the stamps are ready and waiting: I'll probably give Tate Modern a visit tomorrow. The ex-gf and I usually exchange calendars, but last year she asked, "Why do you always send a bloody calendar? I get so many they come out of my ears!" - though she always sends me one, for which I am genuinely grateful. Last year I couldn't decide on an alternative. "Oh never mind, don't worry" she told me, "I hate receiving presents anyway 'cos I've got everything I'll ever want in life". It's a problem knowing what to get when you're on your jack, but I actually prefer being my own solitary nag on the day of all days when we are supposed to rejoice and enjoy our families, if we have them. I'd probably be terrible company.

The last 2 years I've treated myself to one of St Spree's Christmas-Meal-For-One packages, consisting of three slices of turkey breast swimming in a tablespoon of oxo gravy, two chipolatas, two stooks of presumably sage and onion stuffing, four small roast potatoes, four sprouts, a tablespoon of peas and a ditto each of baby carrots and bread sauce - all ready to put in the microwave, to be dished up with cranberry sauce which will serve as jam for the next month, downed with a couple of glasses of house hock, and followed up with one of the pair of xmas puds accompanied by custard. But the combination has never settled on my stomach, used as it is to mainly vegetarian input, so I shall get some turkey fillets in breadcrumbs and fry them instead for my main course this year.

I shall dig out all my recorded Christmas music, pile it up beside the sound system, hope the ex-gf is too busy to ring, and snooze the afternoon away.

There's probably nothing much worth watching on telly in the evening, so I'll induge in some of my favourite movies.

[Thropplenoggin]

I still have to get my cards, though the stamps are ready and waiting: I'll probably give Tate Modern a visit tomorrow. The ex-gf and I usually exchange calendars, but last year she asked, "Why do you always send a bloody calendar? I get so many they come out of my ears!" - though she always sends me one, for which I am genuinely grateful. Last year I couldn't decide on an alternative. "Oh never mind, don't worry" she told me, "I hate receiving presents anyway 'cos I've got everything I'll ever want in life". It's a problem knowing what to get when you're on your jack, but I actually prefer being my own solitary nag on the day of all days when we are supposed to rejoice and enjoy our families, if we have them. I'd probably be terrible company.

The last 2 years I've treated myself to one of St Spree's Christmas-Meal-For-One packages, consisting of three slices of turkey breast swimming in a tablespoon of oxo gravy, two chipolatas, two stooks of presumably sage and onion stuffing, four small roast potatoes, four sprouts, a tablespoon of peas and a ditto each of baby carrots and bread sauce - all ready to put in the microwave, to be dished up with cranberry sauce which will serve as jam for the next month, downed with a couple of glasses of house hock, and followed up with one of the pair of xmas puds accompanied by custard. But the combination has never settled on my stomach, used as it is to mainly vegetarian input, so I shall get some turkey fillets in breadcrumbs and fry them instead for my main course this year.

I shall dig out all my recorded Christmas music, pile it up beside the sound system, hope the ex-gf is too busy to ring, and snooze the afternoon away.

There's probably nothing much worth watching on telly in the evening, so I'll induge in some of my favourite movies.

This reads like A Christmas Carol but without the happy ending.

I admire your stoicism, SA. Christmas can bring out the best and worst in people and families - the worst being the fake smiles and forced jollity and those gifts that are meant to make up for a year's worth of indifference: "Look, see how much I care! I got you that Cliff Richard calendar you never wanted!"

[EdgeleyRob]

Very wise.
got that Andre Rieu album yet ER? Maybe there is a box set edition?

[Nick Armstrong]

There's nothing quite like the thrill of eating English cheese in France.

It's a real white-knuckle ride chez Thropplenoggin!!

[Thropplenoggin]

It's a real white-knuckle ride chez Thropplenoggin!!

It's the thin end of the wedge. I'll get me cloak...

[amateur51]

I think Quentin Crisp, that maestro of the solitary Christmas, got it just about right.

