Part 1. The fridge is empty, so…

Well I think that went ok…we managed not to trigger any anaphylactic shocks in child #1, nor any episodes for child #3. Child #2 had vegan options and the vegetarians and carnivores also all had something on offer at all meal or snack times. We also succeeded in keeping to our traditions and routines. As I said in my last post, planning was key, along with some careful shopping and remembering to take reading glasses on shopping trips so that contents labels on pre-packaged foods could be fully perused for allergens etc.

Christmas Eve lunch – Spicy lentil and tomato soup, recipe adapted from Easy GI diet by Helen Foster. In my opinion, there is a much greater tolerance of ‘vegetarian’ soups than of many other vegetarian recipes and the above certainly wasn’t sniffed at by the writer’s mother, despite her default position. Child #1, who has yet to escape the clutches of his parents by stubbornly continuing to live at home, is used to his carnivore tendancies not being met, so no problem there. The soup is vegan, so child #2 happy and child# 3 dealt with by a few simple adaptations of the original recipe – using celery to replace the onion and garlic oil rather than garlic. Most vegetarian stock cubes are gluten free, so all good here too! Homemade bread, made vegan by using Pure spread, rather than butter and shop bought gluten free loaf… first meal down and all happy!

Christmas Eve supper – Braised red cabbage cabbage, traditional and no tweaking required, except to substitute butter with a non-dairy spread, cooked in the low oven in the Aga, gammon, boiled then roasted with a chilli jam glaze in the top of the Aga, salmon fillets, cooked en papillote with lemon, soy and garlic oil in the Aga, shop bought vegan falafels and a version of dauphinoise potatoes, made without onion and using whole garlic and soya milk and cream. To be honest, this was probably the least successful meal of the season in that the falafels were probably a bit of a cop-out and the potatoes didn’t really work very well; they certainly didn’t look very appetising – they tasted ok, but the textures weren’t as planned.

Christmas morning breakfast – smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, toast – traditional, no tweaking really. I tend to use my bread machine when we have a houseful, so just needed to use non-dairy spread rather than butter to make it vegan. GF child#3 had shop bought gf tiger rolls. Carrot lox and tofu scrambled eggs for child #2. Silken tofu (the recipe states firm tofu, but I only had silken!) mixed with turmeric, salt and black pepper, recipe taken from simpleveganblog.com. The smoked salmon replacement, carrot lox went down a treat. I used a recipe from theedgyveg.com, in which you marinade pre-cooked, sliced carrots in a mixture of: hot water, nori granules, caper brine, vinegar, miso paste, soy sauce, garlic powder and lemon juice. To be honest, there was a hint of salmon about it and it was really tasty – perhaps as an interesting side dish as a starter. The carrots benefit from a longer marinade, so ideal, as I was able to do this 3 days in advance and leave it in the fridge!

Time for some presents and a glass or two of champagne!

Eating: Too much, clearly – it’s Christmas… the above carrot lox was intriguing, interesting and tasty. I’ll certainly do it again. Pictured above with the tofu scramble.

Drinking: At Christmas, it has to be champagne – well at least pre-1.00pm. The writer her indoors and I have an ongoing, long term love affair with Black Label Lanson, dating back to a very hungover arrival at Caracas airport after a long flight and free champagne on board a British Airways 747. Still in ‘going away’ outfits that were certainly not fit for purpose given the heat when we landed, struggling to remember whether we had the visas we weren’t sure we needed and clutching a complimentary bottle of the aforementioned, which we thought we might have to use to bribe the armed border personnel supervising the queues at passport control, we eventually made it to our hotel, to be greeted by a further bottle of champagne in an ice bucket by the bed….. it was not consumed – well not then anyway….

Listening to: Has to be our family Spotify (other streaming services are available) Christmas playlist, which always sparks the ‘which is the best Christmas song?’ debate. At the risk of being controversial, we all know that: The Andrew Sisters- Walking in a Winter Wonderland, followed by Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus is coming to town (live) and then Wham! – Last Christmas are the top three…When I say we all know this, I am the only person who holds this to be true in the family… debate to roll on next year, I’ll be bound.