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Henry this is our Christmas edition Merry Christmas Merry Christmas so Christmas time I don't know how

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stressful it is for you Henry at this time of year cooking in the kitchen for multiple guests but

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it's an interesting time in our clinics where we see people coming in with all kinds of issues and

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one of the most common things that someone will come in and say is that their back went when they

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bent down to get the turkey out of the oven. So I'm hoping that we can give people today lots of

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top tips on how to prevent kitchen related injuries and other wintertime injuries that

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we commonly see in clinic but also how you can then make the turkey and other Christmas

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festive meals much more tasty. So we're going to dive straight in and talk about I think this

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Let's hear from you, Henry, about what do you do to keep costs down when you're shopping?

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And what top tips can you give us for making all our dinners at home much tastier than mine?

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Definitely.

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Definitely.

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Well, for me, Christmas is a wonderful time of year.

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And I actually, I don't get stressed.

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I'm a very cool cucumber here.

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I let everyone else get stressed around me and I just kind of breeze through it.

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I'm from a big family.

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So, you know, Christmas has always been a kind of a kind of chaotic affair, you know, kind of wrapping paper everywhere, a massive turkey with someone busting their bag, crackers and all the all the usual shenanigans.

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Yeah. So for me, it's a real you know, it's a time for feasting and celebration and spending time with loved ones.

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And of course, food plays a really important part of that because, you know, I'm a big believer that food is what draws people together.

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And yes, you know, you know, if you've got all the family around and maybe a few family members that you're not so keen on.

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But, you know, at Christmas time, you make that effort, don't you?

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And the food is, you know, coming from the chef point of view, I'm often more likely found in the kitchen.

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probably the only time i'd get stressed is if if i'm feeding everyone and then there's someone

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standing in front of the oven you know with a mulled wine in hand chatting to me with no kind

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of like no concept that there's actually quite a lot of work to be done but i'm i've i've become

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as i've become older a bit more blunt of like can you just if you're going to be in the kitchen help

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if you don't in the kitchen just just just go chat next door it's fine and um i was probably

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you know too polite when i was younger and um and uh you know and then everyone's like oh why is the

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Christmas dinner a bit late.

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And I'm like, well, you were standing in the way.

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Anyway, for me, yeah, so Christmas is all about the food.

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I think it's a balance between being prepped

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so that you can, you know, you can enjoy the day

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and it doesn't feel like you're just kind of slaving

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behind the stove.

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But then also not being so prepped

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that you take all the joy out of Christmas.

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Like, you know, I've seen all of those kind of like hacks

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on the internet where people are talking about,

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oh, you know, I get all of my veg prepped

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in September and frozen already.

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Like that doesn't fill me with excitement.

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And that just sounds like you're taking all the joy at Christmas.

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But then for me, part of the joy is actually the cooking side of it.

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So, you know, maybe that's talking to the wrong audience.

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So actually, I want to be cooking on the day, but not things like making stock or gravy.

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There's things that you can do in advance because then you're going to get a really delicious meal.

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But also, you want to be doing some things on the day.

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because actually I love it when the wife gets involved

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or when the kids get involved or my brother-in-law,

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who I never see gets involved, you know, and actually, you know,

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we're all, you know, it's a kind of combined effort, isn't it?

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Yeah.

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And I think the other things is, you know, if you're part of a big family

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or if you've got a big group coming, it's actually to, you know,

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and this is probably quite common, is actually just share out the job loads.

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So, you know, I'd make a list on WhatsApp and say, like,

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this is what I think we should have.

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If you want to add, you know, if anyone's got an idea for a put-in

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or a new side or something, you know, of course, you've got to let people, you know, have their

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say. And then I'll just kind of pick the jobs that I like doing, or I think I don't want them

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to be messed up. So that might be the turkey, obviously, or whatever the meat is, probably the

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gravy, and then maybe the roast potatoes. And then I'm like, I'm happy if someone else wants to take

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on the carrots, you know, they might not do them exactly how I want, but I'm not going to allow

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that to ruin my Christmas. So I think there's an element where you can outsource a bit of that

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prep particularly if you've got a lot of people coming over um and just to kind of um manage your

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expectations my family so I'm one of six so there's eight of us but then you know there's

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wives and husbands and then also um nephews and nieces so when we're all together I think we're

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like 27 now we don't always meet up together but um but throughout my whole childhood you know I've

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got 30 odd cousins you know even you know from a young age there was always like maybe 20 plus

