A few nights ago, we saw the new year in. The local fireworks terrified Polly so I had to sit in the dog’s bed to calm her down. Lola thought it was a great game. We played Rummoli and sat up til 2am.

• 

• 

• 

Friends from all over the globe spent New Year’s Eve doing much the same, in small groups, with food and drink and games. Ed made a delicious curry, other friends’ menus included crab starter, fillet steak and salted caramel ice cream. Steak was popular, as was beef wellington, venison and fish. Some friends went to bed early, unable to think of anything to celebrate in 2020. We were glad to celebrate the end of it, even if we didn’t have the F.OFF gin they were drinking in New Zealand. Our Danish friends spent New Year’s Eve in their wooden cabin right beside the sea and we shared a zoom call with them. How we miss that lovely place.

I have been reading Nigel Slaters’s Christmas Chronicles which is such a delightful book. I made his cauliflower and leek soup and I’ve put the recipe at the end of the blog. It was truly delicious, served with thick sourdough bread, dripping with cheese. It reminded me of the French Fondue Savoyarde that a friend of ours cooked for us a few Christmasses ago up in his beautiful Chateau near Foix in France. The Fondue was so strongly flavoured with white wine, we were tipsy after eating it! That was the year we prepared a four bird roast for him, starting with quail, then partridge, then pheasant, all inside a turkey. It was hard work, boning all the birds. In previous years, our friend Peter, the local gamekeeper, would expertly bone the birds for us, making it look so easy. We have spent many a memorable evening with Peter and his wife Brenda eating delicious food – Canadian goose and venison chops to name but a few.

• 

• 

• 

Today the weather has been lovely – cold, bright and crisp. Abi practised her roller blading and I walked the dogs, made some soup and Ed extended the entrance to the back garden and tucked his little red Corvette safely away for the winter.

Tomorrow we will celebrate taking down the tree (not actually 12th night but as near as). We will leave the lights on til the last minute as we unload the ornaments, remembering fondly where they came from and who gave them to us. Then place them back into their various boxes and packages until next December. The lights are the last to come off and then Ed will drag the tree over to the village hall where the council will collect them all next week, ready for composting. We’ll have a drink whilst we do this job, hot chocolate with Stroh rum from Austria.

After we will eat a roast dinner and make a toast to the year ahead. I’m cooking roast pork with hasselback potatoes and lots of green vegetables. Ed will have his HUGE Christmas pudding. As he is the only one who likes this, I ordered a small one – not realising it was about the size of a mince pie, so he will have at least two of those with custard! Abi and I will finish up anything left that has chocolate in it.

• 

• 

• 

CAULIFLOWER AND LEEK SOUP WITH TOASTED CHEESE (Nigel Slater’s Recipe from The Christmas Chronicles, with a few changes)

Serve 4

3 medium leeks

30g butter

2 tbs olive oil

1kg cauliflower, trimmed and cut into thick slices

1 litre vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

Handful of parsley leaves

4 thick slices of bread (sourdough if possible – I make my own but you need a good sourdough starter for this)

100g of cheese (any good melting type)

Chop the leeks roughly, discarding the tougher green leaves. Melt the butter with the oil in a pan. Add the leeks and cover. Cook until softened but not brown.

Add the cauliflower, stir and add the stock. Bring to the boil, add bay leaves and a pinch of salt. Lower the heat and simmer for about 15 to 20 mins until soft. Take it off the heat and add the parsley. Blend it until smooth.

Add a drizzle of olive oil to the sourdough and toast on one side. Turn over and add the cheese, toasting until melting. Chop into squares. Pour the soup into bowls add a grind of pepper and the toasted cheese. Eat!

And so, once more unto the Breach dear friends. Roll on the vaccine and freedom of movement again. Stay safe, warm and happy. A tres bientôt