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

Christmas Holidays at last!

Well, I am officially on Christmas Holidays! Finished work on the 17th December and don't go back to work until the 4th January 2011! Hurrah! So lots of time to dedicate to the kitchen.

I'm currently busy making goodies for Christmas pressies - I can't tell you what they until after the big day as it will spoil the surprise for some people, but I promise to take some pictures. I'm also going to be knocking up a special birthday cake for a special little boy who turns two on Christmas Day, but again, I don't want to go into too much detail... watch this space for photos!

Mr P doesn't finish work until the 23rd so I am enjoying some peace and quiet at home and like I said, really busy in the kitchen. The spiced beef will be cooked on the 22nd December along with Nigella's Christmas Spiced Ham which is one of my favourites. I'm hoping to catch up with some festive sewing on Wednesday whilst the house is filled with the lovely smells from the beef. The beef is looking good, nice and dark... which reminds me that I need to go and give him a turn!

We've decided to spend Christmas day with just the two of us this year, and catching up with the rest of the family on Boxing Day. So this year, I am going veggie and making a Mushroom Wellington for myself and Mr P... not a quorn roast in sight (thank god!).

Sorry it's bit of a "bits n pieces" blog posting today... there is so much to make and do this week before the big day! Hope everyone is well and has been good this year!

Hugs, Nic xoxox