Oh no! Could Hot Buttered Rum make a stand-in? Mulled Wine? If your store cupboard has coconut cream or milk, how about the Puerto Rican version of egg nog, Coquito? https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/coquito
Sausages. The first thing I really invested in cooking myself. Cooked in butter, from cold, slowly so they didn't split, with a sprig of rosemary. I was such a gourmand!
Sausages, hot or cold, are always a great grazing snack! A chipolata or twain with a glass of sherry (Amontillado or fino, leave the Cream for Granny!) doesn't come amiss, either.
I have so much enjoyed our occasional chats on here! A very Merry Christmas to you and Martin and Kate, all of whom I feel I have come to know; and may 2026 treat you all with generosity and kindness
Your comments have brought much pleasure and useful information. And while I don't know where you live, seeing your name in the Inbox makes me dreadfully homesick for the Isle of Mull. Thank you for all your interventions. Happy First Footing and Christmas.
Thank you! Mull is gorgeous, I once worked a season on a dive boat (cook/deckie!) and we called in there quite often. Currently living on the Moray coast in a wee village near Buckie
God's own country! Unfortunately, I'm no longer fit enough for hillwalking, though I can manage some of the (small) nearby hills, and I still do wild swimming - yes, Moray Firth even in January! Going for a New Year's Day Dook, armed with pea and aspagus soup, a sausage or three and warming cup of hot chocolate (Swedish recipe: dark chocolate, double cream and a healthy slug of dark rum!). I do like beach picnics ...
I'm equally impressed and horrified at swimming in the Moray Firth at any time, let alone in January. All water around and in Scotland is icy all year! Thank you for that Swedish twist on hot chocolate - I'm adopting it.
I must admit, it takes me longer to get dressed and undressed than I spend in the water in the cold months (Jan - Mar; March is when the water is coldest!). I think 4 minutes in 4°C is my record. May onwards it's certainly a bit chilly at first, but as the year progresses, I stay in longer - 45 minutes one day this summer! Glad you like the Swedish Hot chocolate, I was introduced to it by a Swedish crew in Aalborg during the 1997 Tall Ships Race!
Here in the middle of USA we’re to have a 75 degree Christmas! About 25 years ago I said adios to Christmas and recognized my true Pagan self. I cook for the two of us and all of the other (by now) tiresome obligations are no longer mine. Tonight is homemade pizza. Tomorrow, chateaubriand and mushroom sauce. Just finished earlier the coconut cream cake. Hope your feasting table is loaded with jars of Nutella for agile children past. All wonderful things your way and enough sausages for celebrating.
I love the vision of you celebrating Christmas your way! All celebrations have the same goal of recognising our common humanity. If we do it with a pizza and packet of Cheetos but with relish, that has no less respect or value than if we do it with the full turkey feast. Tomorrow my crew will be having lobster after cocktails with Irvin's Egg Salted Fish Skin. Check it out -your 2026 will improve with it's consumption. Happy feasting of all sorts to everyone! Be glad we can.
Frame your mind to mirth and merriment, which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life.
-The Taming of the Shrew, Induction, Sc. 2
Wishing you the banging best!
Bang on! Mirth is the best antidote when we have no other legal instruments in our arsenals.
Well, I forgot the eggnog, and this sounds good. Merry Christmas!
Oh no! Could Hot Buttered Rum make a stand-in? Mulled Wine? If your store cupboard has coconut cream or milk, how about the Puerto Rican version of egg nog, Coquito? https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/coquito
Sausages. The first thing I really invested in cooking myself. Cooked in butter, from cold, slowly so they didn't split, with a sprig of rosemary. I was such a gourmand!
That has to be the supremest sausage-cooking recipe! I abandon all others (oil-based, as I did them till this). Thank you!
In all fairness, I was probably about 15, but I still cook them slowly, from a cold pan.
Clearly a natural gourmet!
I had thought maybe I'd make a cheeseburger for this Festive Thursday, but you've inspired me to break out the sausage instead. Happy Holidays!
Sausages, hot or cold, are always a great grazing snack! A chipolata or twain with a glass of sherry (Amontillado or fino, leave the Cream for Granny!) doesn't come amiss, either.
I have so much enjoyed our occasional chats on here! A very Merry Christmas to you and Martin and Kate, all of whom I feel I have come to know; and may 2026 treat you all with generosity and kindness
Your comments have brought much pleasure and useful information. And while I don't know where you live, seeing your name in the Inbox makes me dreadfully homesick for the Isle of Mull. Thank you for all your interventions. Happy First Footing and Christmas.
Thank you! Mull is gorgeous, I once worked a season on a dive boat (cook/deckie!) and we called in there quite often. Currently living on the Moray coast in a wee village near Buckie
You cannot imagine my envy!
God's own country! Unfortunately, I'm no longer fit enough for hillwalking, though I can manage some of the (small) nearby hills, and I still do wild swimming - yes, Moray Firth even in January! Going for a New Year's Day Dook, armed with pea and aspagus soup, a sausage or three and warming cup of hot chocolate (Swedish recipe: dark chocolate, double cream and a healthy slug of dark rum!). I do like beach picnics ...
I'm equally impressed and horrified at swimming in the Moray Firth at any time, let alone in January. All water around and in Scotland is icy all year! Thank you for that Swedish twist on hot chocolate - I'm adopting it.
I must admit, it takes me longer to get dressed and undressed than I spend in the water in the cold months (Jan - Mar; March is when the water is coldest!). I think 4 minutes in 4°C is my record. May onwards it's certainly a bit chilly at first, but as the year progresses, I stay in longer - 45 minutes one day this summer! Glad you like the Swedish Hot chocolate, I was introduced to it by a Swedish crew in Aalborg during the 1997 Tall Ships Race!
Here in the middle of USA we’re to have a 75 degree Christmas! About 25 years ago I said adios to Christmas and recognized my true Pagan self. I cook for the two of us and all of the other (by now) tiresome obligations are no longer mine. Tonight is homemade pizza. Tomorrow, chateaubriand and mushroom sauce. Just finished earlier the coconut cream cake. Hope your feasting table is loaded with jars of Nutella for agile children past. All wonderful things your way and enough sausages for celebrating.
I love the vision of you celebrating Christmas your way! All celebrations have the same goal of recognising our common humanity. If we do it with a pizza and packet of Cheetos but with relish, that has no less respect or value than if we do it with the full turkey feast. Tomorrow my crew will be having lobster after cocktails with Irvin's Egg Salted Fish Skin. Check it out -your 2026 will improve with it's consumption. Happy feasting of all sorts to everyone! Be glad we can.
Right behind the cheeseburger route. But lean more towards sausages because... they're banging bangers! Happy Celebrations!