After Christmas.

Over the last 10 days our normal household of 2 has been up to 8, then to 4,  now back to 2 again.    We bought lots, cooked lots and probably drank lots.  But the freezers are still remarkably full,  I counted 18 ready meals in them this morning -  it's all too easy just to put the leftovers in the fridge and think that you'll deal with them mañana but in reality I find they get forgotten about.  So this Christmas we boxed up all the leftover meats and gravy,  chillis, curries, rice etc and froze it for another day.

After the big pig came a big turkey.  Not quite as big - it was 9 kg not 11 like the pig,  and after serving 4 of us there was still plenty for Boxing Day and the freezer.  Is it just me,  but I do like cold  turkey and stuffing sandwiches.  I made the usual sage and onion stuffing and also  a much richer one with chestnuts, sausage meat, bacon, chicken liver, orange and lemon zest, eggs and onion.   It cooks slowly with the turkey, but double wrapped in foil on a lower shelf and is perhaps more like a paté.  Or at least mine is.  Lovely also sliced on hot buttery toast.

Big turkey, still steaming from the oven and waiting for the carver.

After the wonderful pre-Christmas sunshine, the day itself was cold by comparison - from 20° to 10° - cloudy, some drizzle and sudden high winds.   Looking at the forecast afterwards we saw they'd got gusts of almost 70 kph predicted.   But it was only a blip for that one day and sunshine appeared for Boxing Day and gradually the temperature is creeping back up.   Back into a summer t-shirt today and we've all the doors and windows open to let the sun and heat into the house.

Next up is New Years Eve, or Nochevieja as it is here.   It actually means 'old night' which makes sense when you think about it as it is the last night of the old year.  We'll more than likely watch the count down on Spanish tv  - it's filmed in Madrid - although we don't have our 12 grapes ready.  You have to eat a grape with every bong of the clock as it counts out the midnight hour.  Last time I tried it,  I missed one and still had a grape left when the 12 bongs had finished.  Better luck this year maybe.

If this is the last post of 2012,  then Happy New Year to one and all and may next year be good  for us all.

And if it's not the last post - well, see you soon!