SEASONAL GREETINGS 2008-2009

[Renate Brinkers]

Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year to all forumists - may all your wishes for 2009 come true and all your plants grow better than ever.

[Anthony Darby]

Anthony,

I can picture you glued to the screen watching the progress of Santa ever westwards until he reached bonny Scotland. Get to bed early and be good!

Paddy

Not me Paddy, the two kids and I, (along with a few other members of the cathedral choir) are just back from singing carols to the punters at Gleneagles Hotel. I'm then back in the cathedral at 10.45 p.m. for the Watchnight Service. We then are back there at 9.55 a.m. tomorrow for the Christmas Day family service.

[Martin Baxendale]

Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok (Merry Christmas and a happy New Year in Slovak) to all on the SRGC forum from the Baxendale-Szaboova family (all now full of Slovak Christmas soup, Slovak Christmas potato salad and Christmas honeybreads).

[Anthony Darby]

That's easy for you to say Martin. May you, and all the other merry forumers, have a very special Christmas and may all your dreams bloom in 2009.

[mark smyth]

Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok (Merry Christmas and a happy New Year in Slovak) to all on the SRGC forum from the Baxendale-Szaboova family (all now full of Slovak Christmas soup, Slovak Christmas potato salad and Christmas honeybreads).

Oh yes, you celebrate Christmas two dys in succession. No fish today?

[Martin Baxendale]

Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok (Merry Christmas and a happy New Year in Slovak) to all on the SRGC forum from the Baxendale-Szaboova family (all now full of Slovak Christmas soup, Slovak Christmas potato salad and Christmas honeybreads).

Oh yes, you celebrate Christmas two dys in succession. No fish today?

We should have carp with the Slovak potato salad to be properly traditional, but I draw the line at eating fish that tastes of mud. We have breaded lemon sole instead. Yes, Slovak Christmas today (with a bit of birthday celebration for me in there somewhere too) and an English Christmas tomorrow with lots of sprouts and roast spuds. Got a goose for the first time this year, which apparently is quite traditional in Slovakia (but not with sprouts).

[Maggi Young]

Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok

AH! A charming  Slovak Greeting... thank goodness for that, I thought you'd had some early Christmas pud, found a sixpence and busted a tooth and couldn't speak.......

So, as somebody once said..... "comin' right back at ya!" ........Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok   

[Maggi Young]

We should have carp with the Slovak potato salad to be properly traditional, but I draw the line at eating fish that tastes of mud

In  "ye olden days" didn't the monks keep their carp in special holding ponds for a while before eating to clean them up and stop them tasting so muddy?

[mark smyth]

I thought they bred them in the ponds

Two friends in Slovakia didnt eat fish today either. I cant remember what meat they had but everything else was the same, Martin. They say their potato salad is better than ours. What's in it?

[Maggi Young]

I thought they bred them in the ponds

Yes, that's right , but then I thought they had special tanks to cleanse the fish.... like feeding your edible snails on best lettuce for a few days to clean out their digestive tract.......oh crikey, what a conversation to start a day !??!!

[tonyg]

Now come on you guys - you're only supposed to be up at this hour if you have stockings to hang and presents to deliver.   As it happens we have just had our festive visitor so we can be off to bed now

We did have another visitor earlier - she did not want to disturb the girls so pushed a note through the door .... it read
'DOORSTEP - where are the carrots?'
which raised a smile.

The carrots were by the tree where they always are on this night - if she had come in we would have shared them but at least the girls will get the presents she left on the doorstep

Seasons greetings to one and all from the Goodes

[Anthony Darby]

I sure the monks would have special thanks having cleansed fish. I think we should all bug Martin for a humerous, and practical, and yummy, recipe book. Perhaps if we all threatened to turn up on his doorstep next Christmas Eve for a Slovak festive lunch it could persuade him? Arggg! Just crossed my ankles set set of my musical socks!!!!

[Martin Baxendale]

It's traditional in Slovakia to buy the carp live and keep it in the bath for a few days to clean it out and reduce the muddy taste. Still tastes pretty earthy though!

Slovak potato salad is actually very tasty - potato chunks, diced raw onion, diced cooked carrot, cooked peas, mayo and diced pickled cucumbers.

The Christmas soup, with saurkraut, is an aquired taste.

[David Shaw]

Anyone know what I can do with the reindeer dung that I have just found in the garden?

[Paul T]

Anyone know what I can do with the reindeer dung that I have just found in the garden?

It's great for Elkhorn ferns!!