Hogmanay (New Years Eve) is a time for celebration and warmth, feasting and joyousness.
As a Scot, this is one of my favourite festivals and in the past this was far more celebrated here than Christmas. I am always fascinated by what kinds of food people eat.
Growing up, my mum would always buy a small turkey and we'd have a smaller, less extravagant version of our Christmas dinner. Personally, now that I have a family of my own I like to have a ham at this time. I think hams, or nut loaves for the vegetarians among us, are far more apt than a turkey, given that turkey is not a native bird to the UK/Europe.
I have watched a ridiculous amount of food shows this month, in prep for Christmas and New Yer and must admit that I really enjoyed Nigel Slater's 12 nights of Christmas. He had some lovely meals on display.
I do find that all the extravagance of this time of yer can be very tiring, so I try not to go overboard. I'm not a natural fan of cream as it is but I do love roast potatoes (probably because they are a rare treat), Camembert, and gravy are probably the most fattening things I would go for, other than a good cake/trifle.
I tend to cook the ham in a pot of water, as a soup, then take it out, add jam or honey and pop it in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of it. We will probably serve it with roast potatoes, seasonal veg, gravy and a dollop of redcurrant jelly, or some other fruity condiment.
Personally, I find that I would eat a lot more if we had a buffet rather than a meal, I graze and eat a lot more than I would with a meal. This is just a personal thing though :D
People tend to think of December as a carby time of yer but this month has apples, clementines, cranberries, chestnuts, sprouts, cabbage, horseradish, celeriac, kale, pomegranate, satsumas and swede/turnip. There are a lot of fresh flavours, a lot f fresh fish and game.
This is also a great time of year to dig into your condiments/preserves. I love mustard and sharp jellies/jams/marmalades to accompany meals/pop on sandwiches.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year xx
On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scotland about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback: The Island of the Mist is book 2 The Stone in the Sword is book 1 The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats: The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin
