yule have a good time

I was in such agonies choosing only two pictures to illustrate Christmas. I have so many of the lunch itself, over the years, that I thought I would make a break and show the behind-the-scenes; after all, we spend so much more time on the lead up and preparation than the actual meal itself!

So here is the cranberry sauce in process, with peeled, prepared vegetables - and the hot ham lunch to reward us after.

This year the storms meant we skipped some last minute shopping in favour of staying dry and off the road. We walked to the village to scour pre-apocalyptic shelves bereft of goods and managed to salvage our smoked salmon on Christmas Eve tradition, and also found the last bag of prunes for our lovely, lovely devils on horseback (pre-lunch, Christmas Day).  This year Ma called them 'devils-on-donkeys' which, unfortunately, stuck.

Some things had to be jettisoned though, so instead of using orange juice and zest in the cranberry sauce, I slugged in some sloe gin, and would do it again next year.

Cooking the ham on Christmas Eve is a practical move, so it is ready for next day's lunch - and saves space in the oven the next day. More, though, it is such a lovely simple meal to have when most other meals are rich or erratic or just not part of a usual routine. My Mother is always the Christmas cook; although I learnt from her I sometimes forget how very simply she can cook - and how surprisingly tasty this is. This year the ham was roasted, very plain, and served just with boiled potatoes and white cabbage.  The intense saltiness of the meat provided all the flavour the dish needed. 

The ends of the joint were sticky with almost burnt fat, and when no one was looking I pulled at the fat and ate it up.