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Christmas Day

December 26, 2008 9 Comments Filed Under: Christmas, Uncategorized

First year with my Aga.

Peeled, topped and tailed carrots, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Parboil. 
Slice red onions.
Put carrots, sweet potatoes in one tray, added olive oil, cinnamon and maple syrup.
Put potatoes, parsnips and red onion in another tray. Add garlic, olive oil, a tin of tomatoes, salt, bay leaves.
I put the two trays in the baking oven along with a gratin dauphinoise for my teenager.
Then myself, sister-woman and my teenager got dressed up and went to the pub(1) The Black Lion on Kilburn High Road. It is a beautiful Victorian pub, all gilt embossed ceilings and etched glass. It also has bed and breakfast like the taverns of yore. 
They were open for Christmas day, for lunch. They have been booked out for two months. Kindly they gave my sister and I free glasses of Cava, even though we were not eating lunch. 
Then we moved onto Brondesage, a chavvy sports bar normally populated by Eastern Europeans, where I had an amusing evening a couple of months ago with a fellow blogger who claims to be gay. (At the bar, on that occasion, I met a beautiful gay man and introduced him to the blogger. The gay man flirted outrageously with the blogger who suddenly looked rather nervous. After each snog, the gay man would whisper to me confidentially “NOT gay”.)
Today my sister and I knocked back a couple of shots of Jagermeister liqueur, which is dark brown, sweet and slightly medicinal tasting. I noticed on the menu they had veggie burger with bacon and cheese topping. Slightly defeats the object does it not?
I talked to the bar staff who were still only being paid minimum wage despite working on Christmas day.
Sister-woman, teenager and I staggered home. The dinner was cooked. 
So drunk my kidneys hurt, I then fucked up the pavlova I intended to make, by putting in the yolks too. I wondered why it took so long to stiffen.
So I had to turn it into a cherry clafoutis. Which was a bit crap. “A kind of cherry omelette” said my sister.

I also did some garlic mushrooms.
Knocked back a bottle of Prosecco.
Living room: movies, snoring on sofa. I dimly hear the noise my phone makes when it receives texts. I awoke and realise my sister has been texting my friends with dirty messages, saying stuff like “I want your hairy flaps”. I then had to text them all to explain that it wasn’t me.
(1) Going to the pub on Christmas Day was an experiment. A friend from Liverpool told me that up North, they all go to the pub on Christmas Day. As we were few we thought it would make things feel jollier. Trouble is, most pubs in London are not open.

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Comments

  1. Anonymous

    December 26, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    Hello… am going to experiment with posting on this blog MS TECC…. shame about the Pavlova…. but everything else sounds really delicious…. I didn’t receive a salicious txt from your phone…. just to confirm ….
    much love, see you soon

    xcx

    Reply
  2. Canal Explorer

    December 28, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    Cheeky sister. Thought she was your drunken side coming out.

    Reply
  3. Lizzie

    December 29, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    HA! That’s brilliant. Nothing worse than having to wake up hungover and do the shameful ring around to apologise…

    Reply
  4. marmitelover

    December 29, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Anonymous, expect filty text soon!
    Canal Explorer: yes she is cheeky, also did you see my Twitter feed? She logged onto this dating site in my name and harassed all these men by IM.
    Lizzie: I know…all part of Christmas though really…rows and dinners.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous

    January 4, 2009 at 11:37 pm

    Ah! The Black Lion was my local for years. Lovely pub. Rows & dinners = xmas 🙂

    Niamh

    Reply
  6. Mainframeguy

    January 9, 2009 at 4:12 am

    I used to be on first name terms with the landlord at the Black Lion – he went on from there to open others down the High Road if it is the same one. Never had much magic for me though (I got beaten up by a mad Irishman there). There is a tradition about anywhere (I thought in London too, but maybe it is slipping) that on Christmas Day regulars pop in and it is the one day of the year when the landlord has the discretion to buy you a drink. You do have to be a regular though!

    This year I cooked dinner for seventy. Portion control was tight, but my stuffing was decent and the butternut squash and carrot roast really managed to set off the sprouts to advantage.

    Of course yours is far more gastronomique – but then I suspect you were catering for less than seventy!

    Reply
  7. Mainframeguy

    January 9, 2009 at 4:13 am

    PS – who is this mysterious anonymous and filthy txt recipient? Has your love life taken an unexpected turn?

    (feel free to delete this comment if you wish)

    Reply
  8. Mainframeguy

    January 9, 2009 at 4:14 am

    PPS DO delete this comment! Along with two of the tripilicates from Naomi!

    Reply
  9. marmitelover

    January 9, 2009 at 8:16 am

    My sister texted female friends.. no men thank god.

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot eggs, cheeseboard, stracciatella & cucumber, tomato/strawberry/peashoot salad with real balsamic & spruce oil, home cured dill gravlax, smoked salmon, homemade sourdough crisp bread, potato salad with wild fennel & lots more! #supperclub #midsummer #eattherainbow (miss you @linnsoederstroem)
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My first supperclub in two years will take place t My first supperclub in two years will take place this Saturday 18th June starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are £50 byo you can book here: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsommar-supper-club there are still a few places left. Pescetarian menu. Scandi and botanical influences. #gettingbackonmyfeet #postpandemic #smallbusinesses #supperclub #london
I recently completed the 3 day @heathostile train I recently completed the 3 day  @heathostile training course. On the last day I was kidnapped by ex-special forces for a few hours & learnt how to deal with compliance training & a hostile environment. It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. 3 intense days of combat first aid, navigation & how to survive in a war zone. I handled short, long guns, mortars, grenades, bullets, and tourniquet & bandaged an amputee. I learnt where to sit in a car, where to hide from a bullet, where to protect myself if in a car. It was brilliant. Highly recommended for any journalists, photographers, cameramen, charity workers, paramedics going into any difficult environment say a disaster or war. The stories from the tutors & the other participants were so interesting. My piece on it out soon. Book a course: https://hostile-environment.co.uk/  They also do jungle & desert training. I’d love to join the Antarctic expedition. Anyway that’s me hooded in the front. #adventures #het #hostileenvironmenttraining #experiences #travel
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I’ve taken down the previous post as it’s poor I’ve taken down the previous post as it’s poor timing considering what’s happened over the last 24 hours. Being British I’ve not grown up around guns. It’s interesting to be on this course and find out more about the reality of them, although my focus is learning the ‘golden triangle’ of first aid, communications and navigation. But at the same time It’s depressing how in America nothing will ever change regarding gun law. RIP.
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