Vlogmas 2017 (Week Four): Christmas Day with Family, Food and Presents
The final week of vlogmas includes the lead up to, and the big days its self.
In the lead up up the big day, there's lot of food to be prepared, and celebrations with friends. On Christmas Day, there's more food, plus time with family enjoying time together and some gifts.
Christmas Day Food:
This year's dinner was very similar to last years feast, with a few changes:
- Turkey
Local, organic, free-range bird from Uptons of Bassett, roasted with rapeseed oil, lemons, clementines, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, sage and thyme - Gravy
Made from roasting juices and organic chicken stock - Pork shoulder stuffing with red onion, chestnuts, sage and cranberries
A Jamie Oliver recipe with some modifications, including dried cranberries added and gf bread crumbs - Sausages in bacon
Use thinly slice pancetta for wrapping for extra flavour and crunch - Roast potatoes
Par-boiled, left to cool, then roast in rapeseed oil, with rosemary - Roast parsnips
Par-boiled, left to cool, then roasted with honey - Carrots with butter, sugar and star anis
Cooked in butter, sugar and star anise from a Tom Kerridge recipe - Cauliflower cheese
Gently roasted cauliflower covered in a basic béchamel sauce, with lots of cheese in, and cheesy breadcrumbs over the top - Brussels sprouts with bacon and chestnuts
A BBC Good Food recipe - Red cabbage with apple and balsamic vinegar
An amalgamation of a number of recipes, including spices, red onions, apples, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar - Cranberry and apple sauce
Another amalgamation of recipes from all over, following the basics of this Jamie Oliver recipe, but with my own spices added - Green beans with lemon
Lightly boiled and dressed in fresh lemon and rapeseed oil - Butternut squash mash with spiced roasted seeds
Roasted the squash whole, mashed the flesh and served with the seeds roasted in cumin and paprika - Steamed Spinach
Simply steamed and served
Christmas Gifts
I got some amazing gifts, including my favourite scent (Givenchy Pour Homme Blue Label) and a Hans Zimmer Masterclass.
I got my family all kinds of bits. Particularly successful gifts were books for my Dad (including Post-Capitalism: A Guide to Our Future by Paul Mason — one of my favourite reads from 2017), and "Strong Girls Club" tops for my nieces from Muthahood.
Vlogmas 2017 (Week One): A Christmas Wedding, Birthday and More
The first week of vlogmas 2017 includes Rosie's birthday, time with family and friends, Christmas concerts at work, time spent with friends, and Laura and Pete's wedding.
An Adventure on the Isle of Wight
At Christmas we promised my niece and nephew a trip to the Isle of Wight, two weeks ago, we got to go on that adventure.
2016
If my 2016 has a theme, it is probably this: finding comfort amidst the confusion.
An Unsure Start
Finishing university in 2015 meant I was back in my old job — the reason I had gone to uni in the first place — and wondering what my plan was going to be. In September 2015, I gave myself a year to find the next new challenge, and so had set about writing a funding bid to Youth Music for a new project at work. That application went off in January, and kick started so much of this years big moments.
M-Tech
By May, we found out that our funding bid was successful and my new role as M-Tech project manager had begun. It's meant incredibly long hours, and so much extra work, but it was the challenge I needed when I decided it was make or break last September. It's been an incredible start, and one of my first jobs when I'm back in January is to wrap up what we've learnt from the Autumn term, which I can't wait to share.
Pyra
Over the year, I've been recording with Pyra, continuing to work on new music together. This year, we both feel like we're creating our best work yet, and whilst much of it remains hidden until it is finished, 2016 did see two songs we worked on go out in to the world: ‘Ride U Better’ and ‘Bodies’ (embedded above).
Invaleurs
In August, I released an EP under the name Invaleurs:
I have a confession.
For too long, the anxieties I experience around sharing my music online have kept me from creating things I love. But when I set out writing these songs, I made them just for me.
With that freedom, I could explore more freely, able to push beyond the boundaries of my own comfort zone, to create songs I am proud of. And so, I am sharing them with you
If you enjoy them, if you share them too, then I feel honoured to know that these songs have found new connections beyond the ones I hold with them. If you don't, that's fine too. I've already done what I set out to do.
Family Holiday
This year we went on a big family holiday to Cornwall, and it was an unforgettable experience: a wonderful, special time spent with family in such a beautiful location. I video blogged the trip to try and keep the memories captured to remember in years to come.
The family holiday came accompanied by two big announcements:
1. Becoming An Uncle (Again)
My brother and his wife, and their two beautiful children, are adding to their family with another one. And later in the year, I got to help them make a special announcement about it...
2. My Sister's Engagement
And the second big announcement was that my sister got engaged!
