Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. This celebration clashes with a visit to children from Santa Claus. It's a very busy time for suburban housewives, and it's very easy to lose sight of what the Spirit of Christmas is all about. Distractions include endless rounds of office parties, all of which seemingly cannot be held without Mr Q; supermarkets forcing us into overeating with non-stop advertising; and frenzied scenes in shopping centres all over the country as we wantonly part with our cash to buy presents for people who probably already have enough clutter in their lives. A Dutch friend who lived here for several years, but only spent one Christmas in the country, remarked quite seriously that the endless queues and empty shelves reminded her of Russia during the Communist era.
Following last year's disaster (broken leg and sick children), we are definitely staying at home for Christmas Day. As soon as we reached that decision Mr Q assumed that the rest would look after itself. Wine Goose is therefore left to look after card writing and sending, menu planning, present buying, tree decoration, school baking etc etc etc. All that in addition as the usual day to day running of the household, not forgetting her part-time job in a busy wine shop. All he had to do was complain about how much he hates Christmas and how busy a time it is for him. Withering look.
In anticipation of the 'which wine is best with turkey' question I have conducted a bit of research into the subject, and unfortunately have to report that the so-called experts all have different suggestions ranging from Rhone Whites through Riesling to New Zealand Pinot Noir. My own feeling is that turkey alone is an ideal match for a crisp Burgundy Chablis. But the turkey that we eat at Christmas Dinner is not a simple dish, and therefore it is a reasonable rule of thumb that you increase the 'weight' of the wine according to additional flavours on your plate. Consider a Macon or a Meursault to tackle the additional flavours of stuffing, sprouts, bread sauce and gravy. If you insist on red (and let's face it most of us do), it is advisable to go for something light or juicy such as a Fleurie with a simpler meal, moving up to Pinot Noir (either Burgundian or the fuller flavoured New Zealand version) or even a plummy Merlot dominated Bordeaux (St Emilion or Pomerol) as you add the trimmings. If you are a fan of tannic Cabernet Sauvignons I suggest you consider goose for your meal (sob) as it has a higher fat content and requires a more robust wine to counter its flavours.
Other tips include tipping the bottle of sherry that's been lurking at the back of the cupboard down the drain and investing in a dry manzanilla. Serve chilled with nibbles. Don't serve anything other than smoked salmon on brown bread with Champagne. Salted snacks ruin the fine flavours. Decant red wines. A jug will do, all it needs is some air to allow the flavours to develop. Change to a dessert wine as soon as you serve Christmas Pudding as the sweetness of the dessert will cause the wine flavours to taste bitter. As an alternative to port consider Recioto della Valpolicella, a traditional Italian dessert wine with excellent concentration. It also matches well with hard cheeses so you can polish off the rest of the bottle as you enjoy the escapades in Killinascully.
Mr Q has not yet decided which wine will accompany our Christmas dinner. Wine Goose is pushing for Felton Road Pinot Noir 2001, an elegant, smooth wine, with intense fruit flavours, and a long, long finish. Price continues to creep up (Felton Road is to Pinot Noir what Cloudy Bay was to Marlborough). €38.95.
Tuesday 18 December 2007
Friday 7 December 2007
Christmas Shopping
This, I have decided, is the year that Wine Goose is going be fully organised by Christmas Day.
In previous years I have had several memorable mishaps, including seeing our daughter risk brain damage by pulling a set of Christmas lights from a top shelf in a packed Department Store onto her not-as-yet fully closed fontanels. Then there was the year I had to squeeze my car into the last available space in the supermarket car park. It was so narrow that I could only open the doors on one side, so had to unstrap my daughter, put her in the shopping trolley, get back into the car and move it closer to the other white line, before unstrapping my son and putting him into the trolley.
Not for me the mania of large shopping centres and last-minute madness. As I keep hearing that the Internet has revolutionised our lives, this year I'm going to put that theory to the test. I start by 'checking and reserving' a relatively easy process. I simply key the necessary catalogue codes into the Argos website, check the availability of each item, and reserve it in a store of my choice. Trouble arises when 'in stock' items can only be reserved for collection within 24 hours, and 'currently out of stock' items can only be reserved for some days in advance. In order to avoid two journeys to my store of choice (located in a shopping centre that time forgot, thanks to the arrival of a massive 'Town Centre' some years ago), I reserve the 'out of stock items' and return to the website 2 days later to reserve the (hopefully still) in stock items. Pat on the back for being so clever.
Mr Q has requested an ice-bucket for his bar. Some years ago I suggested converting our garage into a Playroom. He clearly had other plans and days later arrived home with a large screen TV and fold up bar. It was surely justice that he subsequently slipped on a toy in the hall and broke his leg. The children now have a Playroom and the bar sits uselessly in a corner of our Family Room, waiting for an ice-bucket to adorn it. Initial searches of department store websites are disappointing and expensive, so in a lightbulb moment I click onto that old reliable, E-Bay. My search returns 183 matches. The choice is too vast. I am married to the man but to know if he prefers vintage to silver ice-buckets is to know too much. I decide to email him the link and let the purchase be his Christmas present to himself.
Our son has requested a violin. Whereas he may one day be a great musician, I feel his initial efforts should be on an electronic version, not least so that we don't have to listen to erk erk erk 24/7 over the holidays. Local searches return no matches so I go global. http://www.google.com/. There is just no avoiding it. Lots of American toy sites have electronic violins, they have electronic violins at good prices. Want to ship them to Ireland? That will cost you a minimum of $75.00 ma'am. I put that purchase on the long finger and move onto the much more pleasurable pastime of surfing for me.
