Christmas Dinner Part Deux

As I may have previously mentioned, myself & The Hubs got to spend Christmas Day on our own at home, having a non-turkey dinner and it was all fabulous.  Mammy In Law was meant to come down to us on St. Stephen's Day for Christmas Dinner Part Deux complete with turkey, but a combination of her falling (she's ok) & our water vanishing (came back after 4 days) meant that we had to put the plans on hold until the New Year.

So, a date was set, which happened to be the first Friday of January which meant that I was just back to work & barely coping with the lack of lie-ins - you do turn into an absolute slug during the holidays - and decided to prepare some of the dinner in advance.  On Thursday night, I made the Spiced Red Cabbage because it takes a good hour to cook & I didn't want any stress.  And yes, that does mean I can sometime be rather lazy & take every available shortcut to save time (as you will find out soon...)

As we didn't eat until after 8pm, I decided to skip the starter & go straight for the main course

We had a Three Bird Roast from Aldi - I've cooked this before and it's remarkable value at €12.99 - it cooks from frozen in 2 hours and is very moist, although I wouldn't really rate the stuffing because mine is far nicer!
The plate was also full of veg - Spiced Red Cabbage, Garlicky Green Beans with Shallots and the old favourite, Hasselback Potatoes.  The silence was deafening as the three of us bent our heads & only came up for air occasionally!

Dessert was a Chocolate Fondant Gateau (sent to me by friends in Paris via my parents) - it's a packet mix but all it contains is chocolate, cocoa, sugar & flour, so you still add your butter and eggs before it is baked in the oven.  I served it with a homemade Lime Creme Fraiche and a large spoon of Haagen Daaz Chocolate, Pralines & Caramel Ice Cream.

We could barely move afterwards... just a short shuffle to the sofa with a bottle of  Muscadet sur Lie made for a very relaxing evening.