And Ray and John are at work. So they're staying in Oxfordshire and cooking dinner for some of the guys from work.
Incidentally, this is also the only year (Bar the Christmas in Australia) I haven't been to All Saints Church in Didcot for Carols. No Carols this year :(
I'm feeling excited, but maybe not so festive- I've done my best to dress festive- black dress, red belt, green cardigan, giant bejewelled pineapple necklace- Maybe I'll festive up once I collect my Parents from their hotel.
I've text everyone to wish them a merry christmas too- Every year I forget and feel guilty as the texts roll in- but this year I'm on top of my game!
This, by the way- is the cake which took all day yesterday to make-
There are several lessons to be learned here-
1) I should have halved the cake mix as this thing is a MONSTER. I can barely lift it!
2) The "baked filling" is actually patisserie custard without the egg yolk- I guess they don't really eat that in America? It didn't click for me until it started to set- And I realised it wouldn't set properly without the egg.. so that was a bit disastrous. it was very runny- the top of the cake slid off when I was trying to get it to cool in the fridge (whilst praying to the god of set jellies- there is no other deity which can assist under such difficult circumstances)! so next time I'd either just make the custard properly or substitute for whipped cream- which would probably be easier to work with and less distressing.
3) the chocolate icing is AMAZING. I ate an awful lot yesterday. So did Karl- he was chief cake tester. 4 bars of dark (85%) Chocolate, a whole tub of bourneville, a whole cup of black coffee, one entire pat of butter (Melted) and a box if icing sugar- How could this not be delicious?! it's still got a bitter kick to it which I wanted- as the cake is quite sweet- the "Custard" is very sweet and the cherries are sweet with a luxardo aftertaste.
4) The only issue with the icing was that it really needed to set on the cake in the fridge- fine for us as we're eating out today so no turkey in our refrigerator- otherwise I'd probably have cried.
I would do this again, it's worked out pretty well- all the individual parts taste delicious so I'm hoping that the overall effect will be amazing.
I'll keep you posted.
I want to open my presents now, but I think I'll have to wait until after dinner so Traff is home from work. :( Bah humbug.
I know Traff got me a camera, so I'm tempted to open it early so I can use it...
Is that Naughty?
Or should I just use my phone camera today so he can see how delighted I am with it when I open it?
We're off to the Toby carvery for Lunch - at 3pm- and then in the evening we've got some films and "The London Game" to play.
I did buy cheese and crackers to incase we're hungry later.
And proper coffee to perk us up in our post lunch slump!
Just thought I'd add some of our very merry photos from xmas day:
PRESENTS:
This is my Dad modelling my joke present from Randi- she bought everyone really weird malaysian stuff as presents.
We're not sure how to wear this...
Cool wrapping paper from my Nan:
The dinner at the Carvery- I was delighted that I was able to have Gammon, not Turkey, which I think is overrated and a bit gross:
And us at the Carvery:
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