Santa Paws is coming to town

We had a fantastic day here yesterday - not only was it the first Christmas day Helen and I have spent together in the 12 years we've been together (the best Christmas present I could have asked for), but we had great company in the form of Paul, Marie and little Nero (a.k.a Santa Paws).

Nero, a.k.a Santa Paws.

After something of a late night on Christmas Eve - drinks with the Phillipses in Pescia were followed by more drinks back at their house and a few more once we got home (meaning we didn't get to bed until 2.30am), we'd arranged to have breakfast at around 10.30am. Breakfast was smoked salmon, smoked cured bacon and heap of scrambled eggs, all washed down with a glass of Prosecco - an excellent way to start the day.

Cheers!

After doing some prep for lunch, we took the dogs for a short drive up the valley to Vellano for a walk. The weather was intermittently sunny today and the air was quite cool but still warm enough not to need a coat. We ambled around the quiet village, catching the occasional whiff of a wood fire and the occasional sounds of chatting and laughter from behind closed doors, but we didn't meet a single other person, it was so peaceful.

By the time we got back it was around 2.30pm, so time to heat the oven, finish the food prep and cook the starter. We finally sat down to eat at around 4.20pm, and what a feast it was! We started with a warm pear, walnut and gorgonzola salad courtesy of Delia Smith.

The main course was a turkey roulade with sausagemeat and sage stuffing (again we had Delia to thank for that), with sides of Brussels sprouts with bacon and chestnuts, buttered carrots, buttered cabbage and hasselback potatoes (courtesy of Paul and Marie). We accompanied the main event with a bottle of 2004 zinfandel from Napa Valley - a gift from the ever generous Chris Perkins which was by far the best red wine that has passed our lips in quite some time!

After the main course, Reggie got himself a small plate of his own Christmas lunch (a bit of turkey, sprouts, carrots and cabbage), which didn't last long at all. Poor Nero being a bit out sorts today didn't have any of his own but instead went down to the Reggie-free space of the apartment to eat his own venison-based Christmas lunch in peace.

After a short break in proceedings we moved on to sweeter things - Panforte cooked and beautifully wrapped by Amanda earlier this week, Panetone from our favourite coffee shop in Pescia and some delicious brandy butter made by Helen, accompanied by a bottle of sweet Sauternes.

The whole meal was a resounding success and thoroughly enjoyed by all. We followed it with some presents and a couple of games of scrabble, interspersed with a couple cocktail mixing sessions (for Paul and me), courtesy of the Perkins family who had sent a group present over for us all containing all the required ingredients to make a long island iced tea.

After scrabble we made some space amongst the debris for a cheese board with pickles and chilli jams, which saw us through towards midnight and bed time.

WeSan couldn't have asked for a better day for our first Christmas together here in Italy.