Vol-au-want

Christmas is upon us again. It has been for a while, since about September, when the first decorations begin to be seen in shops but it is still impossible to find anything remotely Haloween-related.

A time for family and friends, a time for giving and receiving, a time of eating, drinking and making ourselves generally very merry. A time of want.

J spends christmas day with his daddy, mostly due to the fact that my immediate family have never made a big thing of christmas. So this year, I invited my boyfriend to spend christmas day at my house. It will be the first time I have ever cooked a christmas dinner, and im somewhat relieved that its only for two people.

He informed me that one of the things he likes to do on christmas day is snack on vol-au-vents. And they HAVE to be put together by him, the way he likes them. So there I am in Asda on my weekly shop, searching for vol-au-vent pastry cases, with a restless three year old in tow, who likes to stand on the side of the trolley rather than ride in the child seat like normal children, much to the annoyance of childless sunday shoppers blinded by trolley rage. After ten minutes of searching the frozen pastry section (which is really not a big section at all), i discovered that although Asda does sell vol-au-vent cases, they were totally sold out. Typical.

Not to worry, as Monday i planned to go to the local shopping centre. The cheapy frozen food shop assistant didnt know what I was talking about. But in Iceland, I hit the jackpot. a whole shelf full of boxes of vol-au-vent pastry cases. My joy was short lived as I turned the corner and saw the size of the queue. Now, if you’ve ever been to my local Iceland in the week before christmas, you will know exactly what I’m talking about. It took us about half an hour to reach the till as we waited for a long line of people to buy their entire christmas dinners. The things I do for love, eh? It will all be worth it when i see how happy he is with his vol-au-vent snacks made exactly the way he likes. J was very patient and stayed in his buggy which was a surprise as he is usually nowhere to be seen the moment we walk into any shop.

I rewarded him with a trip to Wetherspoons, one of his favourite places to eat. Although I do take him to Mcdonalds every now and then, I try to find better places to eat with more wholesome food, and since the age of two he has pointed out the wetherspoons every time we pass it, which used to sound a little like some strange mating call: “Widaspoooon!”

We had a wonderful time together on Saturday morning as we headed down to the local playground after dropping off presents to family. The playground has a winding loop of a path amongst the grass which he likes to ride his bike around. He has only just grown big enough to ride it even though I bought it over a year ago for his second birthday, so I have to give a helpful push every few seconds. It started snowing and we sat together on the balancing beam for ages catching snowflakes in our gloved hands and marvelling at them. I really relish these times spent together, it is wonderful to see the world through the eyes of a child.

I went to the Somerfield today, which is literally next door to my house, to buy the poor christmas chicken and also to grab a Good Homes magazine (ignoring the non-credit-crunch-friendly £3.20 price tag), and what did i spot peering laughingly up at me from the freezer? Yes, you guessed it, vol-au-vent pastry cases. Now why didnt i think of that before?! I consolled myself a little by noticing that they were 50p more expensive than the ones in Iceland.