St Stephens Day

26th of December is a public holiday in Greece but is a day of no importance.  I see that elsewhere it is St Stephens day.  Him of 'Good King Wenceslas once came out on the feast of Stephen'.

In the Orthodox church, the western Orthodox church, however, St Stephen is celebrated on the 27th December, not the 26th.  

On the 26th we put most leftover-leftovers in tupperware bowls (as all plastic bowls here are called) and stashed them in the freezer.  

The girls had taken most of the extra  food with them on Christmas night and we sent away a couple of guests with enough rations to last them till New Year.  No-one went hungry and K kept face.

We then went down to the waterfront to find a sunny spot for coffee.  The harbour was an unusual sight.  There were few cars, fewer people, parking spaces everywhere, even in the middle of town.  It almost hurt to drive past and and not use those  empty spaces.  So much choice and no need to park. A once a year phenomenon.

We found a table in an empty but sunny square and had a glass of wine instead of coffee.   The next table filled with K's acquaintances and he had a few hours of conversation while I surfed the net and fretted because there was nothing at all interesting to take photos of.

Nothing of interest to write about.

A few more words about Christmas Day.  It was an organised chaos.  Everything got cooked.  The yorkshire puds rose and browned as they should, the brussel sprouts were not overcooked and mushy.  

We finally found fresh brussel sprouts.  Tiny wee things, cleaned one by one by Elli. Another vegetable affected by this summer and autumn's strange growing season.

The stuffing was the best I've ever made.  I'll write another post on the stuffing.  We had a deboned chicken roll ready stuffed with ham and cheese, red peppers and tomatoes.  The sage and onion stuffing was cooked separately.  

The gravy, made from scratch by Elli from a Jamie Oliver recipe and the tear'n share garlic bread also from Jamie was finger licking good.

Kumara (sweet potato) and smashed potatoes. Thanks Danae .

There were 3 dishes of pork.  Pork roast with crackling, roast pork and potatoes without fat and skin and wild pig stewed with onions.

Son in law Kyriakos expertly carved all the meat.  He's our go-to-man for meat.  At easter he debones any leftover lamb so everyone can take home ready-to-eat sliced meat.

Other son in law, Yiannis,  washes dishes and scrubs baking dishes.  

Useful sons in law! Thanks boys.

There was a coleslaw disaster.  The glass salad bowl was put on the big table and  the table was set, by Luli, with Xmas crackers on each plate. As the wine glasses were artistically arranged by Poppi one hit the salad bowl and broke, leaving glass shards on the table cloth and .... maybe in the coleslaw bowl.  So it all went in the rubbish and grand-daughter Nels made another one.  Our expert carver carved up another bowl of cabbage.  We had all the ingredients, pomegranate seeds, red apple, grated carrot and balsamic vinegar for an excellent sauce.  I think the 2nd turned out better than the first.

Pudding was a chocolate log made for me by a friend and colleague of my daughter.  Totally unexpected and so welcome and so scrumptious.  

It was all a lot of work but well worth it.

There was time to sit and chat, have a cigarette in the sun, take the dogs for a walk. Glasses were filled and emptied. Children, young adults, had Christmas stockings to rummage in, maybe for the last time. 

Today was clean up the house day.  Cleaning the floors mainly and washing tablecloths and t-towels, re-arranging chairs and setting cushions straight.

Christmas is over.  New Year will be much quieter.