Merry Christmas

I found that I had 8 holidays coming to me from Framestore that I didn't know about and that I had to use them by the end of January or lose them.

So, by taking the 24th, 27th, 28th, and 31st off, I have 11 days in a row off. And since Northrop shuts down from Christmas to New Year's also, I have plenty of time off here in London with my family. I'm very excited about this.

Today, we stayed home and had hot chocolate and ginger snaps for breakfast. Kelly made an egg dish for our real breakfast. Then we opened our stockings and presents, and cooked a turkey. We also had traditional English Christmas Crackers.

The turkey I bought with Malakai at a real butcher shop. I've only ever bought them at the supermarket all packaged and tidy, so this was a big deal for me. We don't have a lot of kitchen tools, since we're trying to stay minimalistic with our "things". That means that we don't have a meat thermometer or a baster or big forks for moving the turkey around. Also, most English families have duck, goose, or lamb on Christmas, though some do have turkey. But going to the supermarket on Christmas Eve, I couldn't find any cranberry sauce, marshmallows, or roasting bags large enough for a turkey. So we decided to use a different recipe using aluminum foil. My friend Antonio down at the corner market said,"you don't need a thermometer, just cook it for 3 and half to four hours and then stick a skewer or knife in the breast. If the juice comes out clear, it's done; if not, cook it longer." I think that part of this advice was a result of the fact that he didn't have any thermometers to sell, but it turned out to be good advice. We stuffed the cavity with cut apples, celery, and onions and it was delicious.

After our turkey dinner (with mashed potatoes, stuffing, broccoli salad, rolls, and gravy) we were stuffed. Kelly used the bones and juices to make some soup stock and then we Skyped our family members. It was great to see everyone we were able to get a hold of, and it was also amazing to actually see everyone in all the various time zones.

Tomorrow is Boxing Day, which is similar to Black Friday in America, where all the stores have their big sales of the year. I've heard that many stores are slashing their prices 70%. They shut down Oxford Street to motor vehicles and it's just a mad crush of people all the way across the street. I'm not going there. I'm sure there are people lining up tonight in front of their favorite store to get in and get the deals first. Crazy!

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Besides the fact that we wanted to be home with our family today, all the public transportation is closed on Christmas Day, which is nice so all the people who work there can be with their families, and everyone else has a good excuse to stay home and be with theirs.

Later this week we're going to try to go to Windsor Castle and see that. Then we'll go and see an old castle somewhere that just has the ruins.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Dave