This year, my
husband thought up a twist for our Christmas celebration. The idea stemmed from two geese. My son's roommate bagged them earlier in the
season. He gave us the two breasts. With them in the freezer, the idea of a
tradition British meal was born.
The holiday
season found me lacking. I only managed
three batches of cookies. The first
traveled to Missoula for the grandchildren.
The second batch went to my daughter's classroom. The third, shortbread for the British theme,
ended up half being baked too long.
Also, my family doesn't like shortbread.
So, going into the dessert phase of the dinner, I wanted a guaranteed
winner. I wasn't going to make Figgie
pudding. Besides, I was hungry for some
sticky toffee pudding, a dessert I had in York, England.
Our first course
was a shrimp cocktail. Jerry made fresh horseradish
sauce that was incorporated into the fresh cocktail sauce. Delicious.
The main meal
consisted of goose, parsnips, potatoes, a bread dip, and Yorkshire
pudding. I was pleasantly surprised by
the parsnips. I enjoyed them and am
thinking of adding them to my garden this spring. The potatoes, of course, were enjoyable. They were designed to dip in the bread
dip. The dip tasted fine but was lacking
in flavor. My daughter reminded me
British food is bland. If we were to
have this again, garlic would be added.
The goose wasn't my favorite. I
am not a dark meat fan. The others liked
it. The Yorkshire pudding was
wonderful. They are a popover, which I
have always enjoyed them.
The sticky
toffee pudding for dessert was amazing.
This is a date cake with toffee syrup.
The process is a bit extensive, but completely worth the work. I learned a lot about the recipe and will do
things a little differently when my sister comes to visit, and I make it for
her. Oh, and I whipped up fresh cream
with no sugar. Yum!
The dinner was a
great success in being creative and outside the box for us. I do agree with my daughter that we don't
need to do it again. I will say that the
Yorkshire pudding and toffee pudding will be added to different dinners in the
future. Next year, we are thinking of
doing a French Christmas dinner. (I did
do a Norwegian dinner about ten years ago.
Again, a bit bland, but fun.)
Another enjoyable
aspect of Christmas Day, Jerry and I watched the movie "The Man Who
Invented Christmas." This went with
our British theme because the story is about Charles Dickens writing of "A
Christmas Carol." I delighted in
the movie. I highly recommend it,
especially if you have an artist in the house.
Jerry pointed out how much I resemble Dickens in the creative process,
as does Madelle with her artwork.
In the evening,
we had friends over for game night. The
best part of the day, mind you. Stories
and laughter filled the house. We are
very blessed and look forward to continued blessings with these four additional
family members that have come into our lives in the last twenty years. This Christmas is so different from the year
we celebrated without Jerry. I
definitely prefer to be together and never take it for granted. Here is to more Christmas' to come.
Merry Christmas.
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