Panic! At the Tesco

Well done, we’re nearly there. The countdown to Christmas that started on the 1st of November is almost over. You may now only need to see that John Lewis ad another half a dozen times before they start thinking of the next one.

The fact that is it Christmas Eve, and yes I can confirm it is actually Sunday, means that this will be a short one as there are a million things to do as is, I’m sure, the case for both my readers.

We are now in those dangerous last few hours when panic sets in and Louise heads out to Tesco on some kamikaze mission to buy something, anything before they shut. Having agreed upon and the then totally ignored the original budget, now we are in dangerous territory of panic purchasing, and I always breathe a sigh of relief when those shop doors close for the end of the day on Christmas Eve. The fact that we don’t have Glace Cherries will not make a material difference to our celebrations.

This year may be different as Louise has just got home from her work’s do. She stayed over despite the hotel being about seven minutes from our front door, so with any luck a near terminal hangover will present any further last-minute damage to the girl’s inheritance. She has just gone back to bed, hopefully until Tesco is closed. As an aisde, I am yet to understand why there is passion fruit in our fruit bowl but I am sure it is part of some master plan to which I am not yet privy.

I’ve had two very late nights due to Mustard engagements. Friday was a corporate do in centre of Manchester which meant a bed time approaching 3am and last night a more civilised affair in a local hostelry seeing me in bed just before 2am. I was awake after five hours sleep this morning so today should be fun as we battle to get the house ready for our guests, who are us, the girls, Tom, Freddie and Louise’s Mum who see the house in a right state on a very regular basis.

I am sad to report that I had to break my duck yesterday and physically enter a shop. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to secure any Hollandaise sauce from our online supermarket shop for our traditional Eggs Benedict on Christmas morning. This meant enduring about forty-five seconds in our local Co-Op before escaping the retail madness. That’ll do until next year.

As well as the cleaning and tidying today we must also undertake another traditional task and that is the making of the Eggnog. We’ve done this for a good few years now and despite whisked eggs, milk, sugar and rum not sounding the best combo, sprinkle some cinnamon on it and all is well. The same can be said for almost anything though right? It is the most calorific-ally filled thing since Rick Waller but worth it so we can emulate the Griswolds, as let’s face it, Clark is my spirit animal especially on our trips overseas. Look out for social media updates later of the preparation of this liquid master peice.

Speaking of which (seamless segue-way), earlier in the week whilst watching a TV show that probably involved Kirstie Allsop making decorations out of belly button fluff and the tears of immigrants, I was messaged by a former colleague who is currently out in Florida. I think I can claim some responsibility for his now impressive Florida obsession and he plans correctly and generally does it in a way of which I approve. Having said that, the reason for his message was that he was changing the plan. I put that to one side and read further.

He needed somewhere to eat in his new plan that was around I Drive as they were at Universal, his wife was craving a salad after many days of stodge and he wanted a good steak. Now, I won’t tell you all the options that fell from my brain within seconds of that because you’ll all have your own views and they’ll be wrong. Suffice to say that I was able to begin typing immediately and offer four alternatives. I could have gone on but didn’t want to make the choice too hard!

You would probably be able to guess that Teak was one of them. I’m sure they do salad, right? Anyway, they ended up going to Texas De Brazil and it seems they enjoyed it very much as I was sent photographic evidence of their food comas. His wife was able to fill up at the salad bar (rookie mistake) whilst the endless swords of meat (I’ve watched that film on pay per view whilst away with work) satisfied the cravings for steak.

It’s always nice to share the knowledge and experience built up over all these trips. It almost made up for my jealousy of them being there when I’m not!

Enough already….it’s time to get the house ready for festivities and of course begin eating. From everyone here in the world of Mkingdon, we wish you a Christmas that brings you everything you want and need and of course some good presents too.

Till the next time…..