[WeavingGryphon]

A thread for everyone to say how is everyone is doing, not doing or to do list. From festive baking if you are to getting your festive socks in ready to go out if your not and everything in between.

I baked
Lebkuchen- request stipulated no icing, I'll dust with icing sugar, ginger nuts, chocolate chip biscuits (someone doesn't like ginger), mince pies and pumpkin pie (also a request).

I did
Got the assorted meats out of the freezer
Got the lamb marinading

I bought
Extra special Yule log (£6.59 off), cheesecake (reduced 43p)
sprouts (yay  ), parsnips and carrots

I half did
I half boned the leg of lamb. I was only trying to get it to fit into the low cooker so I still achieved what I wanted.

I failed
To buy ice cream or frozen roast potatoes as they are all sold out . I had to buy potatoes and will try it for myself.
To figure out what you do with single cream-no double in the shop.
To wrap anything 

I delivered
Nothing. I need to put giftmas cards into houses and some lebkuchen and ginger biscuits tomorrow.

[mrs bouquet]

Wow, you are a busy lady, that's for sure.    All I have done is bought a packet of 4 jacket potatoes.   Nothing changes in this house    Mrs Bouquet

[WeavingGryphon]

Wow, you are a busy lady, that's for sure.    All I have done is bought a packet of 4 jacket potatoes.   Nothing changes in this house    Mrs Bouquet

Ha, more like you've the right idea.
The local supermarket was heaving with people, you could barely get moved for people doing their entire festive shop! BBC radio Scotland had traffic warnings around supermarkets/ shopping centres and someone called in saying you had to have the charioteer skills from Ben Hur with your trolley to get around a shop, lots of others reported that people were on the point of having a row.

[Plot 1 Problems]

I braved our local food emporium today and it was a bit of a scrum. Luckily, as I'm a biggish bloke and can scowl with the best of them I was largely unimpeded by the masses as I browsed the aisles.
Also luckily I'm on first name terms with most of the staff and one of them very kindly went into the backstores to find me a duck as the shelf was empty and the priority on shelf stocking was on turkey. Glowing email was duly sent to the store manager praising said member of staff!

Despite the waterlogged ground at the plot I managed to dig out a few parsnips this evening (in the dark, much to the amusement of a torch bearing dog walker   )

Tomorrow I'll chop and fry a ton of lardons and I'll also cook the gammon to serve as a cold meat on the big day. I'll also probably peel and chop the potatoes and swede and leave them in cold water overnight to save at least one job.

[al78]

Ha, more like you've the right idea.
The local supermarket was heaving with people, you could barely get moved for people doing their entire festive shop! BBC radio Scotland had traffic warnings around supermarkets/ shopping centres and someone called in saying you had to have the charioteer skills from Ben Hur with your trolley to get around a shop, lots of others reported that people were on the point of having a row.

Same in Horsham. The shops will be closed for A WHOLE DAY, PANIC PANIC PANIC,WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO, WE MIGHT HAVE TO RESORT TO THAT ANCIENT TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS PLANNING. Absolutely pathetic the way people act at this time of year.

[Goosegirl]

Owing to my never-ending procrastinations about having to go into town when I'd rather keep warm by the fire, today I had no choice because I hadn't bought OH's card, my lovely niece's surprise jimjams, and a picture frame for a pic my OH took when we went to the Hebridean Islands. Actually it wasn't too busy at 11 am so got home without being knocked over - ha! 

[mrs bouquet]

I noticed a small supermarket on the edges of town yesterday, which proudly states, that it will be open as usual both Christmas and boxing day -   What will people really need to rush to food shops for on Boxing Day    As for my Darling OH and Christmas cards, we used to give each other a card, save it and then re-use the following year along with the date.   I have had to keep them, they go back to the early nineties.
Boxing Day, is his birthday as well, and I have bought a card which I shall take to the hospice and put it in the Chapel and light a candle.  Mrs B

[Growster...]

One of the busiest shops here is our chemist!

Chatting with the lovely ladies there, it didn't take long to see how hard they have to work to keep up with Christmas prescriptions as well as hundreds of requests for pills and cough medicine!

We're lucky with two smallish supermarkets, a Tesco and a Waitrose. Waitrose's car park was full on both early occasions over the weekend and up to yesterday, so Tesco copped the whole lot this year!

We probably saved a few quid too!

[WeavingGryphon]

Anyone make any mistakes?

I forgot the roast potatoes thanks to the slow cooker being a bit slower off the mark than expected so I put the duck in the oven since raw duck fails to impress or appeal and promptly forgot what when on that oven shelf. There was boiled, mashed and baked potatoes, honey mustard roast parsnips and carrots, sprouts and crusty bread. I also forgot the sausages, but I was told that the duck, lamb and pork was enough.