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people in the room so when you've got those kind of numbers it has to be a kind of shared experience

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but uh but even if you're just doing it for four you know you can still get other people involved

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so yeah i mean does that kind of how does that compare to one of your christmases hayley is it

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yeah yeah well usually for us um uh i like to host i quite like it when people come to me um

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yeah yeah maybe that's the control freak in me i'm sure my family would say yeah that's how she

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definitely is but i just enjoy it i enjoy seeing people open their gifts i'm one of those people

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that i get really annoyed if i've missed the person open the present from me because um i get

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fulfillment from that i kind of spend a lot of time putting effort into the presents and i get

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the joy from watching people open the things from me i don't care what i get i just i like watching

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what people get and then i like cooking and actually making them feel like they've had a

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really good christmas experience because growing up i had fantastic christmases and have really

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happy memories of um you know my mom and my dad and my brother and me we're a smaller family and

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we just kind of just had a lovely tight-knit family enjoying all the traditional things um

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but over the over the years I've just always wanted to like make things extra tasty and so

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probably growing up we probably had the instant gravy with the water and now it's like how can you

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how can you make tasty gravy before um i agree i think if you try and do vegetables too far in

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advance i mean we shouldn't really freeze them for that long because they could deplete with

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their nutritional value over time so if you're preparing it in september it's gonna probably

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not be that great for you by three months down the line whereas maybe a month before a couple

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of months might be a bit different but yeah how so in terms of gravy you said you prepare that

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ahead of time henry what do you how do you make your gravy well okay so for christmas we pretty

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much always have turkey i actually quite like turkey i think it does get a bad rap and probably

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you know during my kind of real chef years you know i probably used to petition that it'd be

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really nice if we had a goose or or like a rib of beef or something but actually you know if you're

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cooking for a big group you know turkey in terms of kind of bang for your buck um a big goose feeds

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four people and then there's nothing for leftovers whereas you know you do get a good amount of

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protein on your turkey and plenty for leftovers for sandwiches and bubble and squeak and all the

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all the other delicious things you can have a boxing day and onwards and um so actually i've

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kind of come to terms with the turkey and uh so for me it's about buying the best quality you can

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obviously i used to run a butchery shop so i so i you know i've kind of had them them all you know

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and seen you know the whole kind of spectrum but a well-sourced turkey that has been free range

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kind of slowly grown so a lot of the kind of cheap ones in the supermarket they'll be really

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fast grown when something's fast grown it doesn't have the same flavor it hasn't moved around so the

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muscles haven't been worked as much you know it might be a kind of softer meat but it's not going

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to have the same kind of flavor it might dry out more because it hasn't kind of built up that lovely

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layer of fat and then there's things like you have to um uh dry pluck them uh sorry we're going right

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right into the the depth here but uh the quickest way to um get the the feathers out of a bird is

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you dip it into boiling water and then you whip it out and then you put it essentially on you know

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one of those like um buffers for your um your shoes they like polish your shoes it spins around

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and you basically hold the the chicken or turkey whatever on it and it and it essentially it

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catches the feathers and it yanks them out and so you you can remove all the feathers fairly quickly

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the problem with that is it damages the the skin quite a bit but also it makes it wet so the quality

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places will dry pluck them now that means it's done essentially by hand so you know people in

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sheds will be spending their kind of lead up to christmas dry plucking a thousand turkey and um

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but that dry plucking gives you a far better quality skin then and then the the the turkey

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people often get confused with the turkey and they think of it as being like chicken actually it's

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more like a game bird it's more like pheasant so you can actually um uh hang a hang a turkey for

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a few days so up to kind of depending on size up to five to ten days will then be hung

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in a chiller before it's then kind of wrapped and put into its box and sold at the butchers

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and and that's similar to when you have a piece of beef that kind of dry aging it allows a few

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things one is that it allows moisture to come out so you get a more kind of intense it caramelizes

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better you get more flavor there's less kind of water in the bird but also the the protein start

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and the muscles start to break down a little bit and so you get a more kind of tender particularly

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for a bird that's been you know racing around the the the farmyard it's going to build up quite a

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lot of good muscle mass and actually you know when that's freshly slaughtered and then eaten it's

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going to be quite tough so you need to have that kind of um dry hanging whereas you know if you go

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to the you know get a cheap one from the supermarket that won't have happened it will be more akin to

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a chicken it will be reared quickly in a barn um it'll be wet plucked it'll then be frozen fairly

