Sunday, December 27, 2009

A Lovely Christmas


Carrot for Rudolph, milk and cookies for Santa

Christmas was lovely; the kids woke me at 4.45am and despite trying to get them back to sleep, they continued to check the time with me every 10 minutes or so, leaving me exhausted and I eventually succumbed to their excited whispers of "is it time YET?". Lucy wasn't feeling entirely well but they were all excited and decidedly happy with their gifts. We made dough for Schnecken buns and rested collapsed into a coma like state with hot mugs of tea whilst watching the kids play happily with their toys.


The Schnecken are prepared


And separated into nutty ones and nut free. Mmmm.

My sis arrived with her kids, to help us eat the cinammony, pecan topped delights which are Schnecken and bacon sandwiches to follow. Once they left, I began to prepare dinner, roasting the ham, which had been boiled the night before with a maple syrup and honey glaze, slicing the turkey crown, also made the night before, to heat in gravy later and preparing the turkey by stuffing it and rubbing it with lashings of herb flavoured butter and topping it with fatty bacon slices.

Roasting the Ham with Honey, Cloves and Maple Syrup


Lemon rind, sage and thyme to be mixed into the butter

Inbetween cooking, we watched The Polar Express and had our Scotch Broth. When dinner was ready, we sat at the table and opened the champagne, toasting another year and the year ahead. When we had finished and tidied, we were just in time for The Gruffalo and Doctor Who!

Scotch Broth


Christmas Dinner

The new 3d Monopoly was brought out; whoever said games brought families together were wrong but it was a great laugh nonetheless.

Grandpa, my husband's dad, had me in stitches throughout the day with his interpretation of certain things he'd overheard, for example, whilst watching the news... "...Pope has been knocked over", grandpa exclaimed "the Pope wasn't sober??".

Boxing Day saw us all sledging before heading to Ann's house for curry and conversation. It was a lovely day although in hindsight, the 3pm start of drinking champagne doesn't entirely agree with me, when not heading home until late....





Sledging

Monday evening, we went to Di Maggios restaurant for pizza and pasta with our friends and their family, followed by a pantomime at the Pavilion Theatre. Today, I'm being forced to see Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 and then it's Hogmanay tomorrow! Party time.

A Happy New Year to you all.

21 comments:

confused homemaker said...

It looks like you all had a very lovely Christmas! Hope the rest of the Christmas season is also treating you & your family wonderfully :)

And the buns look to die for, I could eat the entire plate!

Janice said...

Goodness me you have been busy. Hope you get a little 'me' time to unwind from all that activity.

Anonymous said...

...And a lovely time was had by all... :) Christmas is at its best when there are young children around (despite those ludicrously early starts)!

A very Happy New Year to you too. I hope 2010 brings you all you wish for. x

1 Special Family said...

Sounds like the perfect day! Well, with the exception of the early start!! The food looks fabulous as well! Happy 2010 to you and your family!!

Drew said...

Wow! Those buns look amazing! I'm drooling and I just ate breakfast!!

Thanks for the New Years wishes!

Happy new year to you and yours! I can't wait to see what you make to eat then!

e said...

My mother always makes schnecken for Christmas breakfast!I can almost smell the cinnamon from here. You would absolutely love Philadelphia sticky buns which i grew up on: http://www.uwishunu.com/2007/08/philly-made-beilers-sticky-buns/ Bliadhna mhath ùr, dear bloggy friend! May it bring you and your family the best of everything. Lizzy :)

Bunc said...

A wintry Scottish Christmas - ye cannae whack it! ( Well you could but you would need a very big stick)

Farmgirl Paints said...

Hi Helen, looks like you had a wonderful Christmas. I would have been a zombie waking up that early...yikes:) Those sticky buns looked amazing!!

koralee said...

Thank you so much for visiting me and leaving such an amazingly lovely heartwarming story. I so believe that all the good one does will come back to you...and yours did! Your kindness gives me hope for 2010! All I can say is that I pray if one of my daughters were ever in trouble they would find a kind hearted soul like yourself. Thank you my friend for this today for your story has touched me deeply! Sending you many many blessings for 2010...your family is so lovely and your Christmas looked picture perfect..filled with love and smiles..just how it should be. xoxoxoxoo

Together We Save said...

Looks like you had a wonderful christmas.... very yummy food too.

Jenn Erickson said...

Helen, thank you for sharing your wonderful Christmas! What a warm and loving, special family you have. I love your traditions! If we're ever in Scotland for the holidays, I'm coming over! Actually, we do hope to visit Scotland some day. Some of my husband's relatives came from there ~ The Montgomerys. We were just snuggled up in the family tartan last night. He loves Scotch Broth and yours looks amazing? Any possibility of getting the recipe?

Kileen said...

The schnecken look lovely! Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas. Have a very Happy New Year! : )

Sumandebray said...

"the Pope wasn't sober??".... this made me laugh out loud alone!
Loved the description our your Christmas celebration!

Sumandebray said...

"the Pope wasn't sober??".... this made me laugh out loud alone!
Loved the description our your Christmas celebration!

Helen McGinn said...

confused homemaker, the buns were indeed tasty, my sis was asking for them all over the holidays!

Janice, I sneak on the computer and blog to all you lovely folk and catch up on the reading of others; it's my me time!

angelcel...too early indeed! And the same to you, my friend.

1specialfamily, thank you, and to you too. x

Bakergirl, some brand new foods in 2010! Watch this space as I'll be watching yours! x

ER, oh my goodness, really? I love that I'm not the first with that tradition. I can't wait to check out that link, as soon as I've posted here! xx

Bunc, yup, we used our great big sticks for firewood, what with all the cold! ;O)

Farmgirl paints, thank you, lass...and I was a bit of a zombie but twas still a good day. :O)

koralee, aw hon, you do me too much justice. I thank you and here is to us all having a wonderful year! xx

Together We Save, thank you! Looking forward to checking out your blog! xx

Jenn Erickson, well, I'll certainly have the kettle on and some buns in the oven when you visit! I will certainly send you the Scotch Broth recipe but it's one I make up in my head everytime. It is more or less the same though, everytime. I'll email you it. xx

Kileen, you too, lass, and thank you!

Sumandebray, *L* I know, it was a brilliant mis-hearing, if ever there was one!

Anonymous said...

I've been looking all over for this!

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

We watched the Gruffalo while we were in Ireland. It's a lovely story. We also got quite addicted to "Never mind the Buzzcocks".

I'm glad you had a great holiday.

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Beautiful family and wonderful food!

Happy SITS Day.

Karen, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry" said...

Your food sure sounds yummy! Enjoyed seeing your pictures too--shows what a good time you had with your family. I love sledging too (but we call it sledding here in the U.S.). I'm glad you included the picture so I know what it was.

Congrats on your SITS day!

Anonymous said...

Sounds awesome! All those goodies and having the fam together, is my favorite part of the holiday. But, the Schnecken might be my favorite part of your holiday!! LOOKS DELISH!

Erin said...

All of your posts make me SO HUNGRY!! Delicious, beautiful food :)

Congrats on your SITS day.