Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Happy Last Sunday of 2018!

Does anyone else find the week between Christmas and New Year’s really weird? I honestly don’t know what I am supposed to do with myself during this time. The festive feeling still lingers but it’s no longer appropriate to say ‘Merry Christmas’ or sing carols. A lot of people also go back to work but that doesn’t feel right since it was just Christmas. I feel like there should some sort of midweek holiday just to keep us more occupied (and on holiday for longer!).

Buffet of Champions!

Anyways, I digress. This post is all about Christmas day in the Abayomi household and boy, was it a day! We started off pretty strong. Mum and Dad had breakfast sorted before a lot of us woke up. I was greeted with freshly baked pain au chocolat alongside my morning cuppa and I’ve never loved two people more than I did in that moment. All I had to do was get my Christmas Sangria ready and announce food was served. This Christmas Sangria was my last attempt at getting a festive cocktail that didn’t taste… horrible. I mentioned in the last post that I had some cocktail drama but this version tasted not horrible. I would go as far to say it tasted really good! It was basically some mulled grape juice that I chilled and finished with fresh clementines and pomegranate juice. The result was a festive sangria that went really well as a breakfast drink. The only downside was that I didn’t make enough so I kept telling my brothers it wasn’t to their taste so I could have more.

Don’t judge me – I sense you judging me.

We then opened presents and I got a bit emotional at my presents from my mum. There were two cookbooks that I really wanted but I couldn’t afford them but my wonderful mumma got them for me. I am now the proud owner of the Sourdough School by Vanessa Kimbell & Let’s Preserve It by Beryl Wood. I have really gotten into the idea of fermenting these past few months – mainly due to my obsession with It’s Alive on Bon Appetit’s YouTube channel – and the art of sourdough really caught my interest. I’ve already read the whole book thing (quick reader!) so hopefully I’ll get some sourdough boules baked by mid to late January. Keep an eye on my Insta (@iwe_ounje) to see how I get on. After presents – about 11.30 – I planned to get the turkey in the oven. Unfortunately… I forgot.

Don’t judge me – I sense you judging me.

Why mess with the classics?

In my defence, my beautiful baby cousins came to visit and they were really energetic and I wanted to play with the little cuties. I also slept very little as I kept going over the dinner schedule in my head whilst in bed. Essentially, the lights were on but nobody was home. The result was a stark realisation at 12.45 that the turkey needed cooking and after a quick panic everything was pretty smooth. Late (like really late) but smooth. For Christmas dinner we had:

• Roast turkey coated in a thyme, garlic, lemon chilli butter
• Rosemary roast potatoes
• Homemade gluten free sage and onion stuffing
• Cumin roasted carrots
• Pan fried shredded brussels sprouts with chilli flakes
• Yorkshire puddings (courtesy of Aunt Bessie)

I wouldn’t say everything was made to perfection but it didn’t matter. The most important thing was everyone really enjoyed it. Food (and the cooking of it) is meant to be enjoyed so who cares if your carrots look a tad anaemic?!

This was the fudgiest brownie ever!

We all zonked out after dinner so dessert wasn’t served until 9pm. Thankfully, everything was made the night before so it was just a matter of slicing and serving. The kids and the grown-ups have different tastes in desserts so I made two. First, were Triple Chocolate Brownies where the base recipe came from Jamie Oliver’s Comfort Food. The brownies were meant to be served with vanilla ice-cream but the kids just wanted ice-cream and chocolate chips. Kids, hey? Second, was a gluten free ginger cake and homemade sticky toffee sauce. The cake sank pretty bad but I’m still getting my head around gluten free bakes and honesty no-one cares once it’s drowned in custard.

Overall, Christmas was pretty good. We laughed, we sang and thanked God for another year to celebrate. The presents and food were nice but we were happy we could spend another Christmas with each other. Very soppy, I know but this weird week before New Year makes me very reflective.

Next Sunday will be 2019 but as I start my new job this week (goodbye freedom; hello taxes) I shall not be posting next week. I need a few days to figure out when I can squeeze in bakes and honestly just get settled. So I’ll see you in 2 weeks but from my family to yours…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!