Today's Sunday dinner menu was:-
Roasted chicken
Sage and onion stuffing
Cranberry sauce
Roasted potatoes
Roasted carrots
Roasted parsnips
Roasted squash
Brussels sprouts
Yorkshire puddings
Homemade chicken gravy
For dessert Shirley had made Eve's pudding using fallen apples from our garden. We haven't had a glut of apples this year which I put down to the short window of opportunity that pollinating insects had with our apple blossom in the springtime. Too much wind, rain and cool temperatures happened just when we needed a warmer and more settled period.
Little Phoebe turned her nose up at the adult dessert and instead opted for an ice cream lolly. I noticed her messy chops and grabbed my camera, recognising that I had not snapped any pictures of her for a while. In the meantime her brand new sister Margot slept contentedly in her crib.
Here's our messy granddaughter at two years and ten months old. She met Father Christmas at Thornbridge Hall on Friday but did not quite know what to make of the beardie old fellow in his famous red outfit.
Phoebe remains the most delightful child imaginable and it has been a rare privilege to see her regularly and to observe her development at close quarters. For this I thank the COVID pandemic because if it hadn't happened, she would have grown up in London and her parents would still be working down there. And right now we would have only been playing a small, long distance part in her life.
That meal looks incredible although I'll have to look up Eve's pudding. What a darling face and smile she has!
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference 2 years and 10 months makes! But I must remind myself that I am also 2 years and 10 months older.
DeleteThis post radiated warmth.
ReplyDeleteYour granddaughter reminds me so much of ours who is 2 years & 7 months. Delightful.
Our Sunday supper is still roasting, but for comparison sake...we're having meatloaf, roasted beets, cauliflower, & mushrooms, plus mashed potatoes for my grown son who can't live without them. For dessert, blackberries with vanilla soft ice cream. Our next grandchild is due December 31!
We have something significant in common DBS. I hope all goes well with the new grandchild and that he or she begins life in excellent health.
DeleteWhat a cutie she is! It is a treat that she is so close to you, Neil.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fancy dinner you made! I had to Google Eve's pudding as I had never heard of it. Sort of like an apple cobbler? Looks yummy.
It was really nice. We haven't had it in a while.
DeletePlus being cute , she's a ham and knows it. Good times for you both.
ReplyDeleteYesterday she was pretending to be a dog and biting my leg. I gave her some dog biscuits... well they were potato puffs actually.
DeleteIt must be a while since you posted a photo of Phoebe as she seems to have grown so much. At lease she didn't cry or scream at Father Christmas, as some children do.
ReplyDeleteWe tell children to be wary of strangers and then we plonk them on an old man's knee. No wonder they're often stressed by Santa.
DeleteShe is just so gorgeous! Your dinner sounds lovely, except for the parsnips.
ReplyDeleteThe only way you will get over your aversion to parsnips is by eating them but only roasted ones - roasted in oil and butter. Mmmmmmm!
DeleteYour Sunday dinners are sumptuous! Do you have much leftovers to last you into the next week after cooking so many kinds of vegetables? My maximum number of different veg in one meal is three, usually a combination of spuds, carrots and/or parnips, pumpkin, fennel, brussel sprouts or whatever else is in season and on offer in the organic range at Aldi's (or homegrown by O.K.'s Mum).
ReplyDeletePhoebe is equally lucky - having her grandparents so close by is wonderful, as it was for me and my sister when we grew up.
I usually prepare just enough of the vegetables but there's frequently leftover meat. Tonight I may prepare a stirfry using rescued chicken from yesterday. I put the remains of the carcass on the lawn for local foxes and by this morning it had all gone.
DeleteHaving capable grandparents nearby is a wonderful thing for both the children and the parents. Happiness, belonging and security are boosted.
She gets more enchanting each time you show us a photograph of her. I do hope that her little sister will be equally delightful.
ReplyDeleteThat's a delicious meal you prepared YP - a lot of thought, and hard work, must have gone into it. Whenever we had roast chicken at home my mother always made Parsley and Thyme stuffing, as did her mother before her, and I've always done the same.
Parsley and thyme eh? I will keep that in mind for the next time I roast a chicken.
DeleteBut I would like to see the photographs that Phoebe took of you eating. No, on second thoughts I wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteTake that image out of my head!!!
DeleteI am happy to inform you that I keep my elbows off the table, close my mouth when masticating and never turn my fork over as that is the height of bad table manners.
DeleteHaving grandchildren living close is a blessing, we have one family local the others all live over 100 miles away. They are beautiful photo's.
ReplyDeleteThat's the modern world for you. They call it geographical mobility.
DeleteGood food, good family, a successful life.
ReplyDeletePerhaps that is what it is all about.
Deleteuntil it's finished it's really good
ReplyDeleteWhy speak in riddles Abasozora? Are you a genie?
DeleteEven messy Phoebe is adorable.
ReplyDeleteShe enjoyed yesterday's meal and tucked in like a trooper.
DeleteYou made your own Thanksgiving dinner right there!
ReplyDeleteI have never had a parsnip in my life. I'm not sure I've even seen them in stores.
Phoebe is adorable. Yes, if the covid lockdown is the reason you are geographically close to her and her family, then you do owe a debt to that dreadful time.
Did you not roast the brussel sprouts too? Seasoned with a little salt and pepper, roasted and then spritzed with a little cider vinegar before consumption is delightful!
ReplyDeleteSounds nice! I've made oven-roasted brussel sprouts with red pesto some time last year (I think), which was also delicious.
DeleteWell, I'm glad to hear that Covid did someone some GOOD!
ReplyDeleteThat could be Christmas Dinner. Smashing photos.
ReplyDeleteGadfrey! People comment on my blog how good WE eat! That is a wonderfui Christmas Dinner indeed. And I love Phoebe's big dark eyes in that first photo.
ReplyDeleteYou can see the mischief in her eyes! Speaking of which, hers are beautiful. I think there was some good came from Covid, such as your ability to bond with your daughter's children through living closer to them. In our family's case, the research into long Covid may benefit my daughter who has a little understood illness called ME/CFS - it has a lot of the same symptoms as long Covid and often starts after a respiratory illness too. I am hopeful there might be treatments developed that will help her. The research that's being done now wouldn't have happened without the sheer numbers of people affected by long Covid worldwide.
ReplyDeleteHello jenny_o, my mother-in-law has ME, and one of her granddaughters is suffering CFS. There might also be a genetic disposition towards it. Hopefully, your daughter's symptoms can be eased.
DeleteThank you; I hope the same for your inlaws. There are other autoimmune diseases in my daughter's paternal background and she has Fibromyalgia in addition to ME/CFS, so I really hope science finds something to help her before too much longer.
DeleteShe's so sweet. That's nice that covid ended up with a happy ending for your family. Children raised near grandparents do much better apparently. Phoebe will do fantastic with you and Shirley nearby, as well as Margot.
ReplyDelete