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I couldn't believe it's next week until the missus mentioned it yesterday. Apart from the religious side of it me and the wife are pretty much on the same wavelength when it comes to celebrating it. Thankfully, family wise it's just us and noone else so we don't feel obliged to invite anyone or go anywhere.
The plan is to stay at home and make BBQ at a time that suits us. 
That sounds like a tranquil way to spend the day, UK Man .
We will be in Alabama with family, our longtime custom, for the week surrounding Christmas Day. Having more than just the day together eliminates the frantic element, and allows time for various activities, not all food related.
(But ask this question again AFTER Christmas!)
We will be in Alabama with family, our longtime custom, for the week surrounding Christmas Day.
Enjoy.......I thought you were still here.
I couldn't believe it's next week until the missus mentioned it yesterday. Apart from the religious side of it me and the wife are pretty much on the same wavelength when it comes to celebrating it. Thankfully, family wise it's just us and noone else so we don't feel obliged to invite anyone or go anywhere.
The plan is to stay at home and make BBQ at a time that suits us.
That's how I'd like to spend Christmas since I'm a tad bah humbug about it all. However, we can't mutiny this year and have the dinner at our house because it's the in-law's turn. Also that means no washing up in the morning.
Another factor is that Adri's mum is ill in hospital and has been in there for over a week, but should be out sometime this week, but she will be very weak when she gets home. So it's all a bit fluid for obvious reasons.
We hve a big family párty on the night of the 24th.
Probably about 50 people there
The only problem is that it is in the capital about 60kms away. So we will be drwing lots for the designated driver!
GlasgowJohn , you’ve made me realize another benefit of Christmas 8 hours out of town: no designated driver needed!
UK Man - - we came back to the US yesterday, and arrived with all the Salentein Brut Natur and Extra Brut INTACT.. Sure to be a big hit at the week’s celebrations, which will include a delayed birthday party for my husband and our nephew from New York, and an early family celebration of our January 1 anniversary. Much champagne needed!
Another factor is that Adri's mum is ill in hospital and has been in there for over a week, but should be out sometime this week, but she will be very weak when she gets home. So it's all a bit fluid for obvious reasons.
Sorry to hear about Adri's mum. Hope she gets better soon.
We hve a big family párty on the night of the 24th.
Probably about 50 people there
The only problem is that it is in the capital about 60kms away. So we will be drwing lots for the designated driver!
I don't envy you. 
We'll be keeping the party stuff for Hogmanay. 
UK Man - - we came back to the US yesterday, and arrived with all the Salentein Brut Natur and Extra Brut INTACT.. Sure to be a big hit at the week’s celebrations, which will include a delayed birthday party for my husband and our nephew from New York, and an early family celebration of our January 1 anniversary. Much champagne needed!
Enjoy.
I don't envy you.
Hogmanay will be closer to him with our friends in the Barrio.
No driver needed.
Another factor is that Adri's mum is ill in hospital and has been in there for over a week, but should be out sometime this week, but she will be very weak when she gets home. So it's all a bit fluid for obvious reasons.
Thats not great news . Hope she makes a speedy recovery.
We are going at my brother in law, as usual. Since work has been a little slow lately, I’ll keep myself busy cooking.
This time, I’d like to bring more stuff than usual since we are there both for the night of the 24 and the afternoon of 25.
I have spotted a few recipes I’d like to try.
Just to play it safe, I’ll make a chocotorta today and I’ll freeze it.
Since we usually go there in late afternoon of the 24th to take a dip in the pool, I think I’ll make a pizza to snack on, a few sweets, vegan dips and maybe a savory cake.
Being of the singular variety of the species and by and large homeless these days, I won’t be doing much beyond cooking a “full English” which I will have early afternoon.
When I had a fixed domicile I always made the effort to cook a Xmas dinner of sorts but this AirBnB isn’t really set for me to do it.
Even cooking a breakfast with what’s available here won’t be perfect but I have it organised.
I’m from a large family, mostly passed. I’ve done the Xmas thing in that regard from childhood through most of my adult life. I have little to miss.
Hogmanay will be closer to him with our friends in the Barrio.
No driver needed.
Thats not great news . Hope she makes a speedy recovery.
It's hoped that she'll be out on either Saturday or Monday, but I don't think she'll be very active. On the other hand, the sister in law where we are going to, may well put her up for a few days.
Hello everybody,
As my French family will be working over most of Xmas, just the 25th and 1st as days off, I will be going to them in the VW camper for the traditional Xmas eve celebrations, then some outstanding jobs on Xmas day.
Due to my illness, I have had to postpone my Jan/Feb hols in Argentina, so I have rebooked the flight for Sept/Oct 2025
Les deseo a todos una muy feliz Navidad y un próspero año nuevo.
Sarran1955 we look forward to having you in Argentina in September-October.
Isn’t a camper too cold in winter? I suppose you will be in France.
