Sat Dec 09, 2006 2:08 pm
Christmas..
Are you looking forward to it? I am. I unashamedely love Christmas, even though I'm no shade of a Christian. All the preparation, the buying presents, sending cards, getting all the grub in, putting the tree up, taking the wife delivering presents (ok maybe not that part) and best of all, getting the bird in and preparing it and cooking it. I really enjoy cooking Christmas dinner and watching all Mrs Taw's family tuck in and have a good time, it makes me feel very happy. Often i just sit in the kitchen and let them have a good time while i watch over the oven.
We're having goose again this year, we had it a couple of years ago and I'd never cooked goose before, and it was delicious, so much better than those dry boring turkeys then you end up throwing loads away from. We had turkey again last year and it was really dull, so we plumped for a nice fat goose again this time. It's not that hard to cook as long as you put something in to soak up the grease, like potatoes, and make sure you cook it overnight, very slowly on a low heat, with a big pan to catch the fat (and there's a lot of it) But the fat is superb for making roast potatoes with, and the juices make a truly delicious gravy.
I've even been known to turn up at church on Christmas Eve, simply because I enjoy the festivities so much; although i don't actually join in, it's quite delightful to listen to the carols and to see people actually having a good time and being pleasant to each other for once. When I was a kid Christmas was a dreadful chore, as my mum and dad used to spend most of it slagging each other off or being unpleasant about their relatives or neighbours, and church was a dreadful ego competition and big performance where they had to show off and try to outdo everyone else. it really put me off the whole Christmas ethos until I had a family of my own and since then I've always tried to make Christmas really special, even though i don't actually believe in it as a religious festival at all, and never really did! But it's a great time of year for family (awful for people who've had family traumas though, my wife's mother's ex-husband's daughter lost her husband in a terrible accident recently and she's going to be alone this Christmas with her little boy who's 3, lovely little soul he is too - she's ever such a nice girl so we've invited her stay with us over Christmas cos her family are horrible, in the main)
I dare say that in a certain upside down country there's a rabbit hole where Christmas is treated as complete humbug by one Esquilexer Scrooge, the meanest bunny in Old Melbourne Town.
We're having goose again this year, we had it a couple of years ago and I'd never cooked goose before, and it was delicious, so much better than those dry boring turkeys then you end up throwing loads away from. We had turkey again last year and it was really dull, so we plumped for a nice fat goose again this time. It's not that hard to cook as long as you put something in to soak up the grease, like potatoes, and make sure you cook it overnight, very slowly on a low heat, with a big pan to catch the fat (and there's a lot of it) But the fat is superb for making roast potatoes with, and the juices make a truly delicious gravy.
I've even been known to turn up at church on Christmas Eve, simply because I enjoy the festivities so much; although i don't actually join in, it's quite delightful to listen to the carols and to see people actually having a good time and being pleasant to each other for once. When I was a kid Christmas was a dreadful chore, as my mum and dad used to spend most of it slagging each other off or being unpleasant about their relatives or neighbours, and church was a dreadful ego competition and big performance where they had to show off and try to outdo everyone else. it really put me off the whole Christmas ethos until I had a family of my own and since then I've always tried to make Christmas really special, even though i don't actually believe in it as a religious festival at all, and never really did! But it's a great time of year for family (awful for people who've had family traumas though, my wife's mother's ex-husband's daughter lost her husband in a terrible accident recently and she's going to be alone this Christmas with her little boy who's 3, lovely little soul he is too - she's ever such a nice girl so we've invited her stay with us over Christmas cos her family are horrible, in the main)
I dare say that in a certain upside down country there's a rabbit hole where Christmas is treated as complete humbug by one Esquilexer Scrooge, the meanest bunny in Old Melbourne Town.
- this is wjhat being chums with the Miser of Melbourne does for you 
