Tuesday 22 December 2015

I Ate Too Much… But There’s Always Room For Baileys!

Friendship is important. Friends are supportive, they get you through hard times, put up with your complaining and are often thought of as ‘the family you choose for yourself.’ Despite this, friends are usually overlooked at Christmas, especially when you have kids. Families gather and celebrate together, often leaving your ‘chosen family’ forgotten about until the New Year. Not content with this, we wanted to include friends in our celebrations, and this weekend marked our much anticipated annual Christmas meal with friends, or Friendmas as some people refer to it!
 

I love sitting down to a fancy meal, (who doesn’t?) but dining out at this time of year is far too expensive for our budget. Instead, we invite our friends over and dine in the comfort of our own home, where comfortable clothes can be worn to accommodate all the food! We take control of the main meal, as this often requires the most preparation, and our guests bring either a starter or a pudding. By allocating the different courses between us, each person is included in the festive preparations. 
 
This year, we were treated to a gorgeous sweet potato and red pepper soup, served with crusty garlic bread. Wonderful as a starter, but could quite easily be enjoyed as a stand-alone meal - I think I will try and sweet talk Paul into making this for my lunch after the holidays! A simple recipe can be found on the BBC Good Food website, although ours did not contain the onions.
 
The main course consisted of slow roasted parsnips and carrots smothered in a sesame seed honey glaze, hasselback potatoes covered in goose fat (also roasted) and a tender gammon joint, complete with crackling. We decided against the usual festive turkey with cranberry sauce, as this will most likely be encountered many times in the upcoming family meals.
 
To finish up, desert was a traditional chocolate yule log accompanied with mince pies. To jazz up this simple pudding, the M&S White Chocolate Fudge Sauce (mentioned in a previous blog post) made its appearance for a second year running. As for the pies, they didn’t require any more ‘jazzing up,’ they were already filled with 12 year old Glenfiddich® whisky!
 
After all this food, we were stuffed full and complaining about food babies, but I was quickly informed that ‘there’s always room for Baileys!’
 
I love Christmas and it means so much to include my closest friends in the celebrations. At one time or another, each one has helped me through some difficult times and made my life much better. I'd like to think that I would also return the favour, should any of them ever need it! Christmas wouldn't be as special to me if I couldn't share it with those who are such a big part of my life the rest of the year. We are looking forward to next year which will hopefully see the inclusion of a couple of other close friends who are moving back to the area.
 
How do you celebrate with your friends at Christmas?
 
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
SHARE:

16 comments

  1. We had some good friends from Denmark. We always invited them to our Thanksgiving celebration( they were so tolerate of our families) and we always visited them on Christmas Eve. Their Danish Christmas Eve is usually spent visiting friends and family, eating marzipan and drinking Glug(mulled wine). I really miss them. They moved back recently after 5 yrs in the states.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Danish Christmas Eve sounds fantastic, it's a shame your friends moved away. I'd love to drink mulled wine and eat marzipan all night! :)

      Delete
  2. Looks like you had a blast! When I get together with my girlfriends, we tend to drink a little too much (only when the kids are with their dads lol) and we have a sleepover and pay games and eat a LOT of take out. It's always the best lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been told I have to stay away from wine after a particularly 'fun' night recently, my partner was not impressed lol

      Delete
  3. That sounds like a wonderful celebration and meal. There always is room for Bailey's!

    ReplyDelete
  4. First, yum! This post made me hungry. Second and more seriously, it made me wonder why on earth my friends and I stopped having our annual holiday get together. One year they just stopped and never started again. This was a great reminder and maybe now I must plan something post-holiday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad the post inspired you to organise something, spending time with friends is the best! :)

      Delete
  5. I love the idea of a "Friendmas!" We're having friends over for Friday for Christmas dinner since we no longer live close to family. I look forward to starting new traditions with friends each year!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like you had a special and very happy Christmas. I love the way you celebrate and think it's great that everyone is involved. I love spending it with family most as I live away from them, although I am rubbish with loud noises and small spaces so I'm ready to go back home to my ladycave now!

    Ps- please say you've had baileys on icecream!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never actually had Baileys on ice-cream, but we are going to the shops tomorrow, so I may have to try it! :)

      Delete
  7. Awww I love this, such a fun idea. And can I just say? My stomach is grumbling reading about this, everything sounds SO good! I don't plan things with friends around Christmas but I might have to steal your idea next year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I don't think I could stuff myself with any more food after this week! You should definitely get your friends round next year though, it's great fun eating together and playing party games! :)

      Delete
  8. I feel like when you're away from home friends become your family. We always have a drink of baileys together as well!

    Http://tsidles.blogspot.de

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'd definitely consider my friends as my family now :)

      Delete

© Tiggy Poes and Flutterbys. All rights reserved.
BLOGGER TEMPLATE MADE BY pipdig