It’s all well and truly over, a month of living in Christmasland now it’s back to reality.
My favourite saying at the moment to the Kids is ‘New year, new rules’. First-born is loudly complaining that the ‘new rules are boring’. One of the hardest things of leaving Christmasland behind is getting back into some sort of routine. That’s what’s currently going on here at Chez Wright.
I thought I’d share our last tradition, and give you all a glimpse into how our departure from Christmasland went.
I had a blog post planned today with photos taken with my new camera, but time has run away with me!
So I’ll keep it simple…
Have a wonderful Christmas day one and all!
I’ll see you in a couple of days!
(Hopefully with some pictures)
Have Fun!
There are just 4 days to go until at 2pm we’ll be sitting down for Christmas Dinner at Chez Wright.
((I don’t have a photo for this post – so have used the photo I took last year of our outdoor Christmas tree – We had snow! I was rather proud (and surprised) at how well this photo came out!))
This year I’m anticipating 8 adults and 2 Children seated…
As a fanatical meal planner, Christmas Day is no different to the other 364 days in the year. It’s planned for. And the aim is to keep waste to as much of a minimum as is possible on such a day.
So what’s the plan…
Well…
Guests will be met with Slow-cooked Mulled Wine and Home-made mince pies on arrival.
The mulled wine recipe is taken from my current favourite slow-cooker book by Sara Lewis. It’s a lovely mixture of red wine and cranberry juice with spices. The mince-pies the Kids and I will make fresh Christmas Eve as part of our Simple Christmas traditions.
I don’t do a starter, as it is typically a rather large and varied meal.
Christmas Dinner will consist of:
1. Maris piper potatoes slow-cooked to soften then roasted in goose fat.
2. Fresh carrots cut into batons and steamed
3. A stalk of sprouts removed from the stalk and steamed
4. Fresh parsnips roasted in olive oil and sprinkled with dried rosemary
5. 2 heads of broccoli cut into florets and steamed.
6. Home-made cauliflower cheese (consisting of 1 head of cauliflower)
7. Home-made yorkshire pudding – 2 per person
8. Pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) – 2 per person
9. Slow-cooked gravy
10. Turkey! Of course!
The side-dishes are all being made by my Big Sis, and will consist of cranberry sauce, stuffing and bread sauce.
After dinner we will be eating the Christmas Pud I made the end of November with custard or brandy sauce. The alternative will be panetone bread and butter pudding with Irish Cream flavoured double cream.
The equipment I will be using is:
1 x Large Slow Cooker to soften the potatoes (Big Ben)
2 x Standard size Slow-Cooker’s for the mulled wine and gravy (Lil’ Bill and Brenda)
2 x 2-tier steamers for all the vegetables (I’m borrowing 1 from a friend as I only have 1)
All the vegetables will be prepped and kept in covered containers in water overnight in the garage – it’ll be cold enough! The pots will also be prepped and stored in the slow-cooker overnight in water.
The cauliflower cheese has already been made and frozen (from some I had left over) and will be taken out Christmas Eve to thaw out overnight.
The pudding batter will be made fresh Christmas morning and stored in the fridge in 2 pyrex jugs – this will make about 24 small puds.
I am borrowing a slow-cooker off my Mom to slow-cook the Christmas Pud for 2 hours – it’s a large pud so will cover all those who eat it. My Big Sis is making the panetone bread and butter pud in advance and will bring it round to be reheated after dinner.
This year I am buying Turkey joints, pre-stuffed. I swore last year was the last I would throw any turkey away, even if it’s just the carcass. We don’t carve the turkey at the table, so it won’t ruin the effect!
I haven’t finished the shop yet, so do not have a total cost, but most of the ingredients are pretty basic, and made from scratch (keeping the cost down). I will update this post when I have a total.
I’ll take some photos on the day and post to Facebook!
What am I going to do with leftovers?
Well the aim is to not over estimate. However if there are leftovers, they will be chilled and reused on 27th, as I am hosting another dinner – this time for some friends who are visiting.
How are the Dinner plans going at yours? All in hand, or still much to think about?
Here’s a couple of posts I ran last year if you’d like to read more:
<a href=”http://simplybeingmum.com/2010/12/16/the-simple-christmas-guide-christmas-dinner-part-1/“>Simple Christmas Dinner Part 1</a>
<a href=”http://simplybeingmum.com/2010/12/20/the-simple-christmas-guide-christmas-dinner-part-2/“>Simple Christmas Dinner Part 2</a>
Don’t forget I am now updating daily on Facebook
Hey Last Christmas by Wham just came on the radio as I started typing! My very favourite Christmas song ever – Thanks Radio 2!!
It’s Christmas Guys! Cue Sleigh Bells!
We like to lead a simple life over at Chez Wright, but the tradition of Christmas still includes the exchange of gifts for us.
As I said we keep it simple, that includes how we do gifts. I call it my “Christmas Box” system. This is how we do it for the adults in our close family. Our Kids get a visit from Santa 
(The Hubby and I don’t exchange gifts – Santa drops off one small token for each of us so that the Kids get to see us open a gift on Christmas morning)
This is how my ‘Christmas Box’ system works:
We are well on the way to a simple Christmas over here at Chez Wright.
