28 December 2011

Holidays

Well, things are finally settling down a little bit here after the Christmas break. We had a very quiet and relaxing Christmas here at the palace. On Christmas Eve, we decided to follow the Germanic tradition of having dinner and opening gifts.  We spent the evening with Sandra's mother and ordered Indian Take Away for dinner.

The food was delicious! We had a selection of spring rolls and Samosas for entree, and for main course, we ordered Mumbai Fish (mild), Navaratan Vegetable Korma (Medium) and a Traditional Goat Curry (Hot) accompanied by Naan Bread and Brown rice. Everything was very flavoursome and not too hard on the tastebuds for spice. We added some Ginger and Mango Chutney and drank Blood Orange Soda to wash it down with. All in all, it was a very nice dinner, topped off with ice cream to cool the palate for dessert.

Christmas day, Sandra and I spent at home together and ate lightly, just made ourselves some Vietnamese style rice paper rolls and had them with sweet chilli dipping sauce. Christmas Night we had fresh bread rolls with Seafood mix on them and Sandra tried her hand at making a Thousand Island dressing which worked out very well!

The Hensington Palace Hens were not forgotten on Christmas and enjoyed a special treat for their dinner. We thawed some Kangaroo Meat ( a favourite with the girls!) and doled it out to everyone, from the youngest chicks right up to the guest hens we have staying with us over the Christmas holidays. It was a hit with one and all, and gave them all plenty to cluck about as they retired to their roosts for the night.

The kangaroo meat was particularly enjoyed by the hen we had in Hensington Hospital. Her reaction made me wish I had brought the video camera with me. It's hard to describe the sound she made on tasting her first mouthful of Kangaroo, but if a hen was capable of squealing in delight, that is what that sound would be. She did it after the second mouthful too, and I swear it is the nearest approximation to "OOOH! Yummy!" A chicken could possibly make!

As thanks, the girls all delivered an egg each on Boxing Day, which was lovely of them, but meant I needed to find a means to deal with the eggs we already had! In keeping with the holiday, though, I didn't do anything about it that day. Instead, I took myself to the movies to see War Horse, whilst Sandra settled happily in front of the TV to watch the beginning of the Boxing Day Cricket Test.

War Horse is a beautiful film. There are some sad/painful moments in it, but you'd expect that with a film that is dealing with war. World War I is a particular interest for me, so I was keen to see this film. I thought the cinematography was amazing as one would expect from Stephen Spielberg and the storyline was moving. There is a goose in the early parts of the film, too who steals the show and adds some wonderful comedic relief. I recommend this film, but be sure to take a few tissues with you. There was not a dry eye in the house at the end of the film! Well, except for mine...I was moved by it, but I think I used up all my tears on Christmas night, Watching Judy Dench and Maggie Smith in Ladies in Lavender.

The day after Boxing Day, and I still had the dilemma of what to do with excess eggs. I had been thinking of trying my hand at pickling some for a while now, so decided this would be as good a time as any! I found a recipe online and decided I'd give it a go since I had all of the ingredients, particularly the 12 eggs the recipe called for. So I set out to make "Garlic-Curry Pickled Eggs"

The pickling juice I made for this smelled delicious and I had fun with it. Peeling a dozen hard boiled eggs is not easy! Some of my hens lay eggs with particularly hard shells and strong membranes! I got it done, though, and here is the end result.

It looks, and smells wonderful, but we won't know how it tastes until two weeks from now as they need to mature before eating. I will keep you posted!

Well, that about sums up the Christmas break here at Hensington Palace! I hope all of my readers have had a happy, healthy and safe holiday and I wish you all the best for 2012.


1 comment:

  1. Wow those pickled eggs look tasty Maggie! Very nicely done.

    Sen

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