Seachain an duine a bhíonn ina thost

Merry Christmas and all that. I like Christmas. It's nice and relaxing. We're sitting in the front room (rarely used apart from at Christmas because it's north-facing) in our pyjamas (except for Mum who has that Protestant gene that prevents her from being slovenly) playing with our new toys. I've got ooodles of detective stories and Lush products and a bouncing tigger and and and and ... oh, and The Great Aunt Anne got me a gold handbag which will go ever so well with my new black cocktail dress.

Anyway I'm very excited about our nine course meal we'll be having later. I've done my bit, making some sorbet (which I think probably won't be as good as last year's: I forgot to stir it while it was freezing and raspberries/blackberries aren't as good as mango and passion fruit for forcing through sieves) and my traditional pavlova. Of course there's trifle too: what else would you do with the yolks left over from making meringue other than make custard? Well, mayonnaise is good too.