The Cold Spell Continues

   Finished off the last bottle of wine and now am not fit for anything. Please excuse any typos!

   Still very cold but with sunshine it is bearable. I saw people out without hats today and jackets unzipped even though it was -10C. That's Canadians for you! I'm getting worried about the extent of my heating bill next month as it gets very cold overnight and the furnace seems to be running non stop.

   I went to the mall today for some bird seed bells and while I was there looked at Fitbits. I have a notion to buy one but there were no sales people available so gave up. That is one sale they have missed out on although I may buy one elsewhere.

   Still eating leftovers but have put a bit in the freezer to eat later. 

Boxing Day

   Beastly cold day today - in the minus double digits and the wind chill clocked in at minus 20-something Brrr!

   First job this morning was to get the capon carcass boiling down all its meaty goodness, then a handful of barley thrown in. I had forgotten to buy a turnip for the soup so a quick run to the store was required. More veg added and it was ready for lunch, delicious and warming on such a cold day. Meanwhile, here are some photos from yesterday's festivities.

My pretty Christmas mantel.

Grandkids busy with their presents

   I have made a serious dent in the chocolate reserves (Judy brought me another box yesterday), there's still some opened bottles of wine in the fridge and lots of tasty leftovers so I am a happy camper! I'll even have some plum pudding later tonight!

Ready to tuck in to the starters.

Christmas Day

   Food is cleared away, dishes are done (mostly) and I am so stuffed I don't think I'll be eating again until tomorrow. Everything went well - nothing over- or undercooked and no catastrophes. Even the flaming plum pudding was well received.

    I have a ton of food left so will just be reheating meals for the rest of the week. The family (four adults, three kids and a dog) stayed until 5:30 and we had games and a movie after the meal. Everyone pitched in, even the kids, and the cleanup was done lickety split. Dave even finished shovelling my driveway as I had to stop half way down to get started in the kitchen. We had about 5cms. of snow overnight and I was out at the crack of dawn (literally, I saw the sun come up) with the shovel.

   Now I am whacked and ready for bed but it's only 6:30 so I will try to keep my eyes open for another hour or two.

Oh So Busy

   Barely put my nose out of doors today but the capon is cooked, dissected and ready for reheating tomorrow, the gravy and stuffing are made and in the fridge, and one side dish (sweet potato and carrot mash) is done too. So all I need to do tomorrow is prepare snacks (Steve and Alison will bring them), cook shrimp for our first course and make up a platter with them, smoked mackeral and smoked salmon, roast potatoes, and reheat everything I made today. Doesn't sound like too much, does it? But I will be in a tizzy nevertheless, especially as I will have a glass (or two) of sherry on the go! Judy and Alison are bringing another side dish each so, hopefully, there will be room in the oven to reheat them too.  All this effort to feed 8 of us. How do people manage who have big families to feed and entertain. I would go bananas!

   I had a surprise visitor yesterday - one of the kids from the house across the street with a gift for me. We don't usually exchange gifts on the street but this particular family have done so in the past. It was a big box of chocolate truffles and they are delicious! I will have to ration myself.

   I forgot a couple of other things on my "to-do" list for tomorrow - heat cranberry sauce (from a can), heat the plum pudding (the one I let boil dry last month, hope it tastes OK), heat custard and make a pot of coffee. And I definitely must remember to clean the downstairs bathroom before anyone arrives, as I'm sure it will be well used!