Annora Bird
Two of my very best friend's a simply the most adorable little baby in to the world, and every time I see them together, my heart swells with pride and love for them all: I couldn't be happier. I wrote a song for her, on the day of her birth, and Emma writes the most incredibly honest, funny and frank blog about what it's like being an expectant, and then new, mum.
UK Music Award
As a result of the successful M-Tech bid, I was nominated by Solent University for the UK Music ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ award. It was an honour to be nominated amongst other high achieving new graduates.
Starting a Blog
Finally, in 2016 I started this blog. As I wrote about in October, I started this blog as a way of creating and releasing music that was better for my mental health. And I'm so happy with what I've started to build. As this blog grows, and develops, it's been fun to explore what shape music can take when you remove the constraints of the old methods of production and consumption. I don't feel like I have any answers yet, but asking the questions has been reason enough on its own.
It started with Summer Shorts...
Moving on to Autumn Pieces...
And finishing the year with Vlogmas.
So, to finish, I come back to the theme of 2016: finding comfort amidst the confusion. With all that has happened this year, I have tried to learn to bring myself more fully in to each moment, to enjoy and take comfort in friends and family, and to be a little kinder to myself. What did you learn in 2016?
Vlogmas (Parts 8–10): A Very Brombley Christmas
From Christmas Eve through Boxing Day, the Brombley clan, along with assorted others we've pick up throughout the years, come together for Christmas celebrations. Every year, I make the food.
Food & Recipes
Christmas Dinner:
- Turkey
Local, organic, free-range bird from Uptons of Bassett, roasted with butter, lemons, clementines, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, sage and thyme - Gravy
Made from roasting juices and organic chicken stock - Pork shoulder stuffing with cranberries
A Jamie Oliver recipe with dried cranberries added - Sausages in bacon
Use thinly slice pancetta for wrapping for extra flavour and crunch - Roast potatoes
Par-boiled, left to cool, then roast in hot goose fat - Roast parsnips
Par-boiled, left to cool, then roasted in hot goose fat - Carrots
Cooked in butter, sugar and star anise from a Tom Kerridge recipe - Cauliflower cheese
Gently cooked cauliflower covered in a basic béchamel sauce, with lots of cheese in, and over the top - Brussels sprouts with chestnuts
A BBC Good Food recipe - Red cabbage with apple and balsamic vinegar
Another Jamie Oliver recipe - Cranberry sauce
Another BBC Good Food recipe with a cinnamon stick thrown in for extra festive cheer - Yorkshire pudding
I used this Jamie Oliver recipe
Boxing Day Lunch:
- Ham in Coca-Cola
4kg ham, from Uptons of Bassett, cooked according to Nigella's recipe - Coca-Cola sauce
I used a recipe from Rock Recipes, replacing soy sauce with tamari to make it gluten free for my sister - Dauphinois potatoes
I used a BBC Good Food recipe - Roasted sweet potato
Par-boiled and roasted in rapeseed oil - Carrots
Boiled and glazed with honey - Green Beans
Steamed and dressed in fresh lemon - Squash
Roasted whole, then mashed and served with toasted seeds - Whole Roast Cauliflower
I used a fairly plain recipe, as this was a side, not a main, but there are many more exciting versions out that would make an incredible main dish - Spinach
Quickly sautéed, and well drained - Broccoli
Steamed - Sausages in bacon
Just like Christmas day
A couple of staples I cannot cook without:
- Maldon sea salt flakes
The best salt for everyday cooking - Rapeseed oil
A British crop, with lots of the goodness of olive oil, but a higher smoke point
Vlogmas (Part 7): Festive Sausage Rolls
This quick three ingredient recipe was a bit of a freestyle, but sausage rolls are a must-have at Christmas, and homemade ones don't come easier than this.
Puff Pastry and Sausage Meat (plus optional egg wash). Easy. Buy the good stuff (it's Christmas) and make Sausage Rolls. Is it easy? Yes. Is it cheating? Sure. Is that worth worrying about? No.
Vlogmas (Part 4): Christmas Dance Party
After helping them out this year, I joined the Integr8 Dance Company for their Christmas party in Winchester.
Vlogmas (Part 3): Wrapping Presents
I love wrapping presents. I know it drives some people mad, but I love it.
For me, at Christmas, it has to be brown paper. No other novelty, shiny, patterned nonsense will distract me from the pleasure of a lovingly wrapped brown paper package, tied with ribbon. I used two page this year, brown and glittery from Tiger, and red and christmassy from East India Company. I like to wrap gifts in tissue paper before they go in to brown paper: the extra layers prolong the opening, adding to sense of occasion and extending the ephemeral and momentary joy just that little longer.
Vlogmas (Part 2): Finishing the Ultimate Christmas Cake
After weeks of patient waiting, feeding my ultimate Christmas cake with rum, the time has come to enjoy the rewards of my hard work.
