Gravity (and Christmas fellowship!)

So yesterday we had our church group Christmas meal- the one I posted about earlier in the week?

It was a storm! It took an awful lot of preparation- but was so worth it.

It wasn’t just the food- the mission piece went brilliantly- and we had a lot of opportunities to liaise with the general public. Quite a few of the took the ‘Christmas in 3 words’ booklets that we had to offer if wanted. These are a simple introduction to the Christ in Christmas. We wrapped about 50 presents in total, some people are going to have very happy mornings on the 25th!

Here are a few select photo’s of the day!

Some of the beautiful wrapping team!

The Top Hall dinner tables- arranged in a tight horseshoe, so everyone could see each other, and nobody became isolated from conversation. Backing music provided by Rend Collective’s- campfire Christmas (which if you don’t have, you need to buy).

The Head Chef, and me!!!

Our Nigella Christmas chickens, surrounded by the trimmings! We put one of these serving dishes per 4 people and asked a central person to serve their friends. We had so much left over, we made 14 meals for the homeless, and put these in plastic take-away boxes with knives and forks- delivering them after the meal.
My Christmas Ham- I’m more than a little bit proud of this! I was at church for 8am, to get this baby on the boil. It bathed in simmering water for just over 4 hours, before the skin was peeled back, the fat was scored, studded with cloves and drizzled in golden syrup. It then roasted on high for just over 20 minutes, to get that beautiful colour. It was probably definitely my favourite bit of the meal.

And my poem?! Yes! My performance poetry went rather well! I performed Mark Greene’s (LICC) ‘Gravity’, at our contemporary Christmas Carol concert last night- and I didn’t forget any of it 🙂

It perfectly sums up the spirit of the season as it should be. Allow me to share it with you, and please let it bless your Christmas!

-Gravity-

The apple, unlike Adam, had no choice but to fall,

Speeding to fulfill it’s creators call,

But what force drew Him down to us?

He, with a starlight infinity to explore,

He, who could peer into a neutrons core.

He, who had spoken a thousand million times,

And known the sulphuric spit of our self-vaunting crimes.

He, who we’d called a murderer, liar, thier,

And left for dead, with enlightened relief.

What force drew Him down from above,

To reap the grim harvest of rebel pride,

Hammered with Nails of truth denied.

What force drew Him down from above?

What force but this, the gravity of Love.

Mark Greene (London Institute of Contemporary Christianity)

Christmas Dinner for 23 people- for less than £90!

So yesterday myself, a friend and Mr M went shopping for our church group (Glo- it’s affectionately named) Christmas meal.

IT WAS GLORIOUS

This is what our conveyor looked like:

We were feeling pretty stoked- and scared, that with 23 mouths to feed, a full Christmas dinner for £5 a head was not going to happen. We were very pleasantly surprised! The total came to just under £88! The remainder we plan on spending on drinks and Christmas crackers- which we didn’t initially add to the trolley for fear of going over budget.

So what are we serving on Saturday?

Aside from our morning mission activity( free Christmas gift wrapping to the public: wishing them well and reminding them that there is a church here that would be happy to receive them and their families over Christmas) we are having a hearty meal and a contemporary carol service in the evening. I am performing a poem- we’ll see how that goes!

Our menu for 23 hungry mouths:

MAIN

Sausagemeat Stuffed Roast Chicken

Christmas Gammon Ham

Brussel Sprouts

Parsnips

Carrots

Roast Potatoes

Pigs in blankets

Sage and onion stuffing

Gravy

PUDDING

Christmas pudding, served with either:

Brandy cream

Custard

Ice cream

OR- Warm Mince Pies

The cook in me is buzzing with excitement at stuffing the birds and cooking the Ham. I do love a bit of Nigella Lawson, and since she suggested stuffing sausage meat under the skin of the bird (albeit a turkey in her example) I’ve been a devout fan. My family loved it when I did it with our Christmas turkey last year, and you get the most beautiful, moist, self basting turkey- with an incredible carve. I think Glo will love it!

The ham I will cook the way my Nan taught me. Boiled gently in water with sage and onion for approximately 4 hours, then the skin peeled off revealing the fat- scored, glazed with honey and roasted until crispy and glistening. Bish-bash-bosh.

I plan to serve a chicken per 4 people, surrounded by the side dishes. I have two vegetarians and am providing a not roast separately for each of them- so they don’t feel left out- it does mean the roasties will miss their goose fat bath, but i’ll save that for the Fox family dinner at least.

Upon taking this to the church, a problem was realised. There was no room in the inn fridge for the chickens and ham.

SORTED.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Church staff fridge:

Anyone else trying to feed the 5000 this year? I’d love to hear your shopping/ planning success stories!