So how was yours?

I am very happy to report that I've had one of the most peaceful and happy Christmas for a few years.. Perhaps it's the fact that I had more than one day off work, perhaps it's because I felt more grown up by not only buying most of the ingredients with my own money - I didn't feel as useless when we totalled up at the end of the few days like I normally do. Because Q still hasn't got a job and well, I got paid just before Crimbo, YKL and I decided to cover the cost of Crimbo this year between ourselves. Of course, YKL earns about 3 times what I earn, so she felt a bit bad about splitting the cost equally between us both.

Sushi on Crimbo Eve was a complete success. I've gotten Kiu addicted to Endamame beans. As you can see from the photo, it was DEE-LISH. Even YKL admitted that it was a lot better than any supermarket sushi. If anyone were to question buying sushi from a place like Yo Sushi rather than supermarket sushi, my reply is thus: I used to think that sushi from places like Boots or Tesco were great. But in recent years, I've noticed that the rice is generally quite dry and hard. Add to this the the sushi from Yo! is freshly made to order (or at least that morning) so not only is the fish guaranteed to be fresh - The rice is too. So you've got nice fluffy and soft rice - As it should be. And a sushi set is only a quid or two more than a nigiri set from M+S.

All the food went well this year. We decided to have the steamboat on Crimbo Night instead of Boxing Night because we were simply too full from the protein-fest that was our champagne breakfast. That turned out really well because it meant we had a really light and healthy dinner instead. I'm tempted to suggest we have one every year given how successful it was!

Wendy, Ray and the girls came up on Boxing Night which was also worked out well because it meant that I could put the loin of pork to roast for them too. That also turned out really well and although I was a bit daunted at the prospect of cooking for Wendy and her family (Wendy is a BRILLIANT cook so, Ray and the girls have quite high standards of cooking and food), they all loved the food and genuinely enjoyed it. Of course, after cooking for nearly 3 hours, I had completely lost my appetite (plus I worried that there wasn't enough veg given how there were now 8 people instead of 4). So I just drunk some wine instead whilst they all ate. I was full enough from seeing everyone enjoy my cooking - Especially Wendy and her family. That gave me the most satisfaction of all :)