After much debate, I decided that I would ice my Christmas cake this year. Although, breaking with my usual shortcut of buying ready-rolled sheets to throw over the cake, I decided to just ice the top of the cake. Where too much icing can be too rich — yes, such a thing is possible, yes, even at Christmas — I could not resist the marzipan sweetness and bright white shell of an iced cake, and so icing the top seemed like a good compromise. I was going to leave the icing plain, but with lots of spare icing, I couldn't resist a little decoration: a few flat white shapes to create a simple winter scene.
Taking the first cut from the cake is always a nervous moment — even more so when a camera is pointing straight at it — so many mistakes can stay hidden until that first slice is taken — undercooked, overcooked, fruit all fallen to the bottom — but I'm pretty happy with how this year's cake turned out! And the taste, is, well, frankly, incredible!
Vlogmas (Part 1): A Very Beartooth Christmas
One of my best friends was over from Ohio this week, visiting Southampton and joining the end Beartooth tour, so we all went to the German Market and the Beartooth show.
The German Market in the centre of Southampton has been a regular fixture of Christmas for as long as I can remember: small stalls in wooden sheds appear in December alongside German Bars selling beer and mulled wine in the centre of Southampton High Street.
A new addition to the market is a flying robotic Santa — yes, it's as creepy as it sounds — which is accompanied by an equally robotic pre-recorded voice announcement. Totally bizarre, but it's Christmas, so lets embrace the weirdness. From the market we made out way to the Engine Rooms for the Beartooth show.
It was a total honour to get to watch the Beartooth boys perform from side of stage. They always put on an incredible show, and they certainly did not disappoint. During the encore, the guitar tone for Caleb's solo was truly righteous.
Christmas Decorations
Putting up the Christmas tree at my parents' house is always a family affair, and this year is no different.
With each passing year, Christmas brings new treats and surprises. Having little ones in the family, and with more on their way, each festive season brings new ways of keeping fresh what, as an adult, can so easily become so familiar.
Christmas, for me, is a time which serves as a reminder that little things have a big meaning: little acts of kindness and thoughtfulness shine far brighter than expensive gifts of large quantities of presents.
The Ultimate Christmas Cake
Mid-November is the time of year to bake the annual christmas cake: leaving just enough time over advent for it to be fed and mature. With a mix of alternative Christmas songs playing, it is time to bake.
I must confess, despite the title of this post, I don't subscribe to the idea that there is any one ultimate version of a food. As someone who love to cook and bake, I do have countless personal preferences on ingredients and techniques, but I also love to try new things.
If you're looking for a tried and tested fail-safe christmas cake bake, then I suggest you use the Delia Smith recipe that forms the basis of my own and read no further. However, if you're interested in some of my own personal and opinionated takes on a classic, then read on at your own risk.
1. Say No To Currents
Currents — and candy peel whilst we're at it — are evil and wrong and have no place in a cake, let alone one of the most important cakes of the year. Currents, or "dead flies" as I prefer to call them, are a far lesser dried fruit than so many other great options. My personal preference is for raisins, dried cranberries and dried apricots. I also prefer a dried cherry (preferably sour) over a glacé cherry too. And totally avoid the deplorable ingredient that is candy peel.
But honestly, you do you: stick to 900g in total and you'll be fine. I've never once used the same combination of fruits, and I've not had a disaster yet.
2. Rum Not Brandy
It might seem like sacrilege, but honestly, swapping dark rum in place of brandy is one of the best ideas I've ever had. Sailor Jerry's works — the old recipe even more so — and Bacardi Oakheart is this years choice, and I've every faith it will be just as good. Delia says to soak the fruit in 100ml over night. I find that to be far to stingy. I soak my fruit in lots of rum and that works for me.
3. No Nuts
No nuts.
4. Maple Syrup Not Treacle
Honestly, I just go fed up of having a sticky red tin sat in the cupboard that only gets on tablespoon taken out once a year. So I've given up on treacle and, in danger of becoming someone who puts avocado in a cake and calls it "healthy", replaced it with maple syrup.
5. To Ice Or Not To Ice?
Whenever I do Ice, it is always ready rolled. I have no time for rolling my own icing, let alone making it. I've not decided on whether to ice or not this year, as sometimes even the minimal effort of unrolling single sheets of marzipan and icing seems like too large a barrier to place between the choice to take the cake's first slice and actually being allowed to cut it open. However, I always appreciate the seasonal joy that comes from the look — and additional sugar — of an iced cake, so I expect I will endeavour to do so again this year.
With the cooled cake fed with rum, wrapped in baking parchment and foil, and stored away in an airtight container, it will come out every two weeks to again be splashed in rum up until Christmas arrives.
So, what makes your ultimate christmas cake? What you would put in or leave out?