Marga cooks

Yesterday was Christmas Eve in English and Heilige Abend in German. In German, Father Christmas visits families/children in the evening and leaves presents under the Christmas tree.

It is an interesting mixture of the old pagan ceremony celebrating the passing of the day with the least sunshine and hi-jacking of the celebration by the Christian religion/church many years later. In England it is all on the 25th.

I started the 24th with a visit to Jutta and Gerald. Long time readers of my blog will know who they are so I shall not waste time and space repeating it all. They always invite friends for a Christmas Eve breakfast and it is always a delight to attend.

Jutta is still receiving treatment for breast cancer and Gerald is now permanently confined to a wheelchair. It is sad to see them struggling with ill-health when they should be enjoying life after retirement. No justice in this world when one thinks of such a nice couple.

After seeing them I went home to get ready to visit Marga. It is now a ritual that I spend Christmas Eve with her. Just look at my blog covering this day over the last few years. This year was no exception. A warm welcome and splendid glass of red wine to greet me. Lots of chat and more wine before she places her work of art on the table.

This year she decided on a French dish based on beef. She bought slices of beef without fat then soaked them in a bottle of red wine, added an interesting array of spices and let it all soak in. It was cooked with vegetables and served with large pieces of new potatoes. Mmmmmh delicious.

After a break for more red wine and chat, we finished the meal with mince pies imported from England and served with a brandy-custard. Quality was the key word rather than quantity and I was more then happy as we cleared the dishes for a post-eating chat.  Hope you had a great time!