Christmas stress got to me!

I wouldn’t say I was a particularly stressed person these days. Christmas is never a huge affair as we have no children or grandparents to buy for, so there should be no reason for panic or last minute stress. No mountains of mince pies to bake, and no pans of red cabbage bubbling in the oven. It’s all very low key, but we always want to celebrate with something different and delicious.

I’m becoming much more vegetarian.

Jamie Olivers Nut Roast. Delicious!

This year, we have both been eating much more vegetarian food, and rarely have red meat. The occasional venison casserole, and a chilli, but generally we eat more fish and a little chicken. At least three nights a week we eat vegetarian. I’ve tried my hand at nut roast, and love the red cabbage biriani in the river cottage book, More Veg.

I didn’t want to be vegetarian on Christmas Day.

For Christmas, as it’s just the two of us, I thought we would have a bird with a bird – or as our butcher calls it, a Three Bird Roast. I assumed this was a small piece of meat. I ordered well ahead to be organised, explaining it was for two people, so could it be a chicken, and then maybe a duck breast and pheasant, the young lad in the butchers wrote everything down and we decided on the stuffing. For two people. Note this.

It was a great idea. Easy to carve. Weigh it and roast, and no left over bones.

It’s massive. Far too excessive.

I collected it this morning, and had quite a shock. Not only did it cost £55.00, it weighs 13lbs!

I did question it, only to be told it was ‘a three bird roast’. As in, tough, that’s what you ordered.

I actually came home and cried. I’m not sure why, but on pondering, was it:

The excessive cost?

The pure size of it when there are people out there who will have nothing this Christmas?

The fact that it is meat?

I guess a mixture of all three. I shall cut it in half, and cover the end with bacon. Freeze the other half, (if it will fit in the freezer!), and make a note not to make the same mistake again. You never know, by next year we may be eating mushroom wellington, or goats cheese parcels.

The excess upsets me.

I don’t want to be a bah humbug at all, as I love the Yule Tide season, but I get so upset with the excess. It’s all very well buying in some lovely extras – Some smoked salmon, special biscuits, a few chocolates and of course mince pies and cream, but when I go to the supermarket and actually feel the frenzy, it really does hit me hard. Have we bought enough? Enough for what? We can only eat so much in a day!

The food banks need you!

It was good to see a food bank collection box in Sainsburys though. Secret Santa boxes for the homeless in town have been collected by local businesses, and there are more outreach centres than ever before. Maybe next year I will do more for others on Christmas Day. Give something back.

In the meantime, this year, I have made just enough sausage rolls for the two of us, and I have finally iced the cake. I’ve taken a moment to consider why I was so upset, and next year will be different. I won’t be ordering a three bird roast that’s for sure!

Merry Christmas!

Its not Christmas without a cake. A focal point.

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