Day 309 - Yo-yo

Despite a slow start, I was out of the house first thing(ish) to get in one final run to Waitrose to pick up all the last minute things that we need for tomorrow. I needn't have worried - there was plenty of room in the car park and the shop itself was relatively quiet. All very easy really.

Back home for some concerted culinary preparation: Kathryn made an orange cake with plum sauce for tomorrow as well as a sweet potato soup for supper on Christmas Day, whereas my task was to prepare the red cabbage and the parsnips and also cook some mince pies.  For all of these, I turned to my cookery bible at this time of year: Delia Smith's Christmas (amazing value on Amazon!) as every recipe I have ever made from it has been a hit.

Unfortunately, before I could start on the red cabbage, I had to do a return run to the shops as we had run out of apples and onions.  Everything in the village was much more crowded: are people really doing their Christmas present shopping today?

Christmas Table
halfway ready!

By the time everything was done, my daughter arrived home and set about her task for the day: laying the table for the 17 we have for lunch tomorrow. She has been doing this for years and always does a wonderful job!

Mince pie making came around: and could we find the pastry cutters anywhere? No we couldn't, so back to Cobham again for an emergency purchase run (and, yes, there are still people Christmas shopping at 3 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve...).  And would you believe it, I then ran put of mincemeat so had to go back for the fourth time: it is fortunate that we live so close but even so by now I'd had enough!

By now my son was also home and we had a quorum: everybody was feeling very weary though and after a traditional fresh salmon dinner, we could only manage the first half of White Christmas before people started peeling off to bed.... at least they'll all be fast asleep by the time Santa arrives...