Christmas and New Year

Yes I’m so behind on how my Christmas and New Year went… I decided to take a good break from blogging during that time so I could chill a bit.

So here’s a recap of how my Christmas and New Year went. Sadly Ben was ill pretty much from that day before Christmas eve to New Year’s eve. He had lots of fevers and a horrid cough. He had barely any appetite for food or alcohol (which is totally unheard of for Ben) as well so it was a bit of a downer on the festivities. But we still had a good time regardless.

On Christmas day we headed to my parent’s house with Ben’s mum and Alfie. My parents have three dogs of their own and they all get on together really well so it was a fun time for Alfie too, bless him. My dad and me were in charge of cooking so we got down to some preparations and putting things in oven. Thank goodness they have a double oven as the amount we needed to put in there was ridiculous: the turkey, two different sorts of potatoes, two types of stuffing, sausages wrapped in bacon, parsnips and carrots. There was a lot of food!

While that was cooking away we had some buck’s fizz and opened a few presents. This year Ben and me didn’t do big presents for each other because we’re going to the States so soon after Christmas that we thought we’d rather find something out there instead. I received a lot of lovely gifts from my mum and dad and Ben’s mum though.

Then time for lunch!

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We had a nice light starter of melon and prosciutto ham. Though I just stuck to melon purely because I wanted to maximise stomach space for the good stuff 😉 For me it’s all about the main course.

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Christmas lunch is one of my favourite meals of the year. I adore turkey, cranberry sauce, all the veg, stuffing and gravy. I’m not a potato fan but everything else is fair game.

IMG_8889I pretty much went back for seconds of everything. So good. And because my parents are amazing and they know how much I love this meal, they let me take a good amount of turkey and leftovers home with us so I could enjoy the meal again and again. Heaven.

After lunch we went for a nice walk down the beach with the dogs. I say “we” but I mean the females in the family as Ben wasn’t up for walking and my dad felt he needed to stay behind with Ben and keep him company on the Xbox *sighs*.

The walk was lovely. There were so many people out and about as well.IMG_8895 We kept Alfie on his lead purely because he has a tendency to run after anything that takes his interest.

IMG_8890Then when we got home we had some pudding. There were profiteroles, panacotta, Christmas pudding and trifle. I went for trifle which I’d been looking forward to for ages. I was bitterly disappointed to find that I find I really didn’t like it. Apparently I don’t like sherry trifles, only strawberry ones! So I settled for my dependable two apples.

We later played the best board game in the world. The Logo Board Game (not an affiliate link – it’s just to show you how awesome it is). It’s basically asking lots of questions about brands and logos, from Heinz to Fairy Liquid. It’s brilliant and so much fun. While playing that I had some stollen after feeling so cheated from the trifle and it was lovely. The wholemeal flour had made it quite dense though so definitely will keep to white flour next time!

And that was Christmas day. The following days were spent just chilling and really not doing very much. Ben was still ill so we used this quality time to catch up on movies (Edge of Tomorrow – brilliant!, Maleficent, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and some old favourites like The Mummy and the Mummy Returns) while also getting through loads of True Blood (really good, but fairly raunchy and gory).

IMG_8902New Christmas socks and my liquid of choice, Fanta Zero

I made a lot of use of the leftovers as well, recreating the Christmas dinner twice.

IMG_8897 And when all the trimmings were used up I made a BBQ turkey stir fry. LITERALLY the best thing I’ve eaten in ages.

IMG_8898 So good. I then ran out of turkey. I’m very tempted to buy a turkey crown just to relive the experience again…too much? Maybe so.

We also went to Windsor to see Ben’s dad before New Year as well and had a lovely meal in Bella Italia and caught up with him. Though we had a nightmare journey there; it took three hours in total to drive a one hour fifteen minute journey because of an accident on the motorway and then having a mare finding a parking space. But it was a lovely day regardless.

New Year’s eve we went to my parent’s house for a cheeky Indian take away and another round of the Logo Board Game. We had planned to go to a friend’s house for a party but Ben still felt ill so we felt it best to have a quiet one with the parentals. My granddad was down from Stoke-On-Trent as well so it was lovely seeing him and he really enjoyed the game too (honestly, it’s a game for everyone because it’s all stuff you could know).

New Year’s eve day we met up with Ben’s mum for a lovely 5.5 mile walk through the New Forest.IMG_8931 It was a lovely walk. Not too cold but lovely and crisp. Alfie loved all the mud.

IMG_8941 When we came home we gave Alfie a good scrub in the bath and dried him off with my hair dryer (he couldn’t work out if he enjoyed it or not I think) and then we headed back to Ben’s mum’s for lunch. Round two!