Each week I’m posting what we have been up to, to keep it simple and lot’s of fun. If you’ve missed the two previous posts, you can catch up here and here…
This weekend was the biggie! Saturday was a combined visit to Santa and a trip to get our tree (from The Chase)…
It’s Friday Guys – It’s time for No Waste Tastes Great
Click here to find out more about my Friday routine
Simply Being Mum’s Friday Fridge
Preparations are in full swing in the countdown to Christmas.
At Chez Wright we keep it simple. Simple doesn’t necessarily mean quick or convenient, rather a home-made Christmas takes time. Hence we are doing a little bit each week and weekend.
So what did we get up to last weekend?
Christmas is all about time with the family. We like to keep it simple.
One way I’ve chosen to do this is by developing simple traditions. Kids love knowing what to expect, it adds to the experience and excitement for them. We are currently building up to the big day as the weekend after Remembrance Sunday now signifies the start of these traditions.
Each week I will post on our countdown to Christmas. First born is now at an age where she can actively get involved not just in the ‘doing’ but in the decision-making. This seems the perfect year to start documenting it all.
A home-made Christmas doesn’t happen overnight. A consumerist Christmas literally can. Buying stuff isn’t what Christmas is about for us, but at the same time Christmas is a shared holiday, and other people’s expectations need to be taken into account. I’m hoping I can demonstrate how I keep the balance between a Simple Traditional Christmas whilst making it enjoyable for everyone whether they share that vision or not.
So what did our first weekend entail?
This is my last post pre-Christmas and I just wanted to wish everyone a really happy (and beautifully simple) Christmas!
I had originally planned a couple of other posts around this time, but my impromptu post on Tuesday took one slot and a lot of the community are disconnecting today for the holiday – so I thought I’d take a leaf out of their book and call it a wrap until after Christmas.
One very important thing I need to do before securing my Santa hat firmly on my head and cracking open the mulled wine is to specially thank the following bloggers who have been so welcoming over the last two-three months since actively writing here at simplybeingmum.
In no particular order… (I lied, it’s in first name alphabetical order – I’m nothing if not just a little bit pedantic)
Deb at Life Beyond Stuff - One of my greatest joys in life is meeting different people from different walks and stages of life. What I particularly like about Deb (I like pretty much the whole package but this one thing stands out) is she’s a straight talking woman. From our conversations to date I would imagine she doesn’t pull any punches. I like that, by hitting people head on – they have to question themselves. She does it well and with respect, in my opinion.
Eric LaForest at Elevated Simplicity – not only does he have an amazing name, he has an amazing sense of humour (and attitude to life). I’m pretty sure that if Eric and I ever met in a snowy alpine bar to partake in a beer, we could put the world to rights.
Faith Janes at Minimalist Moms – Faith inspires great dialogue on her blog. It’s always a pleasure to pop by and see how, not only she, but her readers are doing. Faith is one of life’s connectors (me thinks)…
Gip Plaster at So Much More Life – Gip has been incredibly welcoming, even opening his blog to my musings in the future. He has grand plans for his blog in 2011, and I am looking forward to seeing them come to fruition.
Rachel Jonat aka Minimalist Mom – I respect Rachel enormously, what she has achieved since embracing minimalism is awe-inspiring. She even decluttered her wedding dress for goodness sakes! I’m sure I know Rachel well enough now to say that we share much of the same philosophy on life, and I am so looking forward to accompanying her on her voyage of culinary discovery in 2011.
R.S at The Suburban Minimalist – Mysterious anonymous blogger from NY. I have got to know R over the last month or so and I can confirm she is a beautiful person inside and out, with a beautiful family. A truly lovely individual with much to teach.
Robert Wall at Finding Frugality- If I ever want an ‘out of body experience’ I visit Robert’s blog. Simple cooking and a good ole dash of common sense is going on over there. I’ll leave it at that!
Sam Spurlin at The Simpler Life – I’ve followed Sam for a long time, way before I started blogging, or it even crossed my mind. He is at a very different stage in life than myself but I relate to what he writes. I always have done, and anticipate I will continue to do so. Sam has the quality of humility (in my opinion) and if life has taught me anything, it’s that is one quality that will take you far.
I’d also like to sincerely thank everyone who has passed by my blog pages (and the subscribers – how exciting to be able to type that!) over the last two months or so. It’s deeply appreciated, my blog is a conversation, and without you guys, I’d be talking to myself.
I’ll be back after Christmas with a post that I didn’t think I’d ever write…
Have fun out there guys and Mr Griswold the photo below is in your honour
I love food and I love Christmas!
The magic of a home-cooked Christmas Dinner (in my opinion) isn’t elaborate food on a plate… it’s the company that it is eaten in. My main priority at Christmas is to spend time with my family, and not to create a culinary masterpiece.
This year I will be hosting Christmas Dinner, and will be cooking for 10 adults and 4 children. This is how I will be doing it! Continue reading
