It is the time of year when I go into hibernation for a while to devote my time to my friends and family for Christmas and the New Year. It doesn’t look as though we are going to have the dreamed-of white Christmas in the UK but we are still getting ready the mulled wine, hot mince pies and looking forward to cooking turkey with all the trimmings. Today we have baked sticky toffee pudding which will be an alternative to the Christmas plum pud with brandy sauce, and we are freezing it for The Day!

Our menu:

starters: meat antipasti platter/seafood platter with salad

main course: roast turkey with ‘pigs in blankets’, chestnut stuffing, crispy roast potatoes, carrots, honeyed roast parsnips, brussels with bacon lardons and herb butter

pudding: plum pud with brandy and Courvoisier sauce; raspberry and prosecco panna cotta terrine; limoncello buche de Noel; sticky toffee pudding

We have a lot of guests but I think we’ll be eating left-overs for weeks (hopefully!).

I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and successful New Year. See you in 2016!