Christmas holiday part two

Christmas Eve started early for us. Several things needed to be made today: the oxtail soup, Yamini's pumpkin soup and a Queen Maud Pudding. So, we peeled and chopped, whipped and mixed and were quite busy all day. Of course no photos were taken during that period, but believe me: there was a fair bit of food at the end of it and the fridge was absolutely jam packed! We didn't have enough room in it to hold two large pans of soup, so those were put in the cellar. 

At the end of the day we decided to get ready for dinner the following day by rearranging the living room furniture. Normally the computer resides on the dinner table, so a solution had to be found. We wanted to put the table in the center of the room, but that is where the sofa stands. So, we had to push the sofa to the cupboard behind it (after first taking out all we might need: crockery, glassware and cutlery), clear the dining table and move that towards the center of the room. 

Then started the task of setting the table. First the table cloth I had made earlier this year. Then the plates, cutlery and glasses. Gera folded the napkins so it looked even better and finally the menus were placed on each plate as well. 

Christmas Day began even earlier than Christmas Eve had started. I was not nervous as such, but I was not relaxed either. We taped the list of things to do on one of the kitchen cabinets and off we went: the apple salad was made, the meatballs for the oxtail soup were rolled, the red wine sauce was boiled down. More peeling and chopping. We put sauces and creams in small jugs and pots. More rearranging of furniture.

And then the mishaps started. 

Since there was nowhere near enough room in the fridge for even a single bottle of wine, we had bought some ice cubes and were going to use a bucket. Fill the bucket with ice and bottles and a bit of cold water and hey presto. Until the bucket sprang a leak and the kitchen was nearly flooded! Fortunately I have a double sink, so one of them was used instead. 

Then I needed to put something in the dishwasher and accidentily touched a small knife. Which was sharp. I drew blood. Plasters were needed. By this time the ff-team started to arrive as well. They were plied with drink and sat down to solve a cryptic anagram bible quiz. In the mean time Gera and I continued in the kitchen. The main roast (reindeer) was put in the oven to cook and soon we needed to get the soups going. My mother helped with the oxtail though, so it tasted even better. 

Dinner was ready!

The soups were served and my father even liked the pumpkin soup (result thanks to Yamini). By this time the potatoes were boiling, the sprouts were on the go and the oven was on with the roast in. We took out the roast (to rest) and put in something else. The dirty plates went into the dishwasher and as we headed back into the living room to say it would take a few more minutes than originally planned...

The power went!

Oh no!! The cooker had been going all day and now the dishwasher as well. It was too much for the system and we had to have a forced break. Since I was the only one home, I had to solve it. With a flashlight I made my way upstairs, to find that it was indeed my kitchen that caused the problem. But the fuse box was on the warm side, so we needed to wait a bit for it to cool again before we were able to put the power back on. Fortunately the roast was done and so were the sauces and the apple salad. 

After about twenty minutes I turned the power back on (Gera had turned the dishwasher off) and we cooked the rest of our dinner. And even though it didn't come all at once, it wasn't too bad either. And there was certainly plenty of everything. But with six people around the table, most of it was gone by the time we were done eating. 

There was one pudding left over
Gera and I really enjoyed it on Boxing Day!

After clearing the table and waiting a while, we brought out dessert: Queen Maud Pudding*. Large portions, but very very very nice. By then however everybody was stuffed, so our final course never got its outing: the cheese platter. They did get to take it home with them though (with some left over roast, oxtail soup and several bottles of wine). It was a good day, despite the mishaps.

*Queen Maud was the wife of the first king of an independent Norway (back in 1906) and when she came on a visit to Haugesund she was served a dessert that she liked very much. It was then renamed Dronning (queen) Maud pudding in honour of her.