Christmas is coming!

So, Christmas is almost here... What have you done about it??

I'm ill and that's my excuse- my turkey and goose haven't been ordered, I still haven't made a Christmas pudding, I can't remember what else needs to be done.... But I refuse to be disheartened! I have to keep in mind what has been done and what is important. I've got my gorgeous family and some lovely friends staying for the holidays, I'm sure we'll all survive and have a good laugh along the way. Stress is hardly going to make the holiday fun and memorable! But I thought, while I'm a bit laid up on the couch with DD2 asleep on my lap (we're both unwell), I could tap away and gather my thoughts for the onslaught that lies before me.

Christmas Eve dinner will be at my house with Russian friends. This means that I'll be providing the meat (goose and possibly turkey) and potatoes (roasted) and various trimmings that will be gotten ready while the kids attend a Christingle service. This Scandinavian tradition is based on the symbolism of an orange (the world), circled by red tape or string (Jesus' blood) with sweeties on toothpicks poked in around the circumference (the good things in life) while in the top a hole holds a candle (the light of God). All the children come to the altar and light their candles, then stand together to sing the final hymn. Of course, one year- just after the hymn- the lovely Catholic Father got up and was about to start his blessing (the Anglican and Catholic churches combine for this event) when a thick Irish brogue loudly interrupted with "Jeezus Christ!!" and a mum leaped up to put out her daughter's sweater which had accidentally been set on fire by her little brother. We all were shaking with laughter and poor Father had a very hard time finishing the benediction...

On Christmas day, I'll make stollen for breakfast- as my father always has done. Its a taste that, since we only have it at this time of year, reminds me of those snowy winters growing up, sitting around the big fireplace and my grandparents and opening our stockings. Really very Norman Rockwell! Of course, these days, I can buy stollen or a Bolo do Rei (the Portugese version which is baked with a bean inside for a wish and a small figurine for the king or queen of the day) from the shops, but the homemade ones are still the best. DD1 wants bacon and eggs as well, must remember...

Christmas morning back with my family would include a party at my Aunt's house complete with Bloody Marys and rummy eggnog. Followed by pretended sobriety with the other side of the family who are teetotal- occasionally a difficult feat as the Bloody Marys are particularly potent! Here, I plan to open a bottle of cremant for mimosas (aka Buck's Fizz). Then we'll head to the other side of town and celebrate in Texan style- I'm still waiting to hear what I should bring!

Boxing Day will bring our Bridget Jones Turkey Curry party and the real reason I want to have both turkey and goose. Then we can have goose biryani- recipe from Jamie Oliver's magazine this month- and turkey curry. We'll also have some cold sliced meat and paté, chutney and pickles, salads, trifle, cookies, and probably the infamous Moro bitter chocolate, coffee and cardamom mousse. Everyone is expected to wear the ugliest sweater they own- although one friend has asked if she can wear huge pants instead- and DH will be getting a rather good one from me for his Christmas present! Sadly, I'm too cheap to have bought the truly unbelievably ugly one available on ebay, but I got a retro reindeer one that he, hopefully, can wear for skiing as well.

We have a few days of respite after this, but then we will be having a small group of friends for our New Years Hogmanay party. The Scots do New Years right and so we'll give it a go as well- smoked salmon to start, haggis stuffed mushrooms with whisky cream sauce, rib roast with mushroom sauce, stovies, and we'll finish up with my best Clootie Dumpling- a dry fruit pudding mixed with plenty of single malt, boiled in a bag for four hours then dried in the oven. Served warm with pouring cream it is one of the best winter desserts you can have! And of course, the single malt will be liberally poured at the stroke of midnight as well.

So many things to be cooked- and eaten! I do feel proud that I made my Christmas cake at the end of November and we've been generously feeding it every few days- of course, it nearly fell off the top of the cupboard when I was getting down today, the outside has become a bit slippery. I'll hope to keep it intact, else it will become Christmas cake trifle!

When this feat of feasting is complete, I'll be just about ready to return to my less indulgent lifestyle- of course, with Three Kings Day, Burns Night, and Chinese New Year just around the corner, I'll have to have a hard think...

Happy holidays, whichever ones you celebrate!

Fasting and food

And yet another year has passed with hardly any blogging... And it is an interesting moment to restart a food blog as I am currently fasting. But it has made me much more conscious of what I put into my body!

This past weekend, I spent an amazing three days with a group in Sussex, England at the Rasa Retreat created by Lisa Sanfillipo and Das Sreedharan. Lisa is an Anusara yoga teacher- a style of yoga based in the Hatha yoga tradition with a Tantric philosophy (I stole that from the official website!)- which I have been following for a few years. This was a moment of real deepening of my own practice, though, and I am so grateful that I was there. Das is a restaurant owner, philosopher, teacher and genuinely wonderful person. He taught us about traditional Keralan food and his mother's cooking and also about his own philosophy on life, business, and cooking with love. I can't imagine someone more generous than Das...

Lastly, Annie Webb, a holistic therapist, was there. I am always interested in alternative treatments and thought I'd go to her, mostly because I was going through a terrible bout of exhaustion that I couldn't shake. Annie is so cheerful and open and easy to be around that, even when she explained she always uses acupuncture, I felt very comfortable. The amazing thing was that after a few minutes, having not mentioned anything about why I was there, she turned to me and said, "You're must be tired all the time, aren't you?" "Yes!!" I nearly shouted...

How did she know? She had scanned me for energy blocks and then took my pulses (Chinese medical tradition). She felt I had very low energy in my stomach/spleen (and gave me a lot of other info that isn't really to do with the fast) and so when I came home, I decided to begin a fast between 11am and 5pm. This was due to Paul Pitchford's seminal book, Healing with Whole Foods. In this he explains that as each internal organ has a time of day when it regenerates, it needs to not be stressed at this time. The stomach/spleen regenerates between 3-5 in the afternoon so I decided to fast so that my stomach would be empty when the rejuvenation is occurring. Amazingly, I haven't been very hungry and I've had loads of energy!!

I am eating Indian Ayurvedic cooking most evening meals, mostly vegetarian with a little seafood. And this morning for breakfast I made a lovely Indian inspired oatmeal...

Indian oatmeal
1 cup of dry oatmeal (I use porridge oats rather than rolled although the steel cut is best for you!)
2 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, stirring, for about 3-5 minutes, until tender.

Add
a little more cardamom
a teaspoon of rosewater

and serve with
brown sugar or jaggery
coconut milk

I loved this, it was such a calming food to start the day with!