Gets earlier every year?

[Carlotta King]

Is that why you've been getting all Erika's shopping wrong lately - the Christmas music is distracting you

[John Pickup]

I'm going again tomorrow, Cathy, but she's coming with me this time.

[Carlotta King]

Haha!!

Well don't forget - find the longest sell-by dates, check that all the lids are on properly and that all the packets/boxes etc are sealed properly, look at all the meat to find the leanest cuts (and even if you don't know what you're looking for at least pretend to be looking at all of them, that works well too!), don't put bread or eggs at the bottom of the trolley, and above all, pretend to take an interest, and suggest roasting a butternut squash with your normal vegetables - that always sounds impressive and shows that you're taking an active interest in what you have for dinner and are capable of suggesting something out of the ordinary for a meal.

I'll turn you into an amazing shopper yet!!

[John Pickup]

Cathy, when Erika is there I'm only a trolley pusher.

[Carlotta King]

Ah - that's where you're going wrong - you don't have to be just a trolley pusher!
Impress her by being MORE than the usual trolley pusher - when she's picking veg, suggest something different. When she's choosing meat, ask how she's going to cook it and then suggest some nice herbs to garnish it.

[Courtenay]

and suggest roasting a butternut squash with your normal vegetables - that always sounds impressive and shows that you're taking an active interest in what you have for dinner and are capable of suggesting something out of the ordinary for a meal.

Butternut squash "out of the ordinary"? Only because you Brits, for some unfathomable reason, don't normally eat pumpkin! (We call it butternut pumpkin in Australia, and have many other varieties as well. Tasty, but perfectly normal. )

[Carlotta King]

you Brits, for some unfathomable reason, don't normally eat pumpkin!

I know - tell me about it!
I am constantly trying to get hold of pumpkins because they are a super-food for cats, incredibly good for their insides, and you just can't get pumpkins anywhere here once Halloween has gone, even in the greengrocers where they stock all the 'winter vegetables'.

[Courtenay]

My mum, who lived in London for a couple of years in the early 1970s, always told me "Brits don't eat pumpkin", but I didn't quite believe it would still be true when I moved here 40 years later!! I now live and work at a care home, and once, when complimenting the cook on her carrot soup, I mentioned that it reminded me a little of my mum's pumpkin soup. Pumpkin soup? The cook, bless her, had never heard of such a thing.

One thing I find ironic is that one of our most common varieties in Australia (with a nice dark green skin with paler spots) is called a Kent pumpkin. How it got that name, when people here in Kent don't eat pumpkins, I don't know!

I'd never heard of pumpkins as a super-food for cats. They occasionally go into the home-cooked food my mum makes for our dog, though.

[Carlotta King]

Yeah they're excellent for cats and dogs too.
They're for digestive and urinary health; they miraculously regulate both diarrhoea and constipation, and are excellent for keeping the urinary system healthy.
A tablespoon of roasted pureed pumpkin is recommended for upset stomachs/or constipation in pets, but a teaspoon is perfect just for a treat.
A whole pumpkin lasts ages because you roast it and then can spoon it into ice-cube trays and freeze it, so you can just defrost a tiny perfect-size portion for a treat as and when.

Oh dear, a cook not having heard of pumpkin soup?!
It's not that common in tins here, but Covent Garden Soups do a seasonal Pumpkin Soup in their refrigerated carton varieties, but note the word 'seasonal' there - it only seems to be around at Halloween.
Can't give that to pets though because it's got onion in it and onion is toxic to our furry friends.

[Courtenay]

I've got a lovely recipe for tuna and pumpkin korma, but over here I usually end up having to replace the pumpkin with a mix of potato and sweet potato!

Anyway, to try to get us back onto the topic of Christmas... perhaps we could start sharing some favourite Christmas recipes here? (With or without pumpkin.)

[John Pickup]

I'm all for sharing Christmas recipes, you make 'em, I'll eat 'em.

[burlingtonbertram]

Always happy to hear some Christmas recipes: I've just got back into baking this last couple of months. I can do the basics (mince-pies, buns etc.) and it would be good to extend my range a bit. Made another batch of mince-pies late last night. I make a few pickles (eggs, cabbage, or onions but I've maybe left it a bit late for Christmas this year).

Had my first Christmas lunch of the season today. There is a really good garden centre that does excellent lunches - all proper cooking not frozen and re-heated. Had the Christmas carvery - turkey, proper cranberry sauce, a mound of creamy mash, several roasties, sage & onion, sausage & bacon roll, a really thick, turkey gravy. Oh, and carrots as I thought I'd better try and have a bit of veg. Glad I didn't order the Christmas pudding.

[Courtenay]

Ooooooh yum. Mind you, although I enjoy it, that's not the kind of Christmas lunch I grew up with in the antipodes. We've always had a barbeque for Christmas - not just steak and sausages, but Dad's more exotic favourites such as Indian-style lamb kebabs, Thai meatballs and fishballs, or even chilli prawns, plus assorted salads, chutneys and dips, and always large quantities of Mum's legendary potato salad. Always a big treat, especially when the weather is hot. (I won't be in Australia for Christmas due to work commitments, but am planning a trip soon after the New Year.)

[burlingtonbertram]

I think that would be great; and I certainly wouldn't miss the British weather at Christmas.

As I'm mainly cooking for myself I like recipes that don't need too many ingredients, because it's a bit indulgent buying half a dozen different things just for me. Anyone got any recipes for small, savoury tarts at all? I fancy a change from just the usual mince-pies, sausage rolls, jam-tarts and so on.

[Farwa]

You can check a good cookbook if you like - you'll find many recipes for tarts in it!