I said I'd post more often, so...

Not that there's a lot to say. There should have been, but my "this cannot be a cold, I do not have time for a cold" has turned into, surprise, surprise, a cold. So I've been doping out, eating leftovers of turkey and gammon and so on, doing fairly mindless things and trying to sleep - usual problem of lying down making breathing difficult, but our lovely new reclining armchairs provide a a nice half-way option for dozing.

Read one of the pile of new books - "The Hobbit". I'd been amazed and horrified to discover just before Xmas that I didn't have a copy, so slapped it on the Amazon wishlist, and it duly appeared.

Haven't played with the new card-making toys as yet, but I have sorted things out a bit, so all the Xmas-related bits are in one box ready for next year and I can find the table.

Tried to carry on with the knitting I'd been doing, but while the four DPNs the piece was on are right there in the bag, the fifth one I need to knit on to isn't :(. Just been on Ebay, and after looking at prices, ordered a circular in the same size. I'd been playing with thick yarn and huge needles, after seeing something made from three DK yarns knitted together at a craft show, and the result knits up fast enough that I get a result before I get bored.

TV - seen a bit of Marple, and some Judge John Deed that Dave had recorded for some reason. Added a belt-loop to some trousers that were starting to fall down while watching (had planned on doing knitting..)

Diet is being ignored. Weight is being measured so I know how far up it's gone - I added another 2kg in Brussels, and about the same over Xmas so far. Oddly enough, size is staying about the same.

Haven't yet unpacked the new Wii, much less installed or used it - the cold de-incentivises these things.

Have hugged the new Bears. Wilson, the Sightsaver Bear, turns out to be a smaller brother to Harpur, the hospital bear. The stowaway who came with him is a rather quiet and shy little bear, whose name is probably "Noel".

Cooking - after the massive cook-fest on Xmas Day, not a lot has happened. The turkey carcass was stripped and turned into stock, I made an omelette this morning, and that's been about it. Preparations are starting for the Saturday bash, when I throw "tradtional" and "conventional" out of the window, and go for "I bet you can't...", "that looks like fun" and so on. It's a mead-tasting, but my nephew was quite keen on having medieval food (and possibly costume?) to go with the mead, so I'll be playing.
The goose, guineafowl and quail are defrosting, and tomorrow I'll acquire a chicken between the goose and guineafowl in size, bone the lot, and do a quadruple Bird. I'd been considering going up to five, but may just use stuffing to fill any gaps. Then there will be "something with chicken and fruit" by request from my niece, who doesn't care for multiply-stuffed things - I have ideas there, and I get to play with a toy that doesn't get used often enough, and the C13 Andalusian Cookbook - my notes for Djej Mquali look good. Just need to sort out some veg that isn't boring (maybe Buran from the same source?), and decide which of the many possible starters and desserts I fancy doing. Oh, and the chutneys and sauces - I have quinces, and am not afraid to use them.
A rather complex medieval chutney designed for roast meats
Sauce Madame, to go with the goose, though in this case I won't be cooking the ingredients inside the goose, as it'll be full of other birds. l
Since I have goose grease, I'll probably roast spuds in it - not medieval, but why not?
I quite fancy doing Crustade Lumbard for dessert, but practicality may dictate using up the pumpkin pie, Xmas cake and mince pies that didn't go at Xmas dinner. Or I could buy a lot of exotic fruit and do a fruit salad.
Days of Xmas - I did indeed get my figurative turtle doves yesterday, on the second day of Xmas. I hadn't realised, my parents had never had Xmas alone together since they'd been married, so that's what they'd done on Xmas day. Aww. My dad phoned me up and "purred" at me afterwards, not having read the LJ echo of the blog post till too late.
Today, third day of Xmas, should involve three French hens. Well, it involved chicken liver pate that had French wine in it, and defrosting some (possibly French? who knows?) chicken from the freezer.
Tomorrow is the Four Colly (or Calling) birds. I will have at least four birds present, but I doubt if they'll be "colly" (black), nor Calling.
Saturday, five gold rings... hmm.... will have to think about that. Something in the table decorations, perhaps.

Anyway, time to go and reheat some turkey, gravy, assorted veg and so on.