Caroling of the holy sacrificial gravy

Less than two weeks until Christmas and boy are we more-ready than ever. By more- ready, I mean we’ve got the outdoor lights up. That’s about it. Inside the house, space needs to be created for baubles and decorations and even the Christmas books and cd’s- not a swift and easy task. As well, our dusk-time property search last night for the perfect tree came up rather empty. More than empty actually as it would appear each of us has a different understanding of what makes the perfect Christmas tree: Gillian wants a Grand Fir cause it sheds fewer needles and she also prefers I don’t “top” any more trees; I would like something with less than an eight foot wingspan cause I’m tired of being poked in the eye when in the kitchen (slight exaggeration); Effie has very specific and elaborate density issues that no one can understand; and Fergus would just like to get back inside the house already.

Another thing causing mild angst around here: a lack of any Christmas baking to date. I’m not sure why since we never have Christmas baking until a few days prior and, more significantly, we continue to be NABOO (New-Age-Busted-Oven-Owners). However, baking be damned, I’m happy to report that we do already have, in the can, a full litre and a half of Christmas gravy! It’s from Jamie Oliver’s make-two-weeks-in-advance-and-then freeze recipe involving chicken wings, bacon, veggies and herbs:

Brewing:



The result:



Yup, that’s right... 6 cups of completely and utterly tasteless/ odourless/ innocuous brown sauce. Jamie Oliver’s make-two-weeks-in-advance-and-then freeze recipe sucks - don’t use it!

Her: “Why did you make this? Were there lots of good reviews?”
Him: “No. Reviews? What? It’s Jamie Oliver! It looked good on tv.”

Move along, no suitable Sacrificial Pagan Yule Evergreen here...



Holiday Tune :: “Tim is just about to lose his marbles”...