Wilder's Army takes on Wolves...

I love Christmas - all of it - the sights, the sounds and the smells.  Even though it will just be Mum, John, me and the cats we will make it festive and fun.  I will have my Christmas play list at the ready, Christmas Films lined up and Christmas food and drink organised.  Presents will be few - to be fair we none of us really want for anything save health and happiness - but there will be some carefully chosen which I have yet to buy!!!

I am super excited by the gifts which Liselotte brought on Thursday which are the key ingredients to Strong Swedish Mulled Wine - I cannot wait to try this brew.  I cannot think of anything nicer to bring me as a gift than something culinary and something culinary from a completely different corner of the world.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, and by the way the loaf of bread has already been demolished but I reckon I will be finding seeds until the New Year!!

Glogg Extract and Dangerous Raisins sound so exotic and both seem to have had a healthy, or possibly unhealthy, exposure to vodka or aqua-vit that they should probably come with a warning not to inhale too deeply when opening the lids!!!  I will report back and hopefully it will be positive.  

Food preparations for Christmas will come later this month.  It is 1st December so for now I need to concentrate on Mum's arrival for Sunday Lunch.  I had planned to do a roast but as we hadn't ventured out in the rain yesterday had made do with what we had to hand.

It was a slightly better day today weatherwise although rain had been forecast later.  It was bright and warm in the conservatory and Mr Boo was making the most of it.  It is now that I really appreciate the light and the warmth in here - it is such a bonus.  No heat required during the day but once the sun has disappeared over the houses opposite it does get chilly but normally by then we have decamped into the lounge with either the gas fire or the woodburner or, if desperate, both!

I had to be a bit creative with lunch.  I wanted to use some of the kumquats which Lilian brought last week and had some nice chicken breasts from the freezer and the veggies were sorted.  I had a search on the internet and found a recipe for Asian Chicken with Kumquat Sauce which was designed for a whole chicken so I adapted it for my chicken breasts - leaving off the garlic powder as I know Mum isn't keen on garlic.  I made the sauce but decided to add some chicken stock and pass it through a sieve so that is was more like a gravy than a sauce because I thought the roasties would go better with that.

I had made coconut, lime and basil pannacotta for our meal on Thursday but they didn't get eaten so we finished them off today.  Served with a slice of mango and fresh cream and a sprinkling of extra dark chocolate they looked and tasted pretty special.  I don't normally do puddings - it isn't my forte, partly because my childhood sweet tooth has been replaced by a savoury one.

Apologies for the out of focus photograph.  This afternoon, after Mum had gone home, Les came up to watch the afternoon football match between Wolves (Les's team) and Sheffield United.  The Mighty Blades took the lead in the first minute but the game ended in a 1-1 draw with some debate as to whether or not the Wolves goal should have stood which was academic really as it did.  

I did not watch the game but kept my eye on the progress using the app on my phone.  I sat in the conservatory making the most of the light so that I could do a bit of knitting.  Mum had bought me a bag of mixed wool from the charity shop so I was trying out a pattern for a lace scarf which seemed to suit the type of wool she had found.  

It is a bit fiddly because I am a crap knitter but I have a second ball of wool like this one which is in shades of Blue (exactly matching what Mum was wearing today) and if the wool doesn't make her itch I shall have a go at knitting one for her so she can at least keep her neck warm whilst she is staying here!!!  On that subject I shall have to get out the electric blanket for her bed because she does like a warm bed if not a warm bedroom, and on the subject of heating - tonight we had the gas fire to keep us warm whilst we were watching the end of Gold Digger.  I enjoyed the series but was a bit confused by the ending - I reckon it is all set for a second series - too many unanswered questions - I still don't know whether Benjamin was a baddy or just troubled!!