My Christmas style
Festive foliage, brown paper packages & a champagne cocktail
HAPPY FRI yay to all my subscribers so wonderful to be here with you and as ever thank you for being here. How are you all? I would love to know what you have been cooking and what you feel about this time of year and how you celebrate the upcoming festive season (do drop your comments below)
This week I write about what is important to me and some of my favourite traditions and rituals from my kitchen to my home. December is in sight and I simply love this time of year. I know I have told you but I do simple LOVE it.
A call to all the things wonderful and essential rituals begin. As the season turns from Autumn to Winter and the promise of Christmas is a welcome warmth in every way. From stir-up Sunday to the first Christmas film of the season, to planning homemade gifts with love and bringing decorating my home. There are so many wonderful moments which bring us all together to celebrate this wonderful time of year.
I will see you tomorrow (to my paid subscriber community) at 10am for my *Recipe for the weekend* my “Clementine drizzle Bundt cake”
Thank you so much Emily x
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Join me as my days unfold something new each week an extract of my time where ever I am shore to shore.
Saturday 11th November
A slow weekend ahead. Beef stew, baby potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots and winter herbs on the stove. One pot wonders. A glass of red.
Sunday 12th November
Writing at my desk. Finding inspiration in what I think and feel. Book 3 begins.
Monday 13th November
Travelling to London and returned to Carousel a fabulous wine bar/ restaurant/ event space to be part of a panel with an incredible line up of women hosted by Clare Finney with Tara Wigley, Amy Poon, Skye Mcalpine, Thomasina Miers, and myself to discuss Mealtimes & Mothers.
Mealtimes and Mothers
From the moment of a child’s conception, feeding him or her is the mother’s responsibility. Within an hour of being born, they are – all being well – at their mother’s breast. This intimate act, new mums are repeatedly told, is vital not just for the child’s health, but for the bond between mother and baby, with breastfeeding stimulating the release of oxytocin, the famous ‘love hormone’. At no point in our lives is the feeling of love so synonymous with feeding; is the emotion so united to its physical expression; and from that point on, a mother’s food is synonymous with a mother’s love.
At least, that’s the ideal scenario, sold to pregnant woman, new mothers and society in general. The reality is rather less rosy. There are countless women who struggle not just with breastfeeding, but with weaning, teething and feeding in general, from those early years right through to teenage-hood, when the table is often more of a battleground than somewhere to eat. Ultra-processed foods dominate British children’s diets, thanks to smart marketing and convenience. Meanwhile, parenting amongst heterosexual parents is slowly becoming more equal. Nevertheless, this romanticism around mothers and mealtimes remains – in some ways with sound justification, as for millennia, feeding the family has been women’s sole responsibility and or most beloved dishes are the cumulative result of women handing their culinary knowledge down the maternal line. For some women this historical and biological legacy is cause for celebration and pride; for others, it is a tyranny that results only in frustration and failure. Today, in 2023, with women rightly pursuing independent lives and careers, do we reconcile and interpret this connection between food and a mother’s love?
Tuesday 14th November
Fortnum and Mason lunch to celebrate all things Beach Huts. Catch up with friends. Time well spent. Train west.
Wednesday 15th November
Morning run. I run for my mental health that is all. If I feel overwhelmed or stressed, whatever the weather it just helps.
Thursday 16th November
Shooting Christmas with Emma today. A joyful time with a glass or two (testing the champagne cocktail of course was essential)
Friday 17th November
Catching up with the team in the Caribbean. All is well. A message to all my subscribers. Happy in my world.
Stir up Sunday
One of those days that has always felt nostalgic to me. Writing the list of ingredients down for my Christmas cake, gathering the ingredients, soaking the fruit the night before and then spending the afternoon baking, radio on, the warmth of my kitchen, the soft grey light of a November day and perhaps a little glass of something as I cook. A sense of belonging and quiet. An order of things mise en place that make me so content. I think I may be turning into my grandmother (good or bad) I am finding joy in rituals rather than routines. There is something so comforting in being able to reach for a slice of cake that you have lovingly made. Worth getting ahead. Please note fruit cake should be eaten any time of year, iced, uniced there are no rules make it your own.
Rituals and Routines
There is something overwhelmingly comforting though about routine, structure, order and a sense of place. The festive season is like the lovely feeling of being greeted by an old friend. The childlike excitement of preparing for the weeks ahead. My thoughts turn to simply to what I am cooking to decorating my home with a simply rustic Christmas feel with winter foliage from the woods and garden and warm white lights from festoon to fairy.
Hanging star | Sostrene Grene
Stoneware candle holder | Sostrene Grene
Twinkle leaf garland | Rowen & Wren
Shell baubles | Nukuku
Homemade Decorations
When my children were growing up we loved making homemade decorations together. It always was a way of bringing us together with festive fun and always mess. yoghurt pot Christmas puddings, handmade cards and dried citrus rounds with bay along red and white butchers string, orange pomadores with cloves and shortbread snowflakes for the tree. Music on repeat or a Christmas film in the background. Keep things as simple as you can and embrace the glitter, icing sugar and the string.
Dried orange and bay garland
1 garland
8 small oranges (limes, lemons and grapefruits work beautifully too)
12+ bay leaves
Red & white string
Method
Pre heat oven to 90’C
Slice oranges as evenly as possible. Place on a tray onto greaseproof paper. Dry out in oven for 4 hours. Allow to cool. Carefully make a hole in the centre. String together alternatively with bay leaves. Hang or use table decorations.
Photo credit - Emma Bourton
My Table
I love any excuse to plan and lay a table, bringing in seasonal changes inside to my home. It also brings so much joy, spending time doing something so creative and therapeutic. Simply getting lost in time. Below I have chosen a few pieces which I love, not only because they are beautiful, but because they will be treasured additions which can be enjoyed at Christmas time (and beyond) for years to come.
Berry gingham linen table cloth | Piglet in Bed
Candle holder | St Eval
Linen napkins | H & M Home
Champagne flute | Zara Home
All Wrapped Up
Organic cotton pjs | Chelsea Peers
Cashmere bed socks | The White Company
The relaxed pant | Varley
Davidson sweat | Varley
Books
Delia’s Happy Christmas | Delia Smith
Nigella Christmas | Nigella Lawson
Christmas & Other Winter Feasts | Fortnum & Mason
Films - I LOVE
Love Actually
The Holiday
The Polar Express
Bridget Jones’s Diary
A Wonderful Life
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Kir Royale
All the good things. Crème de Cassis topped with Champagne with a frozen blackberry. Classy, simple and a perfect drink to celebrate
Serve 6 - one glass each
Ingredients
Champagne, chilled
Crème de Cassis 25ml
1 frozen blackberry
Method
Pop open your bottle of chilled champagne. Pour 25ml crème de cassis in the bottom of a champagne flute. Top with champagne and garnish with a frozen blackberry.
Cook’s note - Swap the champagne out for a chilled white wine = a Kir