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quickly and it'll you know it's going to be cheaper but it's not going to be as tasty so

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but the thing i've noticed recently and sorry i know we're talking about gravy but we're going to

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get to that um is uh the you know the cost of a turkey is you know a quality one it's astronomical

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like um i i was looking at the place that i normally order the turkey for um my mom's house

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and it's kind of 15 of us this year and for a kind of six kilo turkey you know it's like um i

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think it's like over 120 quid which is which is a lot of money for a turkey you're like oh that is

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like that is a significant cost um and uh and so i can totally see um that kind of temptation to go

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for a cheaper one is there because actually you know at that price you could probably buy beef

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you know but the flavor you get from it is it's hard to replicate so a few little hacks that i've

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done and i've done this a few times is um is obviously when you buy a whole turkey you know

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you get that beautiful kind of like celebration it's on the plate it looks great and then you kind

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of carve it up in actual fact when i was a butcher i learned this most people want to buy the breast

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so you'll sell lots of whole turkeys but you'll sell a lot of just like crowns or just breast meat

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so what you end up is is a surplus of legs so if you go on to a kind of go to a butcher's or a

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quality you know online butchery that is selling quality birds if you if you scroll down you'll see

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turkey legs and they're actually quite cheap so for a six to eight kilo turkey you'll get two legs

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and they're about 15 quid each.

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So suddenly for like 30 quid,

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you've got about four kilos of meat.

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And I actually think the leg is the tastiest bit.

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So my hack that I've done for the last couple of years

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is rather than buying a whole bird,

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I buy a couple of legs or maybe three legs,

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which is kind of a bit weird buying three legs.

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And then I'll buy a piece of just breast meat.

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So maybe like 500 grams or a kilo.

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You are paying more per kilo for that, but because you're buying proportionally a smaller amount, it's not so expensive.

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I'm just saying you go and ask for turkey drumsticks.

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Yeah, pretty much.

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But they're big, you know, they're kind of monstrous.

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And then so what I did last year was I boned and rolled a couple of the turkey legs.

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So I took the bones out, a little bit of clever butcher.

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You could get your butcher to this, but obviously I can do this at home.

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And then I used that to stuff it with my nice bit of sausage meat, you know, nice stuffing and bacon.

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And then so then we kind of roasted separately a boned and rolled leg, the whole eggs.

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So then we still had that kind of whole egg thing and then the breast on its own.

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And then in the kitchen, I just carved it up and arranged it lovely on a plate.

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So everyone was like, oh, beautiful.

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We've got all of, you know, we've got the white, we've got the brown.

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And we ended up, so I worked out the same amount of meat that you'd have.

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we bought a whole turkey but it came to about 40 quid and uh so i was like well i've kind of

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gained the system here um and uh um and actually you know i i think that personally the lake meat

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is the tastiest bit so actually i i'd rather have that than a lot of you know the bit that people

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moan about is the dry breast meat so it's like well let's just remove that bit and um anyway i'm

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not saying this is you know this this is just more if if you were if you were looking at turkey

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like i cannot justify spending 120 quid on a six kilo turkey and then the alternative is you go buy

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like a subpar one that you're going to be disappointed with from the supermarket well

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actually this is a way that you can still buy those delicious you know free range dry prop

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you know kelly bronze whatever turkey and um and then cook it really nicely but then the good thing

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with that is when you bone and roll the the legs you end up with the bones i then you know buy a

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few extra turkey wings um because of course they you know they want to sell all of it and then use

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that to make you gravy so you can do that a couple of days in advance before so that no that's

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brilliant i don't think many people would have known about the um the the leg hack

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yeah don't tell too many people because yeah it'll go crazy

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i'm gonna put my order in after this episode and so so what would you do then for the turkeys um

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for the gravy side sorry so what would you how do you make that so again as we've discussed

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with like a bone broth is what you want to do is you want to get some color on the bones so i would

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just roast so i'd buy yeah like a couple of turkey wings which again you know when you think of a

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chicken wing from a big turkey they're actually you know a decent you know it's almost like a

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they're probably two wings might weigh 700 grams so that you know it's a decent bit of weight so

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chop them up roast them in a hot oven until they've got plenty of caramelization because

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that's where you're going to get all that lovely flavor and again with your turkey leg if you have

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done a bit of bone and rolling and that yes i roasted off with some some onions some carrots

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etc got loads of color into a pot ideally a pressure cooker or just you know a big

