First post, testing.HoHoHo everyone :)

Sprouts are reaching peak sogginess, they will be perfect by Christmas day. Turkey will be suitabley over cooked, the gravy glutinous and everyone will all go out for an afternoon walk that ends in the curry house for a decent meal

Welcome to GN Alishka and 'Merry Christmas' to you too

Merry Christmas Alishka I hope you enjoy Gransnet. And welcome of course

A low simmer?? Mine have been on a rolling boil for the last three days!

Merry Christmas to you too and welcome to GN

Thanks so much for your welcome, and for the cooking advice. Can report that my sprouts are now on a rolling boil, the kitchen windows have steamed up nicely and the Christmas scented candle has been overpowered by the Traditional scent of Christmas - Boiling Sprouts.
My Mother would have been SO proud.

Welcome to GN Alishka, from one newcomer (relatively new) to another. Well, my mother was also of the 'boil the veg for as long as you cook the meat' variety (weren't they all?). Best get my sprouts on now, along with the turkey, which should be just done to perfection by the 25th ?

Welcome Alishka, are your mince pies as good as your sprouts? I need some nice mince pies in my life

Well we don’t do sprouts in our family, but if we did, I suppose I’d have to follow the family tradition, and be able to strain them through a sieve.

As things are, I don’t think I’ll be able to overcook anything because the Agas packed up, they can’t promise, but they may be able to get the part by Christmas Eve!

Not much point stressing, many people have much worse to worry about.

@ Carillion, back in time, when we lived in Italy, I had a copy of Marguerite Patton's Everyday Cook Book, and one December I used her recipe to make mincemeat and then mince pies and christmas puds. I sold them to all my Brit friends who'd married Italians.Made so much money, I bought a pair of soft leather tan boots + a pair of black boots out of the profits

But that was then, now tho? Nah! If Morrison's don't sell it, forget it

Love Morrison's frozen button sprouts!

Alishka, a girl after my own heart.

Never been able to get my mince pies right since I lost the recipe from the "Henrietta Root" collection.

Hiya Curlywhirly,do you think the boil-to-death veg etc might have been down to the ill fitting NHS dentures back in the day?I mean, mum cooked for all of us, there was no talk of 'al dente' cooking and so, if it suited Dad, who brought in the money,it was fine for all of us.

Hello, Alishka! . If you’ve any leftover sprouts, I’ve just seen a recipe today for Brussel sprout curry. I should think the UK would be self sufficient for wind power in 2020 if we all ate that!

@SueDonim I saw that! I sent it on to my son in the USA with a !!! comment

Happy Christmas from me too Alishka.

I love sprouts SueDonim so may just try the curry . I like them soft.

Well Alishka, my Mum was european, so you'd think she'd have known better! Trouble was, she knew nothing of English cooking, so she cooked English dishes as per her MIL's instructions, bless her! No wonder our favourite meals were foreign, she was a really good cook, but sadly, she was persuaded that all English food should be over-cooked!

Alishka!

One of my sons lives in the US, too.

Don't need any sprouts here Alishka.
For the first time, we are going out for Christmas lunch. We are going out on Boxing Day too, DD is having a very small houseparty!
It's all very labour saving, which I am pleased about.a

Welcome by the way.

Welcome Alishka We don't like Brussel sprouts but DH likes peas, when he cooks them they go on at the same time as the potatoes - he just won't have it that peas take about 5-6 minutes, he likes them grey not green

@SueDonim, we're a small family now, just me and ds,his wife and their girl, in the US in North Carolina. It was lovely to be with them over the years, but I'm now too disabled to travel.However, I love talking to, and mailing the Grand who's now 17 and in the thralls of her First True Love....ahhhh

Welcome Alishka, and a merry Christmas. I will have to remind DS about the sprouts!

fatgran57 it's a funny thing about peas...I only knew them like my mum cooked them, salted boiling water = done,but then I went to Italy as an au pair and learned the Italian 'ordinary' way of cooking them....transformation!

That’s such a shame you can no longer visit your son, Alishka.

I have three other children dotted around the UK, one still a student, the others married. Five GC in total, aged between 2-10. I’m not sure if there’ll be any more!

Sue, you've got a whole lot of fun ahead of you, as you get to know the Grands as they grow. Envy you!