Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Calum, Me, Lola and Joe on Christmas Day

Lots of Christmas presents!

So how was it for you?

In the Hale household Christmas came and went - and so did a huge amount of food and drink.

Christmas isn't so much a time of cheer as a time of 'chew' or 'chomp'.

Like many families, we've over-indulged with one too many mince pies - and the rest.

Still, we've haven't been as bad as in previous years so I suppose I should be grateful. It will make the New Year dieting slightly less painful - or not.

I'm going to find it very difficult to giving up munching chocolate at all hours or having that early afternoon glass of wine. 'It's not too early is it darling?' is the phrase that Joe had got very used to this holiday.

However, there has been plenty of Christmas cheer in our house simply because we've all been together as a family - and that's been a real treat.

We've had time to chat, time to laugh, time to catch up with each other - and to watch wall to wall dvds.

We watched Mel Brooks' 'The Producers' last night, a comedy classic which hasn't lost any of its magic. The children chuckled as much as we did. Brilliant fun.

And, although the children have long stopped believing in Santa, they still love getting Christmas presents and this year, credit crunch or no credit crunch, they got loads.

It was great to see their faces as they opened their presents - the look of delight at getting something they really wanted but hadn't expected.

Being at home for Christmas with just the four of us meant we could do exactly what we wanted - have a lie in, lounge around in our pyjamas and eat a late lunch, cooked under the influence of one of those early glasses of wine.

It tasted fantastic.

It's now New Year's Eve and it will soon be time to dress up for dinner. I can smell the boeuf bourgignon cooking nicely in the oven. It will be followed by maple and pecan pudding and rounded off with Belgian chocolates.

Oh, and of course there'll be lots of champagne!

So the New Year diet can wait a little longer.

I hope that Christmas was a good one for you and that the New Year is even better.

2009 here we come!

That Glowing Feeling

Stalls at the German Christmas Market

When I lived for an year in Austria as a student, one of my favourite things was Gluhwein, which literally means 'glow wine' - what we call mulled wine

I personally prefer the German name which I think is much more descriptive. After drinking it, my face always glows (i.e. I get bright red cheeks) and my insides feel as though they are glowing too. It's the best possible way of keeping out the cold which, in Austria, is very important.

I have never lived in a country where Iwas surrounded by mountains and it snowed for several months of the year and I loved it, in spite of the cold. It was incredibly beautiful, if also freezing.

So when the German Christmas market set up next to the ice rink on Parker's Piece and I discovered that authentic Gluhwein was on offer, I decided to check it out and see if it lived up to my expectations.

It most certainly did.

It was hot, spicy and delicious, and my experience was made even more authentic by the fact that there was a German in a very silly hat on the table next to me - I heard him speaking. When I left that cafe and started taking photos of the market stalls, he offered to 'make a photo' of me, as in German you 'make' a photo rather than 'take' one. I declined politely - in German, of course, then realised I'd used the wrong personal pronoun and fretted about it all afternoon. That's the linguist in me.

The German market was very colourful with traditional Christmas goodies on sale, including gorgeous Lebkuchen (special gingerbread cakes) which are Lola's favourite. There was also an enticing smell of cinammon.

However, it was very expensive.

That didn't stop me buying some Lebkuchen and some caramalised almonds which I munched my way through very quickly when I got back to the office. Oh, and a sand beanie bat as a stocking filler for Lola which she has named Wolfgang - because he's German, of course!

It was a great way to spend a lunch hour and I enjoyed watching people wobbling around the ice rink, trying to stay upright - very amusing.

I went back to the office with a warm feeling in my tummy which lasted all afternoon.

Good old Gluhwein.