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stainless steel pot cover it with water and then bring it to a simmer you then want to just take

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off any kind of like flotsam and jot some that kind of floats the top and then in with some

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aromats so some bay some thyme a few peppercorns um you know if you got some leek trimmings some parsley stalks and then just simmer it very gently for probably about three hours so you want to get you want to just really slowly

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kind of extract all of that collagen out of the bones into the water so then you get that lovely

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kind of depth of stock and then at that point um and you want to make a decent amount because no

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one wants to be shortchanged on gravy at christmas i know that i've done in the past where i've you

200
00:15:12,593 --> 00:15:16,693
know pass the jug around for my uh father-in-law and he's literally just like glugged a liter on

201
00:15:16,693 --> 00:15:21,153
i'm like oh that's it actually i only i didn't make enough anyway so it's always best to have

202
00:15:21,153 --> 00:15:26,313
more because then you can use it you know for your turkey pie you know later on in december now if

203
00:15:26,313 --> 00:15:30,573
you if you've got a really good stock it might be absolutely fine you then roast your bird up you

204
00:15:30,573 --> 00:15:34,993
know and and then you can deglaze the pan bit of wine if you want to thicken it with a bit of um

205
00:15:34,993 --> 00:15:39,873
bit of flour or some corn flour or something you can um or you could just reduce the chef thing to

206
00:15:39,873 --> 00:15:43,953
do is just to reduce that stock down by half to just kind of really concentrate those flavors

207
00:15:43,953 --> 00:15:48,853
and uh and then yeah when you deglaze it with the pan um you're going to get all those kind

208
00:15:48,853 --> 00:15:53,213
of caramelized bits up again from the the turkey when you rest the meat make sure you rest it on a

209
00:15:53,213 --> 00:15:58,113
tray pour those juices in because that's all flavor and then because it's christmas what you

210
00:15:58,113 --> 00:16:05,193
want to do is just then um uh whisk in some fresh salted butter and um and it just gives it a lovely

211
00:16:05,193 --> 00:16:10,573
shine and a great mouthfeel and yeah and then serve it up and and always taste it and make sure

212
00:16:10,573 --> 00:16:14,933
it's seasoned and you know if it's a bit flat add a little bit of sherry vinegar or a bit of cider

213
00:16:14,933 --> 00:16:20,653
vinegar just to kind of get that acidity up yeah um just like keep it simple like if you've if

214
00:16:20,653 --> 00:16:24,573
you've cooked it from good bones good ingredients you know the flavors will come out and be fine

215
00:16:24,573 --> 00:16:29,513
yeah that sounds great and so how far in advance are you making this Henry is this like the week

216
00:16:29,513 --> 00:16:34,933
before are you doing this yeah well well most so most turkeys you know if you've ordered it from a

217
00:16:34,933 --> 00:16:39,773
butcher or or from a you know a good place online they normally deliver them from kind of like the

218
00:16:39,773 --> 00:16:46,053
20th because you know most people don't have a big fridge to store a six kilo turkey so they're

219
00:16:46,053 --> 00:16:50,593
kind of assuming like oh people are going to put it in their shed or like somewhere to kind of um

220
00:16:50,593 --> 00:16:54,893
or you know they might make space but you know um i've definitely seen my mom do it where it's been

221
00:16:54,893 --> 00:16:59,673
a kind of a not a mild christmas and i'm like how long has that turkey been in the shed for like you

222
00:16:59,673 --> 00:17:04,553
know it's kind of come on um so yeah but put it in a fridge obviously but but okay say you've

223
00:17:04,553 --> 00:17:09,233
received it on the 21st so you're a few days out so at this point you can then you know you can do

224
00:17:09,233 --> 00:17:13,393
your do your butchery so you can remove the bones you can make your stock so that's fine so you know

225
00:17:13,393 --> 00:17:18,473
you're talking you know three three four days out another thing i like to do is is to salt the turkey

226
00:17:18,473 --> 00:17:22,613
beforehand so there's kind of two methods have you have you heard of like brining your turkey before

227
00:17:22,613 --> 00:17:29,013
is that something that you've tried or i have no okay so let's say it's like it's a little kind of

228
00:17:29,013 --> 00:17:38,153
chefy trick is that when you salt something, it changes the, I'm not a scientist here,

229
00:17:38,193 --> 00:17:41,393
so I'm going to say this all wrong. You'll have to go speak to Aston Blumenthal for the exact

230
00:17:41,393 --> 00:17:46,093
science, but essentially it changes how the structure of the muscles and how they're able

231
00:17:46,093 --> 00:17:52,633
to retain moisture once cooked. So by salting something, not only does it season the meat so

232
00:17:52,633 --> 00:17:57,593
then it's more tasty, when you actually cook it, it stops that moisture coming out. So though

233
00:17:57,593 --> 00:18:01,693
But interestingly, when you salt something, it removes moisture from it.

