A Christmas message from Graham and Anouk
The season of Advent calls us to slow down, to watch and to wait. However, in 2020 it might feel like we’ve been doing this all year already, forced to be at home, watching for news, waiting for it all to go back to normal.
Like many of you, our Christmas plans this year are looking very different from those we originally envisaged. Due to the all the various restrictions, Anouk and I will be spending Christmas in our flat at Westcott House in Cambridge, where I’m training for ministry.
Whilst we’ll be sad not to see more family and friends, one thing I am looking forward to is being in charge of the cooking for Christmas.
I’ve always found making food a great way to relax – it’s something practical to do and, usually, you can see the end result of your work which isn’t always the case in life!
The kitchen in our flat is rather small, as is the oven and I imagine cooking Christmas lunch, even for just two of us, will be a bit like a cross between playing Jenga and solving a Rubiks Cube, but I know it will also be fun.
Aside from the traditional stuff, I suspect I will also attempt one of my favourites on Boxing Day which I can’t take credit for – it’s Nigella Lawson’s ham in coca cola https://www.nigella.com/recipes/ham-in-coca-cola I usually do a version with cherry coke with a cherry jam glaze which tastes great and is also very festive indeed. It’s definitely worth a try.
Whether you’ll be in the kitchen over the coming weeks or steering well clear, my best wishes and prayers are with you as we look forward to Christmas, which reminds us as we wait and watch, that there is always light in the darkness.