A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

7_week_wonder

Happy boxing day everyone. Why did I think it would be a good idea to lick the bowl out from cupcake mixture when I already had an upset stomach this morning:eek:
Never mind, we had a lovely day yesterday - plenty of left-overs, but no complete indulgence. My favourite pressie is a covent garden soup book from OH - lots of inspiration for new recipes to try.

Is anyone else north of the border getting completely fed up with these howling gales? Mardatha - how are things up in the hills? Our hens have taken to hiding in the roost most of the day. On the plus side it is so mild that OH is threatening to get outside and turn the compost heap tomorrow (Goodness: we know how to live :rotfl:)

Katie: how about doing the soup, main and pudding demo like you suggested, but include some notes of more basic stuff in case they need it. (With maybe a wee trailer for your "Forthcoming book").

Time to wash my hair then think about icing these cupcakes.
Have a good day all,

katieowl_2

kidcat wrote: »

Katie - it really depends upon your audience, if you have people with no skills then the very basics will be ideal, but if they already have the rudiments then the starter, main and dessert would probably sit better.
If the audience isnt yet set, then you could decide how you want it to run then advertise at that level IYSWIM. HTH

Yes I see. Maybe I could 'collect' skill levels at the first one and use that to set the level with subsequent ones?

Kate

lilac_lady

No leftovers here as I had Christmas dinner made for me and had avoided Christmas food in the shops. I can recommend this method if you can get away with it!

I'm having a nice chilled Boxing Day and couldn't even contemplate going shopping, especially in a Mall.

Off to walk next door's dog and will watch Downton Abbey on catchup.

I hope you all had a good day yesterday.

mardatha

It's been such a year for gales - thought last year was bad but this year they've hardly stopped. You wish it would stop and then when it does, you get uneasy waiting for it to wallop the house again! My hens are moaning like hell but still out. Yesterday the wind was worse and one dig a big hole then sat in it looking really smug

Fruball

VJsmum wrote: »

I am officially adopting this as my motto - along with carpe diem. So if i can't carpe diem, I can at least nihil illigitemi carborundum :rotfl:

Feeling a tad delicate today after a solid 8 hours of drinking wine A good night was had by all tho - or was it? I can't remember

Had a soak in the bath and then a day of baking ensues - GQ I may also join your sect, well i would except for your rant against coffee (vile? vile?). I, regrettably, have become a creature of habit with tea first thing (rooibos), coffee mid morning - sometimes 2 and then tea for the remainder. With plenty of water in between, when I remember.

I am baking mince pies, icing the christmas cake, tidying the house, putting up cards and sorting and wrapping pressies today - but may have to fit in a tea / coffee with friend. I may do the big christmas shop tonight to save battling it out tomorrow. It might mean popping somewhere tomorrow for things not available tonight, but i think will save time in the long run - and, lets face it, nothing is that important. The butcher is opening from 6 tomorrow so i may visit him early. I might bake some of softstuffs mince things.

How's everyone getting on with EVOO? I actually do think it has made a difference to my skin and is certainly easier than my usual cleansing routine. Am now trying to persuade acne ridden DD (15) to give it a whirl. I think it's also given me a bit of a glow - olive skinned indeed :rotfl:

Ah well time for more paracetomol for my hango er slight headache and i will get to it. Perhaps i'll have cake for breakfast?

I'm so glad its working for you, VJsMum - I've not been using EVOO for a while and my skin is suffering for it - back on the olive oil today! Hope it works for your DD - pls let us know how she gets on with it

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Happy Christmas Everyone

Just had Xmas eve dinner with OG , Mrs OG and OH, whos duty it was to supply pre-dinner drinks. Not too difficult unless you are arithmetically challenged and trying to make cocktails - a bottle of voddy between four in the fist drink makes for an interesting evening! How I managed to serve three course without tipping one one them over a guest is anyones business. OG did great uninitentional Alistair Sim impression with his top set and OH passed out on sofa. They are due back round here at 11.30 tomorrow morning, my liver and sanity may not survive.
I still have wrapping to do, and the kitchen looks like there has been a small earthquake. I have no doubt my head will ache in the morning when I need to be compost mental for cooking lunch.

Hope everyone has a lovely day and for those who are not really in the mood (count me in), I hope you are able to find some peace and comfort . Everyone else, feel free to have a riot!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: That made me laugh!!!

LOLs too at Mardy's smug hen

Margaret54

Hi everyone lovely to catch up on all the posts:) Oh gailey love it was so funny reading about the Nativity Play:) ah bless... We have had a very quiet Christmas this year. Very mild here but a little windy today, and that's not the fault of the brussel sprouts:)

kidcat

katieowl wrote: »

Yes I see. Maybe I could 'collect' skill levels at the first one and use that to set the level with subsequent ones?

Kate

That sounds a good idea, set them a task that allows you to assess the skills then work to cover the gaps.

born_blonde

Katieowl, just collecting the skill level could be a challenge. Could you get some idea with a questionnaire first? I'm trying to help a friend, Mother of 4 and who I thought would have the basics only to discover "chop finely" can lead to a world of debate! Perhaps a food/cooking diary would give you an idea of skill level.
Good luck.

mama67

I went for the easier route this year for Christmas Dinner.

I prepared all the veggies on Sat had the potatoes sat in bowls of water covered over and all veggies in bags in the fridge, I cooked the pigs in blankets and extra bacon rolls whilst cooking the beef brisket joint, and boiled the gammon joint, so all that need doing Christmas morning was the stuffing and the turkey and then to cook the veggies. The beef and gammon are for using as cold cuts with salad and pickles and the brae form the gammon was used to cook the veggies in. The beef stock has been frozen with the ends of the joint for souip making another week. We also have hot beef buns for tea on Christmas Eve, this is a tradiotion which my mum did when I was growing up and I have continued.

I had decided to do a buffet style service whereas all components were on a table in serving dishes and we all helped ourselves and then nuked our plates and added piping hot gravy over just before we sat down. This negated trying to keep lots of things hot.

As there were only the 4 of us it was fairly easy to sort; and the leftovers were then already in suitable containers to be just covered over.

Today Dh has cooked a bubble & squeak with fried egg brunch; I deliberately cook excess mash and veggies solely for this purpose. I have also plated up 2 beef and 2 turkey dinners from the leftovers ready for DS2 to have when the rest of us have curry as he doesn't like curry or rice.

So tea tonight will be beef and/or gammon with salad and/or pickles again just for the 4 of us.

Taurus hope you are feeling a little better

Hugs to anyone who needs

hornetgirl

Hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday. Taurus, hope you're feeling loads better, and Gailey thanks so much for sharing the nativity story - so funny

We've had a nice easy Christmas as SIL cooked lunch yesterday and her DH cooked breakfast this morning. We haven't eaten anything since! (Well, apart from a couple of chocolate coins). This evening we're going in to our neighbours so there's a batch of Softstuff's Christmas cookie dough chilling at the moment. The last lot went down very well with my work colleagues, and I also had 3 requests for the mincemeat melts/drops recipe. Your fame is spreading Softstuff!