234
00:18:01,793 --> 00:18:06,513
So it's kind of, it sounds a bit counterintuitive, but actually you end up with a juicier result.

235
00:18:06,933 --> 00:18:09,713
Now, the fashion always used to be to wet brine.

236
00:18:10,033 --> 00:18:15,793
So essentially you would, you get a big pot of water, you weigh your turkey and you normally do between kind of,

237
00:18:16,233 --> 00:18:20,973
it's about one to one and a half percent of the weight of the turkey in salt.

238
00:18:21,353 --> 00:18:25,173
And then you boil it up with a bit of sugar and some, you can put some cloves in there.

239
00:18:25,173 --> 00:18:30,453
You can put some garlic, some, you know, pimentos, some peppercorns, maybe some slices of orange.

240
00:18:30,513 --> 00:18:32,453
You can make it look festive, you know, put some cinnamon sticks.

241
00:18:32,673 --> 00:18:36,033
It's not going to do a huge amount, but it's going to make you feel kind of feel festive.

242
00:18:36,293 --> 00:18:40,193
You bring that to the boil, then allow it to cool down completely into a bucket.

243
00:18:40,473 --> 00:18:44,393
And then you then put your turkey into it and you leave it overnight.

244
00:18:44,633 --> 00:18:49,033
So that was kind of like the way that I started doing probably about 10 years ago.

245
00:18:49,193 --> 00:18:52,853
But then last couple of years, I've actually started dry brining.

246
00:18:52,853 --> 00:18:57,453
and um and the theory behind that is it does exactly the same thing but it's when you wet

247
00:18:57,453 --> 00:19:02,133
brine it does make the bird a bit wetter so it's harder to get a really crispy skin

248
00:19:02,133 --> 00:19:08,193
so by dry brining you literally same again you weigh the salt um to the weight of the bird and

249
00:19:08,193 --> 00:19:11,873
then you mix in a bit of sugar and some you could you could ground up some peppercorns and some nice

250
00:19:11,873 --> 00:19:17,193
spices and stuff and then you rub it all inside the inside cavity and then also underneath the

251
00:19:17,193 --> 00:19:21,253
skin so you need to like get your fingers under the skin and kind of work yourself around and then

252
00:19:21,253 --> 00:19:28,413
get the salt down there again leave it in the fridge overnight for um uh um 24 hours and then

253
00:19:28,413 --> 00:19:33,773
you wash the salt off it's not too much salt to be honest um but the dry brine it has the same

254
00:19:33,773 --> 00:19:38,513
effect but it doesn't uh it doesn't like dilute the turkey flavor i mean you're talking marginal

255
00:19:38,513 --> 00:19:44,933
here like it's not brining is you know it's fine brining whether it's wet or dry will make you have

256
00:19:44,933 --> 00:19:49,593
a juicier bird the first time i did it for my in-laws they were so suspicious because they there

257
00:19:49,593 --> 00:19:53,273
was like moisture coming out you know we were carving up the breast and they were like this

258
00:19:53,273 --> 00:19:57,913
isn't cooked because it's not crumbling like um you know something that's super dry and i was like

259
00:19:57,913 --> 00:20:03,073
no no this is this is how it's supposed to be like it's supposed to be uh delicious and um and

260
00:20:03,073 --> 00:20:10,273
not a miserable experience that you then need to add so much gravy to anyway so um so if you're if

261
00:20:10,273 --> 00:20:15,873
you're used to a very dry turkey if you brine it you're gonna be in for a bit of a shock yeah it

262
00:20:15,873 --> 00:20:20,713
I think people are worried to undercook their turkey, aren't they?

263
00:20:20,773 --> 00:20:24,473
I think that's a common question you must have quite a lot,

264
00:20:24,553 --> 00:20:26,093
like how long to cook your turkey for?

265
00:20:26,173 --> 00:20:27,333
How can you tell it's cooked?

266
00:20:27,753 --> 00:20:28,973
Because you don't want to...

