A very welcome welcome

There's something about coming home for Christmas that makes the holiday as exciting for a twenty year old as it is for a two year old. Being in a different country in the run-up to Christmas makes it quite hard to feel particularly festive. Without a doubt, I was counting down the days until my flight home, but all the usual signals that it's coming up to Christmas - the first viewing of the Coca-Cola advert, the tree going up, the very first cry of "IT'S CHRISTMAAAAAS!" from Noddy Holder - aren't there. It's surprising how out of the Christmas spirit you can feel without all of these usual indication of "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" being just around the corner.

The week leading up to my return to the UK was characterised by last-minute present buying, tidying up the odds and ends in my fridge so I don't come back to an unpleasant surprise, and a sudden panic that my suitcase would be way, way over the limit (it wasn't, so I can still bring my presents home - always good.). As can be expected after four months away from home, I was really ready to be coming home and seeing my friends and family again; and I think this anticipation was only increased by the prospect of a Christmas dinner - and my first roast since I left home in August - prepared for me by my old housemates. And what a feast it was. Turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, honey roast parsnips, carrots, broccoli, roast potatoes, gravy and, my special request, cranberry sauce - with apple strudel and custard (Ambrosia, of course) to finish.

It was utterly divine and such a welcome "welcome home". My thanks go to Izzy, Emily and Georgia for a indulgent dinner, lovely presents, and a really fantastic welcome back.

Monday is for Mulled Wine and Much too much to eat...

I sort of abandoned this for a bit towards the end of the week, essay deadlines, long days at work and lack of effort has led to an awful lot of food that can just be bunged in the oven from frozen, although I did go to the effort of making my childhood favourite - cinnamon chicken, on Saturday.

Today, however, was a totally different story. Despite having a bit of a wobbly moment at work when I just lost the enthusiasm for being anywhere but home home, the end of the day took a sudden turn for the best and I left cheerful and ready to hit Sainsbury's to get the makings for my first me-made Christmas dinner for myself and Georgia (who had bought some gorgeous festive chocolates from Hotel Chocolat).

This was the result of about an hour's cooking - and a helping hand from Mr. Sainsbury's!

I got a ready-seasoned turkey leg joint, some of the Basic's sage and onion stuffing, parsnips, and some mini-sausages wrapped in bacon, and we had some frozen broccoli, carrots in the freezer and some hefty potatoes for roasting, which meant that the most expensive part of the dinner was actually the mulled wine! The total bill came to just over £9, and with £3.99 of that being the wine, I'd guess that per head the meal came to probably less than £3.

Although it was all delicious, I'm going to be very immodest and say that my roast potatoes were a highlight for me. I parboiled the potatoes, then put them on a shallow roasting tin with some vegetable oil drizzled, a nob or two of real butter (which I think made all the difference) and a couple of shakes of rosemary. I rolled the potatoes around in this, then stuck it in the oven at about 180 degrees for around 45 minutes - 15 minutes in, I added the sausages, then once everything was cooked and crispy, just turned the oven way way down to about 150 degrees, just so that everything stayed warm without cooking it too much. I was so proud that I had Georgia take a picture of me getting my Nigella on:

The turkey was something I was quite nervous about, I'd never cooked a big joint of meat before, and was concerned it wouldn't cook properly and could end in food poisoning for me and Georgia - not exactly the Christmas I'd been hoping for, although it would provide the ideal excuse for the two of us to skive work tomorrow! The instructions said to cook it at 160 for a fan oven for an hour and a quarter, with ten minutes to rest, but after the hour and 15 minutes the juices were still a bit pink, so I put it in for another fifteen or so and left it to rest for about five, and it was really really good. It's also given me more confidence to cook something like that again.

Without much doubt, that was one of the best meals I've cooked, and the most rewarding, because it wasn't just me eating it, and Georgia certainly seemed to enjoy it!

I can't imagine cooking anything that massive in the immediate future, but it's nice to know that when I do decide to, I'll be able to do it justice! Now, what to do with those leftovers...