Christmas, or whatever you want to call it, is a good excuse for a blow-out, food-wise. We ate. Then we ate some more. I even tried egg nog. And despite Amazon.com mucking up on the delivery of the presents for my parents and P, the Getty Museum shop saved the day (where P and I performed the “I won’t look at what you’re buying for me if you won’t look at what I’ve got in my hands” dance that two last-minute shoppers are wont to do), and we had some semblance of our usual post-Christmas meal tearing of the wrapping paper.

Oh yes, the over-indulgence aspect of this winter solstice festival is one that we practice. It’s always been an excuse for P and I to get some of the toys we both want, and to take a real day-off, where we do nothing but cook, eat and play. And for the first time in a whole month, I got the camera out, updated my blogs and generally faffed about all day. Even getting lunch ready was no chore as we played with our new breadmaker, baked the funniest looking ham I’ve ever done (crushed pineapple instead of pineapple rings makes your ham look like someone chundered on it even before the overeating began) and I showed off my BBQing skills. And giving chocolates to my folks was a fabby idea, cos we got samples of yummy Belgian chocs (from a shop round the corner). For today, we avoided the usual frustrations of living in LA, stayed in our neighbourhood, got two runs with our neighbour’s dog, and played with a soap bubble that magically lasted for at least 5 minutes with careful flapping of arms. Batteries recharged. I only wish we could have days like this once a month.

Well, more like Christmas lun/ner. By the time we sat down to eat, it was 5pm, and Christmas was already over by UK and other more easterly countries’ time. But feast we did, and we didn’t stop eating till 11pm.

For Christmas, my parents found us a great breadmaker from Macy’s. We’d stipulated that we didn’t want to spend much on a breadmaker because we could never bring it home (the aage-old US vs rest-of-the-world voltage issues), so they were best-pleased with themselves to find a display piece at a bargain basement price just because it didn’t come with a box and had a small, almost unnoticeable mark. Which meant we spent Christmas morning hard at work making bread at the same time as walking our neighbours’ dog!

I’ve never been much a fan of supermarket bread, being the fussy kind who hates chewy “crusts” (I mean, how could it possibly be a crust if it’s no longer crusty?). So a breadmaker with the ability to set the timer for breakfast seemed the ideal thing in a city where it’s not so easy to get fresh bread if you don’t drive.

The recipe is from the user’s manual, but was fairly adventurous due to the addition of cumin seeds to what would otherwise be a bog-standard seed loaf. Also, not being well-prepared ingredient-wise, we had to make do with all purpose flour (the US version of plain white flour). And it still worked! I think this is one appliance we will make use of, however busy we are.

A brief hiatus in food blogging due to work getting in the way. I have eaten loads in the intervening period, but not much of note. Taking a few days off while my parents are in LA means that we finally have some time on our hands to cook. The chicken pie above was a result of directions from my parents, who make this on a regular basis.

It’s one that’s ideal for folk with little free time, using a few modern conveniences like concentrated soup, frozen mixed veg and pre-made puff pastry. Despite that, it’s quite tasty, and all the convenience food products can be substituted with homemade hard work.

Simply get yourself some chicken (free range and preferably organic too), cut into bite-size pieces and fry in some oil (olive oil is all we have right now and works fine). While the chicken is browning, dice yourself some onions and potatoes. Add those to the chicken when it’s golden brown, and stir in a few handfuls of frozen mixed veg (usually sweetcorn, peas, carrots, but sometimes with green beans and broad beans too). If being lazy, you should have gotten the premade, even pre-rolled, pasty out of the freezer much earlier so it doesn’t crack when unrolled. Line a pie tin with one sheet, trim the excess (save it to make cheesy twists) and pile on the chicken mix. Cover with the other sheet, brush with a beaten egg, and snip a few pretty holes to allow venting. Bake in a hot oven (190degC) for 45 minutes (or until the innards are hot and the pastry is golden brown). Serve piping hot, remembering to take a few snaps before it’s devoured by hungry people wondering why you didn’t just serve up the cooked chicken mix in the first place.