Saturday

Good morning, gentle readers.  Welcome to a chilly Saturday morning here in wonderful mid-Essex!  We had some strong winds and some rain overnight but the skies are now clear and full of stars.

Yesterday was a pleasant day.

First of all, I managed to get to Aldi early and, to my surprise, it was nearly empty.  I've never known Aldi nearly empty so I guess that's my go to time from now on - weekdays at 8:00.  I managed to get what I needed and back home again whereupon I sat down and went to sleep.  I'm not 100% and just a little shop wore me out.  I didn't get into school to help out with preparing for the Christmas Fair but I will go next week at some point and do my bit.

I got a nice surprise via an email - offer of a little bit more work for six weeks after Christmas.  Just half a day a week but it all adds up and I was glad to say yes.  Year 2 and year 3.  Perfick.

Later on I picked Alex up from school.  I was supposed to take him home but he didn't have his key so he came back to mine until Beth was able to pick him up.  It was nice to see him and hear how much he is now enjoying life at A levels!

And now it is Christmas Day - sort of.

The turkey crown is all ready and covered, to pop in the oven.  The sprouts are peeled.  The stuffing is made - just a packet stuffing and I added some dried cranberries and some walnuts for a bit of extra flavour and texture.  I just have to decide if I want to bake it or make patties and fry them.  The pigs in blankets are also made and ready to cook.  The chicken stock, saved from when we had a roast chicken as I am not sure how much stock one gets from a turkey crown, is heating so I can make the gravy early.  I just have to prepare the spuds and the parsnips for roasting.  The custard will be made in Thermione so that won't be a problem.  It is actually quite nice to have a run through before the Day itself and I am looking forward to having some leftovers for the next few days.

Then all I have to do is tidy up, grab a few decorations from the garage, wrap the pressies and lay the table.   Exciting!

The cold is still colding, the voice is still croaking and I am following Joan's excellent advice (thank you, Joan) and drinking plenty of liquids, interspersed with aspirin type stuff at intervals.  Hopefully I am building up an immunity for the rest of the year now.

So - today's food (as if you didn't know) will be
Brunch:  chicken sarnie (I accidentally defrosted some stock that had chicken slices in so they need eating up)
Dinner.  roast turkey, roast potatoes and parsnips, sprouts and peas, cranberry sauce, gravy, pigs in blankets and stuffing; mince pies and cream/custard (S and M didn't want Christmas pudding)

We're eating early - about 4:00 pm - and we are looking forward to then watching Pointless and Strictly which are favourites with us all.

Should be a great day!