To be read ONLY AFTER the Christmas overdose... (My Perfect Christmas)

Member Name: chris105

Product:	My Perfect Christmas
Date:	31/12/01 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ok, it says so in the title, so why repeat myself?: It was The Perfect Christmas

Disadvantages: None

Now that we're all stuffed with Christmas turkey, the last thing we want to hear is another Christmas tale. But of course it'd have been somewhat difficult to write about my Christmas this year before the event, right? So I'm plodding on, relentlessly, and you're free to skip the op if you really don't want to read anymore.

We probably all dream of the perfect Christmas, the movie situation where the whole extended family, warts and all, reunites around a laden table beside a decorated Christmas tree surrounded by colourful packs containing gifts for all those present. When, then, it does come true (probably once in a lifetime - you know how it is, you can never recreate the perfect moment a second time, no matter how hard you try), it's an unbelievably spectacular Christmas.

Actually, it's the intangible factor, beyond the above list of desiderata, that makes the "perfect" Christmas. Reading this op, you might end up asking yourselves, "well, what was that special?". There's that intangible factor that makes a Christmas that bit more special than others. I've tried to bring it out in my op...

So then, Christmas 2001 in the chris105 household.
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It all started on the 23rd December, actually, with Mrs chris105 (yes I admit it, though I usually love to cook, this year it was her treat) stuffing the turkey and gradually burying herself behind a mountain of groceries and food ingredients. There was Christmas Eve, of course, with yet another dinner (prepared this time by chris105 himself) consisting of Chinese food, but that's another story, as they say.

Roll on till the morning of the 25th please... there we are... The undersigned being something of an obsessive compulsive when it comes to rituals, we duly had our exchange of Christmas gifts beneath the tree before our guests arrived. Sacrosanct moment, that. Untouchable. Fol
lowing which, fervent preparations and chopping and dicing and stir-frying and grilling went on unabatedly until the doorbell rang (too punctually, alas - there should be unwritten laws about turning up late when the hosts are cooking... unless their food is ready on time, of course, in which case said laws should dictate the most scrupulous punctuality).

While our guests, consisting of our closest and dearest relatives (none of those cousins thrice removed and great-aunts, thank you very much), helped themselves to drinks and generally busybodied themselves around our kitchen, inspecting and discussing our culinary merits and demerits, we slaved on: more chopping and dicing and stir-frying and grilling...

Then, just before lunchtime, it was presents time again: this time for the whole ratatouille of guests. Everyone was duly seated in the living room, as presents were handed out, and unwrapped carefully or wildly, depending on the individual's... ahem, temperament! With the smiles thus fitted out on everyone's faces (genuine ones, I'd like to believe... yes of course they were, 'tis the jolly season after all), we sat down to dinner. ... And proceeded to make fools of ourselves with the crackers and silly paper hats and whatnot.

Who cares, it's Christmas...

For anyone who hadn't got the drift, I was relishing these jolly rituals, cheesy as they might be. Believe me, when you're living the perfect Christmas you don't stop to analyse the degree of cheesiness of the situation. The question just doesn't present itself. You just enjoy the day, hoping it'll never end - and of course remembering to take a couple of snapshots just in case the day does, eventually, end.

Christmas lunch was a sumptuous, all-stops-pulled, affair, starting off with tomato and onion toasties dipped in pesto cheese, and selections of parma ham or salmon rolls, marinated Greek olives and grilled vegetables. Next
in line, delicious broccoli and ricotta cannelloni, cooked in fresh tomato sauce and besciamelle, sprinkled with pine nuts... mmmm..... to die for!

Needless to say, all this (and what followed) was washed down with copious amounts of wine. (It wouldn't be a chris105 situation without rivers of the reds and whites...)

The main dish was... roll of drums, please... turkey - duly stuffed and chestnuted. Accompanied of course by rice and veg. And for the vegetarians amongst us, salmon in yakitori sauce (he he he... you'll have to figure that one out!).

For desserts, ladies and gentlemen, there was the coup de grace - Christmas pudding with brandied freshly whipped cream, just enough to drive those cholesterol sensors off the wall. And then, for anyone with any space left over for more food, the afternoon progressed with regular imbibing of wine, coffee and mince pies.

Ahhhh...
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This was the menu. As I said earlier, apart from the great food, there was the excellent company, the tree and other decorations, the Christmas music (together with Robbie Williams's new swing CD) and the presents. But there was also, I have to admit, another very important factor. We moved into a new house this year, so this was our very first Christmas in our new home - newly decorated, newly furnished, etc etc. Thus, for me at least, there was the added joy of a housewarming event.

As you can figure out, it was one bloomin' great Christmas. This is something I've dreamt about for ages, and although previous Christmases have been pretty good too (well, some of them at any rate), there was always this dream Christmas that would perhaps one day happen. Oh well, this was the year. It happened. Were I a schoolboy (...) writing an essay on "Describe your perfect Christmas", this would be the essay I'd've written. Which gives all you closet-teachers out there (and legitimate teachers too, when they&#
39;re back from Tenerife) the perfect cue to mark this essay and leave comments in red.

And a Happy New Year to you all!

PS I kept it short as I know you've all had enough of Christmas ops...

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