A ' CRISP' & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY. " XMAS EVE - NOCHEBUENA "

MONDAY 24th/ DECEMBER 2018.  “ CHRISTMAS EVE  - NOCHEBUENA  “

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We had a little lie in this morning, ‘ Chico’ spent the night on the duvet, at the foot of the bed and ‘ Charlie stayed downstairs on the settees, after a quick freshen up Brenda took the dogs out for their first walk of the day, around the bottom of the village,  I was on the breakfast rota, so we had to start the ‘ Christmas Celebrations ‘ off in the right direction ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butties ‘ – smothered in ‘ HP ‘ Brown sauce – open on brown for Brenda, with mugs of hot, strong ‘ PG’ Tips Tea!

I then got the ‘Xmas Turkey’ ( 5 kilos)  on to roast; the ‘ Crown of Turkey ‘ which is filled with butter under the skin, along with a Leg & Thigh and assorted bones & giblets, it’s seasoned and then placed in the roasting-tray on a bed of hot ‘ Trivets’ - chopped Onions, Garlic, Carrots, Leeks, Celery, Acelgas, Turnips, Parsnips & Broccoli & Cauliflower Stalks, Sea Salt & Black Pepper, with a dash of Tomato Frito, Lea & Perrins & Tabasco and Vegetable Oil, sealed in Tin-Foil, then left to roast, later I will baste it, cover again, then re-baste after covering the ‘ Crown’ with Smoked Bacon Rashers, with no Tin-Foil’ to finish ‘ Roasting’!  I will then make a classic ‘ Giblet Pan Gravy ‘ from the residual juices & bones, with a flour roux, a rich ‘ Meat & Vegetable ‘ stock, seasoned and finished with ‘Crosse & Blackwell Gravy Browning’ to colour!



See below; 

At the moment the sun is just breaking through, yesterday evening and this morning, we had another spectacular ‘ Red Sunset & Sunrise’ -  there is a light breeze blowing so by lunchtime it will be 19 degs+ - overnight down to 11/12 degs, partly cloudy at times, on ‘ Christmas Day & Boxing Day’ we are in for more of the same, so it will be a ‘ Sunny Manilva’ at Xmas! The rest of the week and over the weekend is going a little cooler, down to 16/17 degs, with patchy clouds and the threat of the ‘ wet-stuff’ returning for the ‘ New Years Eve’ celebrations, watch this space.

Just a very quick update on yesterday’s football; sadly Everton lost to Tottenham Hotspur 2-6! Our dear friend ‘ Big Bri’ – a ‘ life-long’ “ Blue “  and his daughter Meya, over from Sweden, were at ‘Goodison Park’ to see the game!!  Oh dear !!




At lunchtime on our walk with the dogs we ended up sat outside ' Bar Castillo' for a nice cool drink, watching the World go by in a calm & sunny Manilva.

This evening for our supper we are having ‘ Grilled Pork Steaks’ with a selection of leftover Vegetables and Baby New Potatoes in their Skins, the rest of the ‘ Roast Loin of Pork’ – which was very tasty & juicy, we are using for sandwiches at lunchtimes!

The rest of the day and evening we will settle down in front of the TV – ‘ Darby & Joan ‘ – sat on the settee – holding hands!  A proverbial phrase for a married couple content to share a quiet life of mutual devotion, so it says!!

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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