Tuesday 18 January 2022

Christmas Leftovers

I think that all the Christmas Stuff is finally out of the way now! 

There was a stack of linens waiting to be ironed - tablecloths, hand towels, two aprons and a few other bits. These have gone into a carrier bag to go up into the loft. Rosie had taken the little reindeer over to their cottage before covid struck, but he is back now. In 1989, I bought a length of fabric printed with two Christmas aprons, ties and pockets, to cut out and sew up. 

One red with a green pattern, the other green with red. I had the green one, and gave Gillian the red one. Now I have them both, and wore them alternately for preparing festive food. Happy memories of working together in the kitchen...

I spent a couple of afternoons sorting out my cards. Top tip - I do this with my phone beside me. If there is a card with important information inside like "from March, we expect our address to be...." then I take a photo of it. 

I used some card and envelopes already in my Stash, and cut up the 2021 cards with my vintage deckle guillotine. My rule is that pictures must be related to the nativity Story [no santas, snowmen or robins] I had some beautiful pictures. Thank you Eleanor for the one which was printed inside with a dotted line and "cut here to use this as a postcard" I shall do that!

I wanted to make 60 cards but had less than 50 suitable pictures - so I used an angel diecut for the remaining dozen or so. They are in the labelled "cracker" box, along with some gift tags made from "non-Nativity" cards. 

The fridge and freezer were sorted, and leftover turkey meat went into a splendid curry, Bob produced a sag aloo with potatoes and frozen spinach, and I found a recipe for dhal on the BBC Good Food site. This used up some red cabbage, and cauliflower. This made a splendid feast. I usually buy 'basics' mango chupney [Rosie is very fond of this] but as it was Christmas, I splashed out on the M&S one, which was very nice. Top tip - the dhal recipes calls for coconut flakes as a garnish, I did not have any. But I tipped my jar of 'tropical granola' onto a large platter, and picked out lots of the coconut pieces with my teabag tongs. They worked well.

Another Christmas success which is worth a mention- Bob is very fond of Stilton, and said the Lidl one was particularly fine, It is made at the Long Clawson dairy in Leicestershire, and he thought it was excellent value for money.
We loved the Fortnum and Mason Dill & Mustard Sauce too [a gift from Steph and Gaz] - but that was a little more expensive!

So the food is all eaten up, the decorations and linens are put away, and the cards have been recycled. And we sit in our smart green lounge, with much improved lighting all round. The festive season is over, the New Year begun...






17 comments:

  1. I'm so glad to hear that someone else has been doing card making ready for next year. I've been thinking about it and you've given me the spur to start.

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    1. It means that I know it is out of the way, and I can put the box of cards in with the Christmas stuff stored up in the loft.

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  2. Well done on your post-Christmas industry! Sounds great! I love Dhal and a mango chutney is always appreciated! Lime Pickle is my favourite though as it is so zingy!x

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    1. Confession; I have never tried lime pickle. I must do so

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  3. Mr FD was happy to have some stilton - hard to find here in France, and of course, we can no longer "import" it when we go back home. It's his favourite cheese, but I'm not a blue cheese fan. We still have quite a lot of Christmas cake to eat...

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    1. Surely in France he is able to find another cheese almost as good?!

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  4. Your cards look lovely, what a good use of this years cards, and what a brilliant idea to take a photo of any notes, change of address etc as you make your new ones.

    Alan has one piece of tinsel still draped over his hall mirror and I held back from mentioning it until yesterday. It turned out he HAD noticed and was waiting to see how long it took for ME to notice ... I should have kept quiet :-)

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    1. When I was warden of an OAP scheme, one resident always kept just one bauble hanging from his pelmet all year. It was the Scrooge thing "I will keep Christmas in my heart and honour it all year"

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    2. Aww ... now that is nice.

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  5. That's a huge list of accomplishments. I'm particularly in awe of the cards as I usually forget to buy mine and you are making so many! Happy New Year

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    1. If I spend one evening sorting 'suitable pictures' whilst watching TV, then a couple of evenings dedicated to cardmaking, the job doesn't seem so onerous.

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  6. I looked up the recipe you linked to the dhal as I was intrigued that it used up red cabbage and cauliflower. I've eaten dhal all my life, but, I've never tried it this way! I need to widen my horizons, I see. :)

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    1. I've always considered you a dhal expert Bless! Red cabbage is a popular accompaniment to the Christmas Turkey in the UK, so I had half a large one left!

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  7. I turn my Christmas cards into gift tags for the next year. It's similar to what you do but I make them smaller. It's a relaxing activity to do while watching tv.

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    1. It is a relaxing TV activity. And such things keep me awake too - otherwise I fall asleep halfway through an evening programme and wake up and say "Whodunnit?"

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  8. What a good idea to take some coconut flakes from the tropical granola. I love Mango Chutney and we can buy a generic version rather than the really expensive imported one. I do have a recipe for a similar Peach Chutney which could be adapted, if I got around to it.

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  9. I have never made peach, or mango chutney. Perhaps I should try it - sometimes ripe mangoes are sold cheaply on the market

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