1) Tell friends A that you'll be with friends B and vice versa. They'll each be so relieved/ticked off that they'll not dare to check with each other.

2) Pop into the chemist and get sufficient boxes of Complan in a myriad flavours sufficient for the festive period.

3) Once home, move you wardrobe against your door to prevent access by concerned neighbours

4) Take the phone off the hook and settle back into non-convivial solitude.

Now that is bah-humbuggery!

[amateur51]

It's a real white-knuckle ride chez Thropplenoggin!!

[Ferretfancy]

Madame Suggia
Delia says it's OK to make them at the last minute, but they do like time to mature.
Our school art room had your portrait by Augustus John

[amateur51]

One advantage of being old is making your own rules. We'll be starting on our cake next week as a friend's visiting, and won't be icing it. Indeed, it'll probably be eaten to accompany cheese - mature cheddar. There's nothing quite like the thrill of eating English cheese in France.

The French'll have no truckle with such fromageous levity

[Pabmusic]

The Christmas season begins in September here in the Philippines. Quite literally, with Christmas songs playing in the malls.

Anyway, as we are here for Christmas (last year we were in the UK) I thought it might be good to make a Christmas cake. Every cake that Filipinos have is a variation on a chiffon cake, so a fruit cake is seriously unusual. I used Delia Smith's rich fruit cake recipe, adapted to what I could find in the tropics. The main differences were:

a) they've never heard of any flour but self-raising (or 'all-purpose' as it's known here)
b) you can't get sultanas or candied peel, or nuts of any variety, except for packs of salted peanuts, cashews or mixed nuts that do contain almonds
c) getting hold of mixed spice is impossible, though whole cloves, cinnamon bark and nutmegs can be found

The fruit I ended up with was raisins, dried mango, dried papaya, dried pineapple, dried iba (sour - a tamarind substitute) and cocktail cherries. Cashews and almonds were sufficient (taking care to avoid the garlic flavoured almonds); and the coffee grinder made short work of the cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. The sugar was excellent muscavado (this is a sugar-producing country), molasses was easy to get, and New Zealand butter is available, too. I could not avoid self-raising flour.

The alcohol was the local rum - Tanduay - which the dried fruit seemed to like, because it soaked it all up overnight.

The result was such a success that there was no way I could keep the cake till Christmas, and I now have made three more - two of them as presents!

[Dave2002]

The Christmas season begins in September here in the Philippines. Quite literally, with Christmas songs playing in the malls.

Anyway, as we are here for Christmas (last year we were in the UK) I thought it might be good to make a Christmas cake. Every cake that Filipinos have is a variation on a chiffon cake, so a fruit cake is seriously unusual. I used Delia Smith's rich fruit cake recipe, adapted to what I could find in the tropics. The main differences were:

a) they've never heard of any flour but self-raising (or 'all-purpose' as it's known here)
b) you can't get sultanas or candied peel, or nuts of any variety, except for packs of salted peanuts, cashews or mixed nuts that do contain almonds
c) getting hold of mixed spice is impossible, though whole cloves, cinnamon bark and nutmegs can be found

The fruit I ended up with was raisins, dried mango, dried papaya, dried pineapple, dried iba (sour - a tamarind substitute) and cocktail cherries. Cashews and almonds were sufficient (taking care to avoid the garlic flavoured almonds); and the coffee grinder made short work of the cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. The sugar was excellent muscavado (this is a sugar-producing country), molasses was easy to get, and New Zealand butter is available, too. I could not avoid self-raising flour.

The alcohol was the local rum - Tanduay - which the dried fruit seemed to like, because it soaked it all up overnight.

The result was such a success that there was no way I could keep the cake till Christmas, and I now have made three more - two of them as presents!

This sounds fascinating. I wonder if it's actually possible to make such a cake back in the UK, as we might not be able to source all the ingredients here. When you've perfected the recipe, do you think you could post it somewhere? Please!

The thought of garlic flavoured almonds almost fills me with horror. What do they use them for? Does it work in any way?