Roque sat by the roaring log fire, a glass of Shiraz in his hand and mince pies fresh from the oven on the table smelling of Christmas spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, sultanas, cognac and roasted orange.
Wanda had mentioned stockings, always a word that gets Roques attention. “Darling do you know why we hang stockings by the fire at Christmas?”. Being the font of all knowledge he explained that a long time ago, a poor family couldn’t afford any food and so their father decided to sell his two daughters into prostitution (nice chap!).
As they prepared to leave they hung their stockings by the fire to dry. The Bishop of Mira heard of their plight and finding the house pushed open a window and threw a handful of gold coins into the stockings. This changed the girls plight and the tradition has lasted until today.
The only difference is that Agent Provocateur and Pour Moi now benefit from providing wonderful stockings which Wanda wore with sexy pride.
Stocking the Christmas store cupboard was also very important to these lovers. A mini jar of sevruga caviar, a Fortnum and Mason turkey, cranberry and stuffing pie, pickled walnuts, fresh king scallops, mince pies from their local bakery made with flaky Viennese pastry and laced with cognac. An Italian panettone with Devon clotted cream, a side of the best smoked salmon, oysters, fresh fruit and perfect vegetables from the town market completed the list.
They made homemade taramasalata, garlic mayonnaise, olive tapenade and home made parsnip crisps.
No Christmas table would be complete without crisp fresh celery and some rich and creamy Tuxford and Tebbutt blue stilton, baked camembert with crusty dipping bread, Somerset cave aged reserve cheddar and potted Blue Shropshire with Whisky, served with Wanda’s homemade hot mustard piccalilli.
One of the highlights of Christmas cooking was making the Christmas game pie. This is Roques speciality. This is how he makes it.
Firstly he finely chopped 3 banana shallots and 2 cloves of garlic. He then mixed in 200g minced pork belly, 200g finely chopped smoked streaky bacon and 800g of mixed, pheasant, rabbit, venison and wild duck. All mixed together adding 50ml port, ½ tsp ground mace, 1 tsp dried sage, a shower of fresh chopped parsley and 1 dsp of dried thyme and finely freshly ground black pepper, lots of it, and a dusting of salt. He set this aside to marinate while he made the hot water crust pastry.
Start by combining 450g plain flour with150g white bread flour, now add 75gm of butter and rub together like a crumble mix. Now in a pan heat 200ml hot water, 100g proper lard and some salt and heat until just boiling, now add this to the bread and butter mix. Mix quickly to avoid it getting crumbly and lay out on a floured surface and knead into a smooth dough. Now he lines the appropriate round tin with the pastry, first pressing into the bottom and then around the sides of the tin pinching it all together.
Next he fills the tin with the meat mixture to the top and rolls out the remaining pastry to form a lid. With beaten egg he brushes around the top of the pastry, pinches on the lid, brushes this again with beaten egg to glaze and trims the sides leaving a hole in the centre for the steam to escape.
Pop the pie onto a baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes at 180c then turn it down to 160c for another 1.5 hours. He then cools it before serving with homemade pickles.
The smell of the pie cooking intermingled with Roques Boss The Scent after shave from Hugo Boss was enough to turn any girls head. How very sexy men are that cook for you she mused.
While Roque prepared the pie, Wanda designed and built her 12 balls of Christmas – naughty messages written on Christmas baubles in lipstick and hung on the tree branch every other day…what great fun!
She scoured the hedgerows for a suitable branch, fixed it onto a wooden base and painted it bright white as the snow with a little added glitter to make it sparkle.
She then bought 12 white opaque Christmas balls and with great excitement she wrote…
It’s so cold, take me to bed.
Kiss me, my Christmas angel.
Make love under the Christmas Tree
I’m wearing stockings and no knickers…
Spank me Santa, I’m a bad girl!
Tie me up, tie me down…
Ride me, Santa! I’m your sleigh girl!
All I want for Christmas is you.
I’m giving good vibrations…!
Come on baby light my fire.
Bang! your Christmas cracker!
Unwrap ME, I’m your gift…
To complete the seduction Roque presented a trio of seasonal traditional cocktails. First Christmas Chocolate orange, a blend of orange bitters, Grand Marnier, gin, and finished with shavings of dark chocolate and a twist of orange.
Next was a great favourite Brandy Alexander. Cognac shaken over crushed ice with both brown and white cacao and thick double cream served in Martini glasses and dusted with nutmeg ( a sure fire aphrodisiac). His finale was a Snow Ball, rich advocaat, fresh lime juice topped up with lemonade and garnished with bright red cherries!
To finish the scene they purchased the Advent Tree, a forever advent calendar standing 1.25 meters tall, made of wood, hand painted, first filled with Christmas delights such as vintage cognac, fine whisky, Truffle mustard and The Bay Tree Cracking Cranberry sauce. Each door revealed another treat.
Once removed they delved into Santa’s sack and with a corresponding door number they filled the box with a most delightful Christmas scene. This was the envy of all their friends, and they just loved it enjoying it year after year. Bought from www.adventtree.co.uk for £2995.00.
Have yourselves a very sexy Christmas
Love from Wanda and Roque xxx
