Breakfast!

Not a meal I cook much, normally, what with one thing and another. But the kids requested French Toast for breakfast on Christmas, so it seemed like a good day to do a cooked breakfast... Yum. 

Christmas Eve Party

Our good friends in the road always have a Christmas Eve party*, partly because they used to have people over for drinks anyway, and partly because 14 years ago, their younger child was born on Christmas Eve, so we made some nibbles and headed on over - always a nice way to fill a few hours while waiting for all that Christmas to happen. Particularly useful when there were smaller kids to keep busy.  These are prosciutto and celeriac parcels. 

Smoked salmon and watercress pinwheels. 

Vegetable Spring Rolls - courtesy of Mr Wait and Mr Rose...

*Some exceptions include the year Lana was in hospital having a baby, the two years they lived in India (though other people in our road hosted the parties those years instead) and one year when they went to South America over Christmas, so had the Christmas Eve Party on 15th December...

Christmas Eve Breakfast...

... was the last of the bacon from the lovely butcher in Skipton, which we bought in quantity when we were up in Yorkshire this summer - been saving it for special occasions!  Mmm...

Christmas in London Town

Our annual pilgrimage up to London to see the lights and windows - usually we go up to Harrods, have a look around there, and then make our way over to Oxford Street, and along to wherever. This year, we did it the other way around - which was a little odd, but actually worked perfectly as we needed to end up in Covent Garden, so were easily able to take the tube back there after making our way to Harrods at the end of the afternoon.  Here are the lights in Oxford Street - near John Lewis. 

John Lewis' windows were full of penguins, to tie in with their Christmas ad campaign.

Selfridges windows were full of fairytale woodland creatures and lots of bling - 

I particularly enjoyed this Rumplestiltskin themed window.

Harrods' windows were full of mice and mouse houses

as well as some larger creatures.

And here's a lovely stag in Covent Garden, plus a view down the river as we walked back to Waterloo on a rather mild December evening, after a concert in Covent Garden.

Festive baking!

Today was the day for the annual Christmas bake fest. These days, it's a lot more relaxed than it used to be as all three kids can help, two of them with little or no supervision. Which means that I don't have to make everything, or even take part in making everything. It worked really well today, actually, as whoever was around wanting to do something just did whatever the next thing was... In fact, we also got all the rest of the presents wrapped, as well! Here are some plates of cookies ready to go to neighbours for Christmas treats. Yum!

Here are some peppermint creams and some florentines. 

These are Merry Christmas cookies - i.e. a rather plain sugar cookie, which is lemon flavoured - nice addition to all the really rich stuff.

Butterhorn cookies - a firm family tradition - these were my dad's favourite. 

Jam thumbprints, which we always run out of first - we really ought to make a double batch in the firstplace!

Rice krispie treats - Alex made these pretty much all by himself this year.

Fruity Christmas Biscotti,

Fudge Meltaways (nothing to do with fudge - no idea why they are called that!)

Jan Hagel - these are kind of like a shortbread with a bit of egg white and chopped nuts. 

And finally, chocolate, peanut-butter no bake squares (though they aren't square as I can't cut straight through them - they are very thick!). 

Dinner, 20/12/14: Vegetable Paella (with Prawns)

We had guests for lunch -- my brother-in-law and sister-in-law -- and I was so busy talking and whatnot that I totally forgot to take photos of lunch. Luckily, we've had this dish before, although this time I added some prawns to it as well. So imagine this, in a different pan, with prawns. Otherwise, pretty much the same. Tasty.  The recipe for the vegetable paella is here, online. 

And we had this for dessert - looked kind of like this, only a little more messy!

Dinner, 17/12/14: Roast Haddock Supper

The girls were both out, at a concert at school, so we took advantage of that to have some fish for supper. The girls like fish, but they aren't fanatics about it like Alex is... and sometimes it's hard to cook fish for larger numbers of people. This dish, however, would work well for a larger group - and it was very, very easy to do. 

Dinner, 16/12/14: Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Made from the leftovers of the chicken and vegetable pot roast we had on Sunday (which didn't get photographed, because Olivia and I were out - it was done (mostly) in the slow cooker, and apparently, was tasty. Though I was out, so I didn't get any until this soup - which was great, and very easy, due to having been mostly cooked before, though I did chop up the veg into smaller pieces...)

Ice Skating at Hampton Court

Most years, the Guide unit which Sarah and Olivia are involved with (as Young Leaders, these days) goes ice skating at Hampton Court Palace for their Christmas activity. The palace is always lit up nicely in coloured lights...

This year, Alex went along as well as the girls.

Here come Sarah and her friend Rosie (ignore the guy on the left; not sure who he is)

...and here they are standing still - with Olivia behind them making peace signs, in the helpful manner of a younger sister...

Alex doesn't look happy here, but I think he's just concentrating hard on not falling down!

Dinner, 15/12/14: Pasta with Brussels sprouts and pancetta

A new recipe to us, and one which seemed quite seasonal (what with sprouts being a Christmas food in the UK, and not eaten much through the rest of the year, even when in season in the autumn and winter).  Verdict: excellent. Sprout flavour not too strong, really nice texture contrast, maybe could use a little more pancetta or use bacon so the pieces were a little more substantial. Didn't use orichiette, as the supermarket didn't have any. Close enough!

Christmas Decoration Time

Dinner, 13/12/14: Homemade Pizza Night

This is mine - pepperoni/salami, artichoke hearts, black olives, jalapeno peppers, cheese. I think that was it - other pizzas came in other combinations of course. But I only photographed mine...

Dinner, 12/12/14: Tikka Salmon

We were so hungry for dinner (and busy with one thing and another) that I actually forgot to take a photo of this curry - luckily, we have had it before, so I just reused an old one. I actually cut the courgettes (and salmon) a bit smaller this time around, more bite sized pieces, but honestly it looked pretty much the same - and of course was very yummy.