My parents, sister and nephew are all off in far flung parts of the world, and my aunt is also away for Christmas. This meant that my own Christmas would be what I made of it . The rest of this post is my own account of yesterday.

PLANNING THE DAY

I decided that I would spend the hours of daylight away from my computer, and that I would have my fancy Christmas Day meal (a home cooked variation on the steak & chips theme) in the evening. I selected some Christmas music to play through the day, and planned to do some walking during the daylight hours. My parents had arranged that I would have a package to open on the day.

THE MORNING

I went out for my first walk just before 9AM, which took in both the ponds near where I live, the Kettlewell Lane tree/ river area, The Walks, the Peace Garden/ Greyfriars tower, the town centre, St Nicholas’ Chapel, Bawsey Drain and back along Columbia Way. I then played the first of my chosen Christmas Music CDs. When this CD finished I headed off for my second walk, which again included both ponds, but this time I took the footpath from the second pond that leads to Loke Road just before the junction with Gaywood Road, crossed Loke Road, headed onto Gaywood Road for a short stretch before crossing it and heading down Tennyson Avenue. Just before the railway crossing I took the footpath that heads towards Lynnsport and followed to the point at which it meets the Gaywood River path, which I walked along until I reached a path off it towards the Discovery Centre and thence back home.

THE AFTERNOON/ EARLY EVENING

I had lunch while a second CD played. When the second CD finished I went out for a third walk, taking in the first pond, a route through to the footpath alongside Bawsey Drain and followed that footpath until Columbia Way, at which point spots of rain warned me that I needed to take the direct route home, along Columbia Way, rather than extend the walk further as I had been considering. I then played the rest of the Christmas music I had picked out, returning to the computer briefly in the early evening. 

COOKING SUPPER

I put the oven on at about 7PM, set to approximately 175 Celsius, taking care to turn the extractor fan on and open a kitchen window. I oiled a baking tray next. Then I cut a large potato into slices of approximately equal thickness, thick enough that when cooked they would still obviously be potato and thin enough that they would have a bit of crunch. I placed this slices on the oiled baking tray, sprinkled some salt over them, and then added a little more oil. I put them into the oven to cook. Then I got to work on the brussels sprouts, preparing a dozen for cooking, placing them in a saucepan and boiling a kettle full of water to cook them in. Once they were on and cooking I turned the potato slices over. I tenderised the steak, got some oil in small frying pan heating up (to colour on the outside while still being red in the middle the steak has to go in to oil that is already hot), and at the appropriate moment I put the steak into cook, flash-frying it for a minute on each side at high heat. I then plated it up, before draining the sprouts, pouring a drink and then getting the potatoes out. This is what my variation on a steak & chips theme looked like on the plate:

For the record it tasted splendid.

For afters I had a small jar of Kalamata olives.

THE END OF THE DAY

I was mindful of the fact that the Boxing Day test match at Melbourne between Australia and Pakistan, which Test Match Special were covering, got underway at 11:30PM UK time (Melbourne is 11 hours ahead of us). I thus timed my heading to bed so that I could have that commentary playing while I was in bed. I enjoyed the day, and my Christmas meal worked well.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have plenty of photographs to share…