Merry Christmas...

Hi everyone I hope that you are all well, I just wanted to drop in with a quick update to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
I hope that you are all having a lovely Christmas so far, I have been having a good time at home which is just what I need to unwind.
Christmas started for me on Christmas Eve with lunch at Wahaca (separate post coming soon!) followed by a last minute trip to Tesco and a few extra bits of shopping.

After, that I went home to pack and we loaded the car up with a mountain of presents and set off for Derbyshire feeling excited. We arrived at about 10pm, in time for our traditional buffet, which as usual involved loads of party food, Cava, Bordeaux and various desserts. We enjoyed Gyoza with plum sauce, onion bhajis, spring rolls, sausage rolls, cheese rolls, mozzarella sticks… well, you get the idea there was a lot of food!

After that I still had lots of presents to wrap, so I sat by the fire with a Gin and Tonic (or two!) and got all my gifts ready.
We sat up late talking, listening to music and enjoying a few more drinks before we finally headed to bed.
Christmas Day is always a very relaxed affair in our house. My parents live in a 400 year old farmhouse set in the heart of the Peak District and it always feels really Christmassy at this time of year. My Mum decorates one of the fireplaces with greenery cut from the garden such as laurel and ivy  and the tree is decorated in coloured lights and baubles we have had forever!

On Christmas Day, we got up late to have a relaxed breakfast before exchanging presents next to the tree. We just relaxed and enjoyed looking at all of our presents. This year we had gone more overboard than ever buying presents for each other so it took us ages to open them. I was lucky enough to receive some super gifts, which I will look forward to sharing with you in a separate post.

Later in the afternoon, I helped my Mum to get the dinner ready and then we got dressed for dinner before enjoying a pre-dinner drink by the fire. We sat down in the dining room to enjoy the traditional Christmas Dinner feast; butter-basted turkey, honeyed carrots and parsnips, petit pois, Brussel sprouts, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy. Phew!

The meal was delicious and of course I had a second helping of everything! We washed the meal down with plenty of sparkling wine and retired to the fireside where we enjoyed traditional Christmas pudding with amaretto cream. After all of that amazing food, we could hardly move, so we spent the rest of the day relaxing, playing quiz games and listening to music. It was a beautiful day and I just want to send everyone my warmest wishes for the festive season!

I hope that you are all having a wonderful time and many thanks for all your support throughout 2015!
Please let me know what are your traditions over Christmas and what have you been enjoying so far? As always I cannot wait to hear your thoughts and thank you so much for reading this post!

Until next time,

Camille

xo