IMG_8944 This time it was a bird in a bird in a bird, which is always very tasty as you get three different types of meat.

IMG_8945 One of my favourite vegetables are broad beans and it’s become a funny tradition to have them around Christmas. I could literally eat them forever.

Then we played Rummiekub which is a number game sort of like cards, sort of like scrabble (see HERE for a good explanation). We all decided a games day was needed as we only ever play board games and games like this around Christmas. This needs to change!

Aaaaand that’s it. I really enjoyed our very low-key holiday, though I was sorry Ben was ill. It was nice though to curl down and watch lots of movies and True Blood. I did lots of walking with Alfie (keeping my steps over 12,000 a day) and enjoyed the gym as well so I definitely got a good balance of relaxing and keeping fit. Mentally and physically I feel fresh and ready for the year ahead!

What’s your favourite part of the Christmas meal?

How do you celebrate New Year’s Eve?

Do you do anything on New Year’s Day?

20 Replies to “Christmas and New Year”

  1. Looks like such a great Christmas Anna – I’m salivating after looking at those delicious Christmas dinners!
    Alfie looks so cute with his furry friends! We have to keep Rufus on a lead quite a bit as he has a tendency to chase cars, motorbikes, skate boarders and cyclists – not fun in central Bristol! We haven’t lost an arm yet but it’s only a matter of time.
    Hope Ben is feeling much better, both James and I have had a similar bug over the festive period and it sucks so he has my sympathies.
    Hope 2015 is a great one for you!
    Claire @ Flake and Cake recently posted…Post Christmas ShoppingMy Profile

  2. I must say I’m impressed with your turkey consummation over the festive period! I love the sound of that logo game – I’d get so competitive with it I know it! Better than our board game of choice – Pointless. It really was quite… pointless – much better on the tv! Happy new year x
    Cat recently posted…Should You Make a New Years Resolution?My Profile

  3. Poor Ben 🙁 He does look so pale in his pictures and I really hope he’s feeling at least a little bit better. Xmas must be the worst time to catch such a nasty virus, so I think he can be excused his XBox addiction just this once 😉

    My favourite Xmas foods are parsnips and sprouts by default! I do love parsnips and I’ve been eating them for tea almost every day. The ONE good thing about the frost is that it results in nice, sweet, tasty parsnips. I would eat sprouts all day, every day, but I have to be careful or my stomach will hate me…

    I’m so pleased you had a lovely Xmas and New Year 🙂

    xxx
    Jess recently posted…Running RouletteMy Profile

    1. I do have a rather funny photo of Ben all wrapped up in a blanket with a Santa hat on on Christmas day but he warned me not to put it on the blog 😉
      I love parsnips. They are just so tasty and roasted are heavenly.
      Yes my stomach hates me when I eat too many sprouts, damn them. I tend to have them year round as I love them and strangely enough they’re a veg Ben is happy to eat!
      AnnaTheApple recently posted…Don’t be afraid to make a changeMy Profile

  4. Feeling ill over Christmas is just rubbish, poor Ben 🙁
    My favourite part of Christmas is the cheese and pickles as I love picalilli and pickled onions, and of course Christmas cake and a cup of tea. I am not that fussed about potatoes or yorkshires and although I like some veg (not parsnips or sprouts though) it is nothing that exciting! This year we got home on New Year’s eve and Andy’s parents invited us over for tea- they did cold meat for Andy as he had none while we were away, and jacket potatoes so we could have cheese and pickles, and a lovely veg risotto- it was lovely 🙂
    We don’t tend to do much for new years- we watched the Queen concert on the TV but I was going to parkrun the next morning and we were a bit tired from the travelling so it wasn’t anything special.
    Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…2014 Running reviewMy Profile

  5. The picture of your Christmas dinner is making me want to eat Christmas dinner all over again. Who says I can’t have a Christmas dinner every week, eh?! It is just a bigger roast dinner.

    Sorry to hear that Ben was ill. Dave was ill too – he has had that flu thing for about 3 weeks and the cough just won’t go. I have managed to avoid it, but I think it is going to catch me up soon.
    Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy recently posted…Comment on The Ultimate Guacamole Recipe by DanniiMy Profile

  6. I took some time off from blogging during the holidays as well. There was just way too much going on with family and what not, I just didn’t want to waste any of my time hunched over my computer! And like your hubby, I’ve been dog sick as well. I made it through Christmas ok, but the day after I woke up totally sick and I’ve still got it 🙁
    KAT recently posted…Sesame Ginger Soba NoodlesMy Profile

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