Sarran1955 we look forward to having you in Argentina in September-October.
Isn’t a camper too cold in winter? I suppose you will be in France.
I was thinking of that too. You’re in the mountains, aren’t you?
So sorry you’re ill. I hope you’re feeling great by the time you return to Argentina in September.
Hello everybody,
Thank you for your replies...
We are starting to have some snow here, and the ski resort has opened part-time.
I live in the Massif Central mountains, my house is at 750 metres, and the skiing is at 1800 metres
My VW camper has a diesel night heater... so nice and cosy, it even has a remote control to start it without getting out of bed... 
So here is wishing you all a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year
Cordialement,
Wishing all the best back to you, Sarran1955 . Glad you are staying warm, high up in the Massif Central!
I have finalized our food for Christmas, picking stuff that can be eaten also the day after, when we have a cold buffet with meat leftovers.
Part of the food is vegan to give my husband some options, besides roasted corn (which is delicious, by the way) that will make my brother-in-law on the parrilla.
Pico de gallo - a Mexican sauce with diced tomatoes, onion, jalapeño pepper, cilantro and lime juice. It just take a while to dice finely the vegetables, and it is good for 2-3 days. I am following again this recipe. The main challenge is the jalapeno pepper. I never know how much to use, as I am not familiar with the various level of hotness. My husband picked a hot pepper from the Peruvian verdulería, but who knows how hot it is! I will also have to remember to use gloves to handle it, as I don't want to repeat having my fingers on fire for hours like it happened last time (rubbing lemon juice didn't help, nor wrapping ice packs around it. Ouch!)
Desert roses - small cookies wrapped in corn flakes that owe their name to the crystal called 'desert rose'. There is no relation to this cookie and Christmas, but I remember they were very popular when I was in primary school. I never made them and they look simple to make and last up to one week. Recipe here (Italian only) or alternative recipe with almond flour in English here. I am adding some raisins to make them a tad less boring.
Since it is not very hot these days, I am not afraid to bake.
Puff pastry centerpieces
Facebook is bombarding me with Italian recipes for a flashy centerpiece for Christmas. I have spotted a few ones that are worth trying, but I still haven't set my mind on any.
One is this:
These ones are with pesto (large xmas tree here; smaller xmas trees here). The idea is very simple yet scenic: you just buy 2 pre-made puff pastry dough, spread a filling in between them, and twist artistically. But you can make the filling with whatever you like: sun-dryed tomatoes and ricotta, bacon, ham, brie etc.
Finally, it was short listed but didn't make it to the final roaster: panettone cake. It is a pity because panettone is quite expensive (and complicate to make - it is a 3-day of work recipe) and Christmas-sy, but I am not much in the mood to cook it.
My husband will make a vegan carrot dip, but I asked to upgrade it to a roasted carrot and red bell pepper dish after seeing this videorecipe:
That seems to be a lot of work serafina. 
As it's just the two of us we'd rather laze about on Xmas day. Got Bife Americano and Lomo to BBQ so will wait and see how the weather is before deciding what time we'll eat....probably late afternoon/early evening.
Oh, UK Man , it is. But I hate the holidays, I have too much time on my hands and I need to keep myself busy.
I forgot to mention that I also have a chocotorta tray ready in the freezer. At least I can do that way in advance.
Curiously, the Casan Crem jar says to not freeze it, but frozen chocotorta is a classic ready-to-serve dessert to have in the freezer!
This time I tried to soak the cookies a lot more (in strong coffee, as I don’t have milk) and use a more generous layer of dulce de leche and casan cream filling between the layers. And since it is the holidays, I also added grated dark chocolate on top for a better presentation. Since I had some extra of everything, I did a smaller portion for ourselves and I am very pleased with the results. But my other half says it is too chocolate-y, which is why I like it better than my previous attempts!
Paulina Cocina, the popular food blogger turned influencer, recently stirred the waters when she stated that it is disappointing that the signature dessert of Argentina is something very simple and industrial like the chocotorta.
But to be honest, Argentinian dishes are rather simple and rich in calories to begin with. In the land of milanesa, you can’t expect beaf a la bourgognonne…
Chocotorta is very simple to make: you buy the chocolate cookies Chocolina, use for the filling the same part of Casan Crem Classic (spread cheese that doesn’t taste like cheese) and dulce de leche. Dip the cookies in coffee or milk (and you can add it any liquor if you’d rather have it a tad more interesting), and proceed to assemble alternate layers of soaked cookies and DDL+CC spread.
You can’t go wrong with DDL in Argentina!
Cultural fun fact: the recipe was invented by Bagley, the brand producing Chocolina cookies. nowadays, in supermarkets you can find also frozen chocotorta sold by Bagley itself.
Over the years, Bagley has launched white Chocolinas and Dark chocolinas and you can find various recipes on the cookies’ package; but none became a staple dessert as the Chocotorta.
