I love Christmas and back in the UK I have always spent Christmas day at home with whichever family members could make it to join us for the day. However, after last year I finally felt ready to break my old habits and to try something different.
This year we did not put up any decorations in the house. This decision was mostly made on the basis that Red would more than likely eat them all. Especially as we would be going out on Christmas day and the dogs would be alone for a few hours.
That decision alone made Christmas so much easier. No dragging the boxes down from the loft, no spring cleaning the house before they were put up, and afterwards no having to pack them all away and putting them back up in the loft. No major shopping for all the food needed to prepare the traditional Christmas meal. Wow this is making life easy!
So we enjoyed a very leisurely run up to Christmas. I do wonder how on earth I managed for so many years preparing all of this, having a full time job and always working up to and including Christmas Eve. Maybe it's just because I'm getting old, but I don't need all that hassle any more.
I did make some sausage rolls, mince pies and shortbread so we had a few nibbles around. Oh and a trifle, can't do Christmas without my trifle! But that was it! Brilliant!
After much thought we decided to go out for Christmas Day dinner - a kind of halfway house for me, traditional food without the work. A few weeks ago we saw one of the local village restaurants were advertising a three course Christmas dinner at a reasonable price. The friends who normally come over from Kemer to stay were up for joining us, so we booked our table and hoped it would be OK.
So on Christmas morning all I had to do was prepare the mulled wine, so we could enjoy a glass or two before heading off to the Cadianda Restaurant for our dinner. I am liking this - both the lack of work and the wine!
On arrival at the restaurant we were struck by the effort that they had gone to. The restaurant and bar were beautifully decorated and oh no - more mulled wine was ready on the bar top. Well of course I had to have one, whilst David and our friends moved on to Efes.
Cadianda Restaurant beautifully decorated for Christmas |
Loved the table settings |
Liver pate starter was so tasty |
Yes I know - greedy! |
Woops forgot to take a pic until I had finished! Could not manage all the pud but did have all the brandy sauce! |
So well done Cadianda restaurant. I understand it was the first year that they have offered a Christmas dinner and it could not have gone better. The staff were attentive, the food was great, the decorations were stunning, the tables beautiful and the amount of thought put into preparing the day was amazing. We all agreed it was awesome and thank the staff very much indeed for a lovely, lovely day.
But the best part for me was that for the first time ever I can remember I had time to enjoy the day and that was simply wonderful!
Happy Chistmas, I was wondering where you'd got to.
ReplyDeleteHi B to B. Just too busy for blog writing this year lol! Happy Christmas to you. Hope you have a good one
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