Fat n Full!

Howdy folks!

I hope that you all had a great Christmas Day! We had a lovely chilled day, just Mr P and myself. We lit the fire, snuggled down, ate, drank, and was (shockingly) in bed by 9.30pm! Just too much excitement (and food) to cope with!

We started the day with some of Bill Granger's baked porridge with mixed berry compot.


Baked porridge - not to be eaten every day as it's made with double cream! Luxury!



Roasties in Goose Fat, covered in semolina

Mr P was very proud of his roast potatoes. They were lovely! Nice and crisp, and plenty left over for making bubble and squeak on Boxing Day!

Mr P's first attempt at making mushroom wellington

And here is a photo of the amazing Mushroom Wellington! I'm very impressed by his first attempt! And it tasted delicious! We finished it off for supper today with the bubble and squeak, served with my mother-in-law's pickled spiced oranges and pickled onions!

Today we spent at home chilling out again. We've got some friends up from Cornwall tomorrow for a few days so I whippd up some homemade bread, have brioche dough in the fridge to do Paul Hollywood's Bricohe Brie (watch this space!), and Nigella Lawson's Christmas glazed ham.... yummy!

We're off on a shopping mission tomorrow, in search of my Christmas Pressie..... an Artisan KitchenAid Mixer! Ohhhh and I've ordered three new cookbooks with some of Christmas money so I will let you know when they arrive and I'll do a review for you!
Cheerio!
Nic xoxox

Preparations for a Pengelly Belly Christmas!

Hip hip hooray! It's holiday time! Yay!

Mr P and I both finished work on Thursday and have been having a couple of lazy preparation days getting ready for the big day tomorrow!
This year we are home alone in Oxfordshire. We had a lovely family Christmas dinner a few weeks back when we went home to Cornwall to see friends and family.

Mr P made some some lovely chocolate brownies last week as a little treat for me. He's starting to get more involved in the kitchen these days which is great! And I have to admit, he actually makes better brownies than me! Crikey! I better hand over my apron!

Ho ho ho! Let it snow!

You can't beat festive brownies!

So, we done the shopping, the housework is complete, the presents are wrapped and all the veg is prepared. Mr P wanted to make the main course for tomorrow. We are having mushroom wellington and we use a Cranks Vegetarian Recipe for this. It's quite simple and very tasty. The bonus is that is makes two wellingtons so you can freeze one for a later date!

Mr P has also whipped up a trifle for tomorrow - with pears, elderflower and apple cordial and jelly! Yay! Though I don't think he will let me sprinkle on 100's and 1000's tomorrow on top of the cream!

We are going to start the day with Bill Granger's Baked porridge which is to die for. We only have it on special occasions because of the cream in it! After brekkie we are heading out for a long winter walk, followed by some homemade soup when we get home. If I am lucky, I might be allowed to open some presents in the afternoon!

Then it is the Mushroom Wellington with all the trimmings: roast potatoes, roast parsnips with honey, celeriac with thyme, carrots, turnip, and sprouts with bacon and chestnuts! Delicious!

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas Day!

Cheerio,

Nic xoxox

Noel Noel Noel Noel.....

Greetings folks!

Are you getting into the festive spirit yet? I'm getting there though I seem to be stacked out with doing the Christmas Chores. I really try to be prepared every year and start early, and then life just gets in the way and I am knocked back by 10 steps, so at the moment I feel that I am running around like a headless chicken!

And I've been busy getting into a tangle and getting glued together by the glue gun in finishing off my 5 Christmas Wreathes which are heading to Cornwall with me this Thursday! Hooray! Mr P and I have a long weekend in Cornwall and an early Christmas Dinner with the family next weekend. I'm also hoping that it will also be my last visit to the wrist consultant after my surgery in January of this year! Can you believe it's almost been a whole year since I had my op!? I can't.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my lovely yarn wreathes. I'm thinking about running a class or two in the village for next year, though you can also make wreathes for any other occasion, they aren't just for Christmas you know! I like that fact that you can stick what you like on them! I've made felt flowers and have utilised buttons from my large stash, and the odd Scrabble letter! Don't worry, I haven't been around the village at night stealing from peoples' Scrabble games!

 

Right-oh! Better get on with finishing the wrapping, writing cards, dealing with the goodies simmering away on the hob and tackling the ironing! No rest for the wicked!

And it's almost time to start the Christmas Spiced Beef!

Cheers for now,

Nic xoxox

A little hidden gem in Oxford

Hello folks,

Apparently it's December! Apparently it's Christmas at the end of the month! How did that happen? I don't know where the year has gone!

I just wanted to let you know about a little hidden gem hidden in Oxford called Oxfork. It is a lovely little cafe that has recently opened down the road from where I work.

We are lucky to go there every other week for our work coffee mornings, and it's a great escape at lunch time as well!

I popped down there today for a spot of lunch and I had the most amazing Eggs Royale (poached eggs, smoked salmon, hollandaise sauce and lovely handmade bread), along with a soya latte and finished off with a slice of the most amazing chocolate cake ever! Ok, I was having a bad day and I just had to have the chocolate cake. I almost went for the almond and earl grey tea cake, but at the end of the day, the chocolate cake won hands down! I've been told that their scrambled eggs are the best in the world and has been described as sunshine on a plate, so next time I pop in for lunch, I must remember to take my camera to take some pictures for you to drool over!

The staff and the chefs at Oxfork are amazing. Everyone is really friendly and always happy to stop and have a chat. I am delighted that they are on my doorstep and I am delighted to carry on supporting them and eating their amazing food!

So, if you are in and around Oxford, catch the number 3 bus up to Magdalen Road and go to Oxfork! Help support small local businesses!

Cheers for now,

Nic xoxox