Santa's reindeer slipped and put it's hoof through a couple of presents. So Santa had to write a letter saying, I'm very sorry I can't deliver these so I'll be back in a few days. Well it's taken a bit longer to arrive than expected so He sent Dunbar the Elf to posses the much cuddled Elf on a Shelf and bring a DVD and book to tide them over.

Total hysterical heartbreak.  Which was not expected.  so more ->
Eldest is distraught at losing the Elf so we're trying to persuade Eldest the invisible spirit of an Elf is living in the toy, not going to run off with it on the 6th of January. Santa was nice and thoughtful to get them something extra each until the original present arrives. So Eldest has wrote Dunbar a note and we'll find out what the possessed spy Elf is going to do. Both love it when Grandma's possessed Elf moves around the place so this was unexpected and upsetting. They loved getting to find out what he does when no one is looking so why is this different. The opportunity to get a sore bit when you sleep on it is obviously appealing to someone. Well we're feeding this one some Yule log tonight and see if we get a reply to Eldest's note.

Summary everyone is upset. Except youngest who is getting extra toys and got chipolata sausages for breakfast 2 extra days.

To be honest I would have loved this, the massive boom and bust of the build up followed all the toys on the one day left me exhausted. So I would have thought having a tired or naughty or mischievous elf sneaking in hiding presents or delivering however many presents it's tiny legs can carry over several days fantastic. We might ask Dunbar the Elf to add presents over several days next year or see if he suggests it himself. Keep the excitement going longer (ta spell checker for changing excitement to excrement).

So that's all our muck ups. Opinions or suggestions welcome, even the your being daft ones.

[New shoot]

It was all pretty on track here , except I forgot to get the pud out of the freezer to defrost.  We were full anyway, so it can do service for New Year 

[mumofstig]

The crackling on the pork was a bit 'well done' to say the least, but the parsnips weren't done enough Lots of other veg, so they weren't missed - neither were the Yorkshires which are still in the freezer 
There's always something not quite right, so I don't worry about it anymore 
The cakes I made for the new 'gluten intolerant' family member were declared 'lovely' by everybody, so that was the highlight for me.

[Goosegirl]

Weaving G, why do we always wear ourselves out by having to buy enough meat and veg that would probably provide enough meals to sustain most of the local community then rush out to the shops to get even more. My cheffie OH has it planned right down to the last detail and is currently making his famous Guinea fowl broth using the stock he made from the bones along with veg, herbs, pearl barley and other secret ingredients. It's then finished off with a good dollop of double cream and eaten with a slice of buttered brown bread and nothing ever gets wasted. Ok, I understand some people don't have the knowledge or skills to do this, but surely there's a simple cookery book that tells you how to use up left-overs.

[Growster...]

Goosey, you may well have started a new section here, over and above the normal cookery spot!

Our JRT is wallowing in the really 'crunchy' bits from a chicken carcass as we speak, but we have all the jollop from the boil-up...

[Goosegirl]

Ah, the carcass bones! When OH finished making his Guinea fowl stock on Sunday he left the bones in a tray to be thrown on the fire later on except they weren't. Yesterday morning I came downstairs into the kitchen to make a brew and found several bones on the floor and knew exactly who the culprit was. That stray tom cat we call Jess has been at it again and it's not as if he doesn't get enough feeding from us!

[WeavingGryphon]

Weaving G, why do we always wear ourselves out by having to buy enough meat and veg that would probably provide enough meals to sustain most of the local community then rush out to the shops to get even more.

Your so accurate and you know my feelings on people not cooking. As well as fears about not teaching our kids to cook.
But to show how I'm not learning we're still eating leftovers and I just took something similar out of the freezer for the next feast day on New years Day. A (small) beef joint, a 1.73Kg chicken and a leg of lamb.
I cooked a similar amount of meat on Christmas Day and this lot are still eating the lamb. There's one massive portion left and that's the leftovers. Edit, just checked, there's enough for a small portion for the the Husband. He's discovered I sliced it and has been grazing. Veg wise I cooked 4x the amount of sprouts needed so maybe I'll learn...

I understand some people don't have the knowledge or skills to do this, but surely there's a simple cookery book that tells you how to use up left-overs.

Where there's a will there's a way, there's blogs and books on left. There's also pages of leftovers recipes on the BBC or BBC good food websites. People can't really cook now from what I've seen, you go out for a walk now about tea time and you hardly ever smell cooking food. Bacon O Clock on Sunday morning is really the only time you do smell food. Husband and I used to play guess the dinner all the time but there's nothing to guess now. One of the neighbours was happily bragging all they ate was 3 for £1 ready meals to the Lollypop lady when she let us across. 

Someone on BBC radio Scotland Christmas bloopers section on Christmas Eve called in to say that someone she knew was distraught last year as there was no meat on the turkey. It was UPSIDE DOWN and she couldn't tell  . How can you not tell what way up a bird is?

The elf seems to have delivered more toys. I wonder if it's all over now?