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Writer's pictureAshley Catt

Christmas (Part I)

A lot has been written about the relationship between ageing and Christmas, mostly along

the lines of disenchantment and cynicism regarding the holiday period. Now (much to my displeasure), I work on what is probably the busiest retail street in London, so it can be very hard not to feel swamped by festive commercialisation, no matter how beautiful the light displays might be.

However, what I want to talk about is plurality! During childhood, Christmas tends to be one solid event that takes place at the same time every year. What I'm beginning to realise as I get older, is that Christmas isn't just the single central event that you spend with family, but a host of other, sometimes-smaller-but-not-always, gatherings and goings-on.


This year for me was the first time this definitively happened, and I had a "Christmas Day" and a "Boxing Day" with both of my housemates. What I noticed is that we were very intent on only including as part of the day the things that personally brought us happiness. Everything in the picture of our Christmas table is there because we wanted it. Yes, sprouts too; we expressly desired their presence in particular. Speaking of happiness, I did want to resist when my housemates suggested that we watch the live-action Scooby Doo movie, but I realise now that it was a very good idea.

Covertly taken while the "glitter artist" was distracted.

Boxing Day, once again, was defined by it's lack of structure of formality. In fact, housemate-of-the-blog Rebecca was at work for most of the day and I found myself against my will, in the store below my office, behind a make-up counter having glitter applied to my eyes (it looked wonderful and I got several free gifts without buying anything).


What we did for dinner on the evening of Boxing Day was a mixture of leftovers from the previous night, and a couple of other things that we had quickly cooked to go with them. Housemate-of-the-blog Owen cooked a broccoli and cauliflower cheese (as well as nobly putting a Camembert in the oven to bake) and I braised some red cabbage in mulled. Thinking about this in retrospect, this seems like a rethinking of a cheese and wine night in meal-form. I don't know about you, but this to me just seems like the superior configuration!


Stay tuned for Christmas (Part II) sometime after I spend Christmas with my family. There will likely be a post in between too, though there are no concrete plans in place for this!


Red Cabbage with Mulled Wine

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4-6 as a side dish


Ingredients

  • 1/2 a large red cabbage, roughly chopped

  • 1 stalk of celery, sliced

  • 1 red onion, finely chopped

  • 200 ml of mulled wine

  • 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

  • 1 tsp of soy sauce

  • 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1/2 tbsp of vegetable or sunflower oil

  • 1/2 tsp of salt

  • 1/4 tsp of MSG (optional)

Method

Roughly chop the red cabbage and set aside in a bowl. Meanwhile, prepare the red onion and the celery.


Add the oil to a large saucepan or wok with a lid (I used a chopping board as a lid to my wok, so really anything that can cover it will do) and warm over a medium-high heat. Once the oil has come to temperature, add the celery and onion, turn down a medium heat and fry for 5 minutes until the ingredients have softened.


Add the red cabbage and the salt and stir until coated with oil. Fry for 2 minutes, while stirring occasionally.


Add the mulled wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and the bay leaf into the mixture and stir until the cabbage is coated with the liquid. Add the MSG (if using) and turn on to a high-heat, bringing the pan to the boil. Once it is boiling, turn down to a medium-low heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes has elapsed, taste a piece of cabbage to check the consistency. If you would like it to be a bit softer, re-cover the pot and simmer for a further 5 minutes. If you are satisfied, take the pan from the heat, remove the bay leaf and serve.

Notes & Adjustments

There are many different directions this could be taken in, and most of them crossed my mind while cooking. I wanted a simpler taste for this as it was going to be served with cheese sauce. If I were to have it with a more neutral accompaniment I might be tempted to go with some of the ideas listed below:

  • Chinese-style: Add Chinese five-spice and a couple of crushed Sichuan/Szechuan peppercorns. If you have it available, replace 50ml of the mulled wine with Shaoxing or cooking sherry.

  • Extra festive (AKA the Mariah Carey version): Make the spiced aspect of the mulled wine more prominent by adding small amounts of nutmeg, cloves and a cinnamon stick while simmering.

  • Autumnal edition: Replace the mulled wine with mulled cider, and add 2 peeled and diced apples to the mixture. If you can't find mulled cider then add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and a tbsp of honey.

I haven't given quantities for the spices because these are just ideas that I haven't actually made. My advice is to trust your instincts, taste as you go and to be very conservative when it comes to cloves and Sichuan peppercorns. You'll know if you know!

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