This Christmas I learnt........

I have discovered if you transfer a large pot of yoghurt into a glass jar it lasts for ages in the fridge.

I am group O and I'm fine with peanuts and peanut butter.

I make my own, it is very different from shop bought and so easy to make. Must see if I can buy some more cranberries!

jane1956

that son and daughter in law are really ungrateful and put £50 gucci perfume and £50 gucci aftershave/giftset on ebay on Christmas day.

Wow! Bet that stung, Jane

Just a card next year, then. With maybe a tenner in it?

This Christmas I learned that if I leave the par boiled potatoes in the fridge and forget to roast them no one goes hungry :-)

Also going 10 pin bowling with DGD on the 27th after years of not doing it left me with a sore shoulder and a pain in the b*m but it was a fun thing to do.

I learned that i can't be all things to all people and sometimes you just have to step back.

I learnt that when cooking Christmas lunch and letting everyone help themselves to take out roast potatoes for myself first so that I’m not left with the smallest, least crispy roasties, lol!

I learned that if I am invited to a Christmas party which is going to be attended by someone's Grandad, to refuse politely. Suddenly all the younger guests had decamped to the kitchen/diner, and I was sitting alone on the sofa with a 92 year old man who had forgotten to put on his hearing aids.
I had planned on making a strategic exit, once the party reached the noisy, out of tune singing stage. A few times the old chap's son popped his head in and asked if he was ok/did he want anything/did he want to leave? Each time he was told that he didn't want to spoil their fun, or break up the party.
I didn't have the heart to abandon him, so it was almost midnight before I made my escape. My head was buzzing from listening to the party racket for 5 hours, and my b** mas numb from sitting for so long.
Next Christmas I will, I think, party alone! ?

That the best laid plans of mice and (wo)men ..... can be foiled (once again) by covid.
We haven't seen our grandchildren for 18 months, and the whole family were due to descend upon us at last on Boxing Day. Until our daughter texted 4 days before to say she had tested positive ... Oh well, maybe in the New Year!

That it really was worth buying a few things from the Dukeshill catalogue that I’ve drooled over for years but never bought from. We don’t have M&S or Waitrose within 30 miles and it was all wonderful! A real treat.

That none of us eat as much as we used to, and to remind DH what we've ordered from M&S so he doesn't make his own!

He managed to make sausage rolls, boiled a ham and made mince pies, despite chosing the order with me

I learned that having to postpone the full Xmas celebration was OK. Our son tested positive for covid the Monday before Xmas (2 days before he was due to have his booster!) and was keeping himself hidden away in his room to protect husband and I. I was putting his meals on a tray on the landing outside of his room and scuttling back downstairs before he came out. We decided we would wait until he was clear to come out of hiding to do Xmas dinner and all the works, as it seemed wrong that he would be alone in his room having his meal on a tray. He was also very down at being apart from his girlfriend, who tested negative. Having cheese toasties for Xmas lunch felt a bit odd, but actually postponing Xmas Dinner until the start of this week was fine, I wasn't running in and out of the kitchen so a much easier day. The icing on the cake, quite apart from the fact he is clear now, was his comment "I thought I was going to have a horrible Xmas, but Mum and Dad, you have made it all OK for me, thank you". Aww, love him!

I learned not to be a snob about frozen food. Iceland Luxury Frozen Turkey Crown had come out best in a blind tasting on TV and also top in Good Housekeeping. So I bit the bullet, bought the turkey crown and cooked it according to Iceland's instructions. No more garlic and parsley butter smoothed under the skin, or streaky bacon rashers adorning the breast.
Result - it was yummy. Turkey sandwiches the next day, still moist, followed by turkey and ham pie the following day. Carcass and scraps made a delicious turkey and veg soup. And all at half the price for what I would have paid for a Fresh Turkey Crown.

We don’t worry about certain foods at Christmas, to me Christmas dinner is a roast with a few more trimmings not every one likes Christmas pud so there’s trifle or chocolate cake. (Home made) I enjoy the cold meats this year the beef was used up in the slow cooker with carrotts onion new potatoes.
Have learnt over the years not to get stressed about it.

I discovered that DS is really useful in the kitchen and I don’t need to do everything myself.

The GDs know how to play hangman and enjoyed playing it.

p.s. cranberry sauce goes well with brie on sandwiches.

Every year I buy it but just still dislike it, like the dried cranberries though, I thought about making my own. Instead of wasting this year added some apples that had gone soft and found it was ok. Will keep trying.

I have learned that nobody will starve if you dont constantly run around catering and offering food on boxing day. Lots of reading books, chatting, eating chocolates and cheese and drinking wine. Occasional naps. At the lovely stage where the adult children are glad to relax at home with us, and their partners, no small children who need to be fed properly!

Daftbag1 I just noticed your post about your daughter. I’m so sorry to read that and I hope she can soon receive the help and support she needs. Look after yourself as well ?

I learned that it wasn’t wise yesterday to open a carton of double cream and consume it by myself in one day as it was about to go out of date.

I had it in my morning coffee, then again at lunchtime with left over mince pies. Then I went for a hat trick in the evening and had an Irish coffee. The double cream was a little less appealing at that stage so I decreased the usual amount of cream on the Irish coffee and to balance up the ingredients I increased the whiskey content.

This ensured that I had a headache as well as feeling queasy going to bed?

Daftbag1

I learned that my daughter is struggling big time with her mental health and is at times displaying signs of paranoia! We learned that her condition is beyond that that we can support, and that the situation is making me ill.

Daftbag So sorry about your daughter's condition and the ongoing worry for you.

That ‘Christmas’ for me, holed up in an isolated cottage, in a village of 6 houses, with a hot tub in the garden, and an open log fire in the living room is better for me, than spending ‘Christmas’ stressed out, running around after people who don’t appreciate it - and sniff at the gifts you picked for them.

That’s what I did. I scrapped the lot, scrapped the ‘big day’ and all the presents. Don’t know what people had for dinner - and don’t care either ??

Next year I’ll do the same. I’m just home after a week away and can only say how lovely and peaceful it was on the Wales/Shropshire borders.

I learned that my daughter is struggling big time with her mental health and is at times displaying signs of paranoia! We learned that her condition is beyond that that we can support, and that the situation is making me ill.

that this is probably the last time we will drive down south to see our lovely children and GCs in winter. Spent half our holiday on M1/M25 in the rain and mist and it was exhausting.

also learned that M&S make excellent mince pies.

Lizzies that is brave. Well done you.

Sago l learnt that one many years ago but unfortunately the poinsettias just keep on coming.

This Christmas I learnt that my youngest daughter-in-law and son number three throw the very best Christmas do with lovely traditions which are new to me.