After first ensuring that nothing major is happening on the news front, I decide to check the price of Creme de la Mer eye cream, persuaded by a recent article in a woman's magazine that it will take 10 years off my face. Prohibitive prices and a few so-so reviews put me off, but a link which purportedly reviews top eye creams catches my eye and I click onto ConsumerHealthDigest.com. Their recommendation is a product called Eyevive, it's effectiveness supported by an article written by an expert, a first placing in the 'top eye creams chart', and customer success stories. I know that what I really should have done is checked if Consumer Health Digest is for real, or if it just exists to encourage suckers like me to part with our cash but I am so carried away by the thought of what Eyevive can do for me that I add it to my cart. Click. I manage to resist today's super special - buy 3 and get a 4th free (with difficulty) but can't resist 'saving' $32.00 by adding a vial of Dermaxin, another previously unheard of product. This is a miracle cream which will rejuvenate my beauty. Which is weaker, I hear you ask, Wine Goose or the dollar? It's important to understand that by now I am no longer sitting at a computer desk in a tracksuit. Rather I am teetering around a cosmetic store in a pencil skirt and a pair of $800.00 Manolo Blahnik heels. Proceed to checkout? Click. I reach a carefully manicured hand into the trolley and present my products to a clearly impressed checkout chick. I use my paypal account to complete the purchase, so don't even have to rummage in my handbag for a credit card.
My subsequent mornings at the computer screen are regularly interrupted by the soft thud of a small package landing in the hall, or a ring at the doorbell, as a courier company delivers a parcel. It feels just like Christmas.
I do eventually find a violin on ebay. When it arrives, is no bigger than my fist. My credit card bill when it arrives is very high.
What to drink when surfing - nothing stronger than a cup of coffee.
In previous years I have had several memorable mishaps, including seeing our daughter risk brain damage by pulling a set of Christmas lights from a top shelf in a packed Department Store onto her not-as-yet fully closed fontanels. Then there was the year I had to squeeze my car into the last available space in the supermarket car park. It was so narrow that I could only open the doors on one side, so had to unstrap my daughter, put her in the shopping trolley, get back into the car and move it closer to the other white line, before unstrapping my son and putting him into the trolley.
Not for me the mania of large shopping centres and last-minute madness. As I keep hearing that the Internet has revolutionised our lives, this year I'm going to put that theory to the test. I start by 'checking and reserving' a relatively easy process. I simply key the necessary catalogue codes into the Argos website, check the availability of each item, and reserve it in a store of my choice. Trouble arises when 'in stock' items can only be reserved for collection within 24 hours, and 'currently out of stock' items can only be reserved for some days in advance. In order to avoid two journeys to my store of choice (located in a shopping centre that time forgot, thanks to the arrival of a massive 'Town Centre' some years ago), I reserve the 'out of stock items' and return to the website 2 days later to reserve the (hopefully still) in stock items. Pat on the back for being so clever.
Mr Q has requested an ice-bucket for his bar. Some years ago I suggested converting our garage into a Playroom. He clearly had other plans and days later arrived home with a large screen TV and fold up bar. It was surely justice that he subsequently slipped on a toy in the hall and broke his leg. The children now have a Playroom and the bar sits uselessly in a corner of our Family Room, waiting for an ice-bucket to adorn it. Initial searches of department store websites are disappointing and expensive, so in a lightbulb moment I click onto that old reliable, E-Bay. My search returns 183 matches. The choice is too vast. I am married to the man but to know if he prefers vintage to silver ice-buckets is to know too much. I decide to email him the link and let the purchase be his Christmas present to himself.
Our son has requested a violin. Whereas he may one day be a great musician, I feel his initial efforts should be on an electronic version, not least so that we don't have to listen to erk erk erk 24/7 over the holidays. Local searches return no matches so I go global. http://www.google.com/. There is just no avoiding it. Lots of American toy sites have electronic violins, they have electronic violins at good prices. Want to ship them to Ireland? That will cost you a minimum of $75.00 ma'am. I put that purchase on the long finger and move onto the much more pleasurable pastime of surfing for me.
After first ensuring that nothing major is happening on the news front, I decide to check the price of Creme de la Mer eye cream, persuaded by a recent article in a woman's magazine that it will take 10 years off my face. Prohibitive prices and a few so-so reviews put me off, but a link which purportedly reviews top eye creams catches my eye and I click onto ConsumerHealthDigest.com. Their recommendation is a product called Eyevive, it's effectiveness supported by an article written by an expert, a first placing in the 'top eye creams chart', and customer success stories. I know that what I really should have done is checked if Consumer Health Digest is for real, or if it just exists to encourage suckers like me to part with our cash but I am so carried away by the thought of what Eyevive can do for me that I add it to my cart. Click. I manage to resist today's super special - buy 3 and get a 4th free (with difficulty) but can't resist 'saving' $32.00 by adding a vial of Dermaxin, another previously unheard of product. This is a miracle cream which will rejuvenate my beauty. Which is weaker, I hear you ask, Wine Goose or the dollar? It's important to understand that by now I am no longer sitting at a computer desk in a tracksuit. Rather I am teetering around a cosmetic store in a pencil skirt and a pair of $800.00 Manolo Blahnik heels. Proceed to checkout? Click. I reach a carefully manicured hand into the trolley and present my products to a clearly impressed checkout chick. I use my paypal account to complete the purchase, so don't even have to rummage in my handbag for a credit card.
My subsequent mornings at the computer screen are regularly interrupted by the soft thud of a small package landing in the hall, or a ring at the doorbell, as a courier company delivers a parcel. It feels just like Christmas.
I do eventually find a violin on ebay. When it arrives, is no bigger than my fist. My credit card bill when it arrives is very high.
What to drink when surfing - nothing stronger than a cup of coffee.
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