Christmas is almost upon us and hard as I try to be a proper grouch, the ice crystals in the heart stands no chance against elegantly decorated Christmas trees and lavishly frosted homes. I was rather adamant that I shan't enjoy christmas this year - what with us shipping off to Italy for two full weeks; my English temperament is quite unaccustomed to all that Italian passion and public display of every emotion and thought. But the battle of the European countries were not won and I would be having no turkey, no cranberries, no stuffing, no christmas pud this year, just a lot of exuberant shouts and laughter accompanied by exaggerated hand gestures. Oh, the sacrifice.
All is not lost as I will still be hosting a small intimate Christmas lunch this Sunday; in England, no less. And so in planning the menu, I decided to take Barefoot Contessa's tips on having a "game plan" which entails writing down a task list by timeline. I do know a few close friends who would snigger at the mere thought of "game plan" but as I think it is rather clever, I had a ball of a time writing down when I would set the table, prepare the roux, string up the bird, etc. I even had a task plan for the day before. And the day before that. Such is my life.
Alas, it is the day before the day before and execution has failed idea! Top tip: preparing a game plan requires one having read the recipes and having, albeit a rough, but nevertheless somewhat of, an understanding of the preparation involved - soak fruit and nut mixture overnight, would certainly throw off any game plan which did not include overnight time...
I wonder what that means for me over the next couple of days...Oh well, as my guests are all Italians, bar one, I'm certain I will be told what they think rather loudly and surely. Cin cin.
Til tomorrow:
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