A lovely Christmas...

So this was my second Christmas in the UK. The first one (4 years ago) I spent cat-sitting in a friend's flat in London.  It was very nice. I spent most of the day walking around London (had to, since the Tube is closed Christmas Day). I was alone pretty much the whole time and that was totally fine. I made a lovely roast chicken with all the trimmings watched the Queen's Christmas message on TV, got calls from friends and family and had a really enjoyable, relaxing time.

This year was a little different. This is my first as a UK resident (and the first of who-knows how many Christmases here). J was working until about 9:30PM on Christmas Eve and then came over to my place afterward.  We went out to my local pub to see friends and then brought a bunch of food back to his place. We woke up somewhat early as he wanted to have the big meal around 2:30 or 3 PM (I usually wait until later). Our friend Eddie was coming over so we spent pretty much the entire morning and early afternoon cooking. I got a turkey from a friend's farm - absolutely amazing! It was only about 13 pounds but had plenty of meat on it. We also had smoked salmon with rocket (arugula) and herbed creme fraiche, roasted potatoes, chestnut dressing (J's), cornbread dressing (mine), parsnips, carrots, sautéed brussels spouts, cheese and grapes and sticky toffee pudding. Seeing as J was worried we might starve he also made (I am not joking...) ... a ham.

J and I exchanged presents when we took a break from cooking; I had not done that with someone in a while; it felt great. I loved all my pressies and he loved his. Among other things, I got him a really nice v-neck jumper (sweater) in a beautiful blue that almost perfectly matches his eyes. He is particular about clothes but he loved it; perfect size, he looks great in it and he wore it all day - that made me very happy. He got me (among other things) a lovely big comfy jumper and a digital picture frame, something I had thought about getting but he beat me to it :).

So we ate, watched this year's Queen's message, ate some more, watched the Doctor Who Christmas special as well as the new Wallace and Gromit short, A Matter of Loaf and Death.

J had to work this morning (at 7:30!). I slept in a little, started a fire (in the fireplace, not by accident!!) and just finished cleaning the kitchen. He has to work a few days next week then we are off on January 2nd for a long weekend in London. He has never been so will be fun exploring it with him.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and wish you all peace and love in the new year!

Great Balls of Yumminess

Oh get your mind out of the gutter!

I was in The Netherlands last week for work. I’ll post more later, but I wanted to post some VERY important information. If you find yourself anywhere near the Netherlands this is vital information.

I was staying in a city called 's-Hertogenbosch (yes you read that correctly – it means ‘The Duke’s Forest’). It is called Den Bosch by most everyone. It has a few claims to fame (besides its name). First, it is the birthplace of the painter, Hieronymus Bosch. More importantly (to me at least!) is that it is famous for a particular dessert, Bossche Bollen, The are giant (think softball sized!) spheres of choux pastry (think the stuff used for éclairs and profiteroles) filled with amazing whipped cream and covered in chocolate. Yummy? Oh.MY.God. The pictures do not do them justice! (I assume that the reason people in The Netherlands stay so trim in spite of these delicious treats is all that bicycling!)

As usual, click the picture for a larger version.

These two taken with my mobile phone so not great quality. But just imagine...



The Bollen in the window of the bakery in Den Bosch (Jan de Groot - FYI, linked page is in Dutch):


One of the people who I met got us Bollen from his local bakery (in a nearby town):