The good, the bad and the burnt!

Okay - so the Christmas day madness has passed. Thank God! It was a lovely day - don't get me wrong, but the stress of the dinner almost got the better of me. It seemed to be going okay. I stuffed the turkey with my Mum's sage and sausage stuffing, and popped it in the oven at 4pm. It was a small turkey so I was planning on 3 hours cooking time. My Mum was going to be bringing the ham to bake and glaze; I'd made the red cabbage the day before, and the stewed pigeon peas were ready thanks to Mum. The desserts (creme brulee and grape dessert) were happily chilling in my stuffed fridge. Cool. I was on top of things. All I needed to do was cook the veggies, set the table and relax. I wish!

My mum overslept in the afternoon, so she got to me (with the uncooked ham) when my turkey was cooked, which set everything back. Then I forgot the pigeon peas and red cabbage heating up in the oven. (This I didn't discover until both dishes were burnt black and crispy!) The turkey, I could tell, was overcooked and a little dried out. My kitchen was hot as hell and I was ratty and frazzled. At one point I looked pleadingly at my family and asked if they'd mind if we just had my special seafood terrine and dessert! But they seemed content with the chaos and culinary disasters, encouraging me to press on. So I did.

We eventually ate dinner at about 9pm. And it was great! With so many disasters, everyone relaxed and laughed. The creme brulee I made was easily the best dessert I have ever made. The turkey wasn't as terrible as I'd feared it would be, and the brussel sprouts were perfectly cooked. Thank goodness for my forgiving family - they absolutely made the day Christmas for me!

Here I am with Richard, in the heat of the dishing up!