On Tuesday Christmas Eve Day, it started to snow shortly after I got up around 6AM. I got stoves going and the post up. By then it had stopped snowing so I went out and swept the walkways and steps. My helper friend would be here at 9:30AM.
I got everything ready for his errands and got a shower. Then I started cleaning up the kitchen. I had a small amount of cooking to do.
After snowing, before sunrise on Christmas Eve
I got my helper friend sent off on the errands and set some eggs to hard boil.
Christmas cactus still flowering
Then I collected the things I’d need to make the first recipe. I was waiting on him to return with 1 of the ingredients, so I sat down and read one of the Christmas books I’d gotten from the Senior center. I had to set the eggs to cool before I could use them in another recipe.
He was back shortly and I made this recipe.
I got the nuts and cranberries chopped and added my dried chives. I used a “Mexican” mix of soft grated cheeses as I didn’t have cheddar. It was easy to roll in saran wrap and set in the fridge to harden up.
Next I started on the chocolate pudding. Following how I’d seen it done on videos, I put the eggs into the blender whole, added the sugar and cacao, forgetting the liquid. It wouldn’t blend up much, so I started adding cream. Still wouldn’t mix much, so I added a good amount of coconut milk. It finally started blending, but a lot was sticking to the sides, so I had to scrape it off to get it to mix in.
I think my old blender, while a good one, isn’t as strong as the ones in the videos. So I will add liquid first, cut the eggs in half, and then slowly add the cacao powder. Once that’s incorporated, add the sugar and vanilla.
I also didn’t measure the cacao or salt and I should have. It was VERY chocolatey and a tad salty. But it was absolutely smooth like you’d expect of pudding and no trace of egginess. So it’s definitely a win.
My helper friend got the house plants watered before he left to go do his Christmas things.
I sat down and watched a Christmas movie before getting ready to go to my friends’ house for Christmas Eve. She was late picking me up, had the day off and had gotten immersed in the music on the computer and lost track of time.
My contractor does 2 trees at his house each year, one on the breezeway and one inside. The breezeway one is pretty cool, with the best ornaments and an extensive tableau under it. That includes a waterway with a working waterwheel for the little mill.
Each year, I try to find things I hadn’t seen the year before. There’s so much cool stuff it will take many more years to see it all. This year I was attracted to the front left corner of the tableau with the oxen, fish, and lobsters.
He has painted the ceiling out there and he hangs stars and other things. This star caught my eye. It slow spun in the drafts and was hard to get a clear photo of it.
Next I moved on to see the inside tree. It also has a tableau under it, made with mirrors and small animals. You can almost see it in the photo.
Soon after we got there, my friend’s son and his family arrived. They are four older kids, the youngest age 16, and personable and delightful in their story telling and affection for each other.
We all sat down to a magnificent roast beef dinner cooked by the contractor with the very best Yorkshire pudding, mushrooms, mashed potatoes, peas, and soft rolls. Dessert was a choice of ice creams: vanilla, chocolate, peppermint stick. I chose peppermint stick.
Once the ice cream was done, we opened presents. I received bayberry candles from my friend and an antique table runner for the sofa table. From the contractor, I got fire starter gel for the wood stove, and snowflakes to stick to my mirrors and windows for the winter.
We visited and told stories until after 10PM. I was sent home with an entire pan of Yorkshire pudding. My friend brought me home and stayed to check out my decorations and the Christmas tree. She left about 11:30PM and I finally got to bed after midnight.
I had asked my son to stay up on Christmas morning after he tended the stoves between 5 – 7AM and open stockings and presents before he went to bed. (He sleeps during the day.) Then around 2PM we’d start our meal and eat mid afternoon. So that was to be Christmas Day. It was to be sunny and not quite so cold.