'Tis the season.
And that's official - now Starbucks have started selling their eggnog.
Mmmm. Eggnog!

Not only that, but they've re-opened their old café at Fort Kinnaird just to lure me over for coffee from my Musselburgh offices. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
It's like stepping back in time. To last year. Except that instead of being in a Borders bookshop, it's now in HMV/Waterstones. Bookshop.
Now I'll have to pass by those bloody bargain cookbook tables all over again. And I'd just got my credit card paid off too.
Of course, I wouldn't need to drive over there for coffee EVERY SINGLE DAY if Musselburgh weren't quite such a poxy shithole. And that's just our office.

So it's time to start planning the season's jollities - I've got:

Presents to buy

Christmas cards to send

A Christmas list to write

I'd really like someone with some relevant skills (Bro - this means you) to get me some nice lights for photographing food.

Mincemeat to make

And some nice mince pie recipes to sort out.

Ah well. Maybe next year :(

A stuffing to decide on

For the Christmas goose. It's one of my duties.
I'm leaning towards something with quince or kumquats. My first thoughts were to do something with mango, but on reflection I don't really see that working.

Well, I decided. But it's not a keeper.

A Christmas starter to design

I had the idea of making blue cheese soufflés by chilling a ball of cheese (perhaps blended with cream) and sticking it in the middle of the soufflé mixture, like a cheesy version of Ghirardelli's chocolate lava cakes (as requested by Sophie while we made delicious white chocolate crème brûlées during my recent babysitting/cookery-lesson visit).
But then I realised that the last thing we really need at Christmas Dinner is another dish jealous of its oven time and temperature.
Better think again.
Something which can be made up well in advance and requires minimal cooking perhaps?

Job done.

EGGNOG!

Maybe this year I'll get around to making some? I already have a nice collection of recipes to work through.

Yep. Here's one we drank earlier.

Ooooh! I'm going to be sooooo busy!