Christmas Day. Never quite how you imagine it’s going to be, is it?
I eschewed turkey for venison this year. We were going for belly pork, which slow roasted in a bbq rub is a favourite in our household, but by the time I got round to do THE shop, it wasn’t an option, so, “Why not?” I reasoned, and went for the deer option.
I grew up working class in the 1950’s, and venison, other than poached, would have been unobtainable in my world. Chicken was so expensive, it was a once-a-year Christmas treat, and even today, it has a special place in heart and memory, but my husband is tired of it. I have never liked turkey.
“Cook from frozen 1hr 45 mins at 350F” No problem, except, yes, a problem: the joint was still raw. The stuffing, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts carrots and broccoli were all cooked, but the meat course wasn’t, so dinner arrived, all vastly overcooked an hour late, and the meat so tough my husband had to put his teeth in to eat it.
However as the two of us had made good use of the extra hour by getting sozzled on homemade damson gin and Prosecco, we were both very chilled about it. My signature mushroom and garlic sauce was a hit, and covered a multitude of culinary sins with very little effort.
The twelve month matured Christmas pudding went down well with Ben and Jerry’s Karamel Sutra Icecream. We usually have crème anglaise with it, but unfortunately one of us had forgotten to get milk in, so it was off the menu this year.
We settled in front of the Christmas Tree to watch a movie: Jim Carey’s “A Christmas Carol,” because as Tom Lehrer once sang: “Even though the prospect sickens … dum de dum de dum … Drag out the Dickens. “ I’ll post a link, if you haven’t met Tom before, you’ll love him.
It’s late-ish now, we’re stuffed and sleepy, so head for bed. Just before dozing off one of us remembers we’ve forgotten to open our presents. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow.
Oh! Before O go, I should mention the parsnips. They were the last straw for the air-fryer. Never mind, I’m treating myself to a new one. My husband said,” Call it a belated Christmas present.” I gave him gloves.
https://open.spotify.com/track/4uarCMpjlIooBsKVsB7pN1?si=6jPaUqxXQtmCQT80s-EoEkA
