Wednesday 27 December 2017

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.

9 comments:

  1. Quite the feast! And roast reindeer! Now I an craving pudding.

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    1. That pudding was gorgeous. We used some white port in it as well and it really gave it a little boost.

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  2. Crikey Mara .... it sounded like a wonderful day to me and a great success. Well done to you and your sister. I’m going to google Maud pudding and give it a go. It sounds great!

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    1. Apart from the mishaps it was a great success. The food was well liked (looking at the amount left over any way). Everybody left with a full tummy.

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  3. Hari OM
    I have heard of Queen Maud Pudding - but had no idea of its connections! AS to the rest - sounds like you actually managed to have fun among the mishaps and it certainly looked festive!!! Well done you two. YAM xx

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    1. It looked very festive. Even I was impressed I pulled that off.

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  4. Sorry about the leak, cut and power. Glad you were able to keep going. What a feast! Sounds like your Christmas was a big hit. Way to go Mara....

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  5. Wow! What a wonderful feast! We've never had roast reindeer! Ghostwriter says a lot of it reminds her of her Finnish mother-in-law Elsie's holiday dinners.

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    1. According to colleagues reindeer is NOT a Norwegian Christmas dinner. But in the Netherlands game and such is very popular for Christmas dinner and reindeer is quite a Norwegian meat. It is bred by the Sami who roam in Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

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Any weighty (and not so weighty) comments are welcome!