267
00:20:28,973 --> 00:20:31,373
People probably err on the side of quarter mid turkey

268
00:20:31,373 --> 00:20:34,093
and probably overcook it, but then they've gone too far

269
00:20:34,093 --> 00:20:35,473
and it's then, like, say, too dry.

270
00:20:36,093 --> 00:20:37,133
So how would you judge it?

271
00:20:37,133 --> 00:20:38,193
Well, my mum...

272
00:20:38,193 --> 00:20:42,013
So it's an almost entirely impossible question for me to answer

273
00:20:42,013 --> 00:20:44,713
because it depends on your oven and it depends on the size of the bird.

274
00:20:44,713 --> 00:20:57,973
So if you think about, if you've got an oven that's like, I don't know, whatever size, this big, and then you fill it with a 10 kilo turkey and there's no airspace, that oven works on a fan and convection.

275
00:20:58,673 --> 00:21:02,713
Now, if there's no airspace for the air to move, you're going to get hot spots and be inefficient.

276
00:21:03,093 --> 00:21:10,833
So first of all, particularly if you're cooking a really big turkey, putting it in your oven becomes challenging because you're stressing your oven out and you don't have that airflow.

277
00:21:10,973 --> 00:21:13,193
And it's seriously important for good airflow.

278
00:21:13,193 --> 00:21:17,453
the other thing that people do is that they cook it straight from the fridge and actually you know

279
00:21:17,453 --> 00:21:21,773
a big turkey that's been in your fridge at two degrees it might take i don't know an hour and a

280
00:21:21,773 --> 00:21:26,733
half for it to get to like core temperature and uh sorry to kind of room temperature so if you're

281
00:21:26,733 --> 00:21:30,813
then putting it cold straight into to an oven that then doesn't have air circulating around

282
00:21:30,813 --> 00:21:34,853
and you're like oh it says in the packet it takes an hour and you know two hours whatever

283
00:21:34,853 --> 00:21:39,673
um you're gonna find it's not cooked all the way through the other thing that a lot of particularly

284
00:21:39,673 --> 00:21:44,773
old recipes though you see less now is about stuffing it with sausage meat so my mum used to

285
00:21:44,773 --> 00:21:49,413
this you know she'd fill the whole thing up with about three kilos of um of you know delicious you

286
00:21:49,413 --> 00:21:55,013
know um sausage meat stuffing with chestnuts and you know minced in livers and it'd be all lovely

287
00:21:55,013 --> 00:21:59,273
but you're now you're now making you know the cavity where the air could get in and kind of

288
00:21:59,273 --> 00:22:04,833
circulate around as well and cook from the inside suddenly has now got high risk pork meat in it so

289
00:22:04,833 --> 00:22:08,853
you've got to cook all the way through that so no wonder it used to take so actually it probably

290
00:22:08,853 --> 00:22:14,433
would take you know eight hours or so but all that time the outside bit which is the poor breast is

291
00:22:14,433 --> 00:22:21,013
just drying out and um so you'll get a delicious stuffing because all of those juices have come out

292
00:22:21,013 --> 00:22:24,293
and they've gone into the stuffing and they've flavored and you're like whoa the stuffing is the

293
00:22:24,293 --> 00:22:30,873
best bit shame about that dry old turkey now that's right you know if a 10 kilo turkey costs

294
00:22:30,873 --> 00:22:35,913
you 150 quid and you've put you know 10 pounds worth of sausage meat stuffing inside you're going

295
00:22:35,913 --> 00:22:41,033
to feel pretty annoyed if the stuffing is absolutely banging but the turkey is horrible you know so

296
00:22:41,033 --> 00:22:46,553
and then you might as well just get one from the supermarket might be yeah yeah exactly exactly

297
00:22:46,553 --> 00:22:51,353
so if you are going to cook a whole turkey and your oven isn't particularly you know you're

298
00:22:51,353 --> 00:22:55,993
cooking a big turkey and it's not very you don't have a huge amount of airspace a method that you

299
00:22:55,993 --> 00:23:00,793
can do which i actually think is a really nice way of doing it is you slow cook it overnight

300
00:23:00,793 --> 00:23:06,113
so you set your if you can if you've got a digital thermometer you can set your your oven to like

301
00:23:06,113 --> 00:23:13,513
let's say 80 degrees and then you put your turkey in overnight and it essentially it takes so long

302
00:23:13,513 --> 00:23:17,913
for it to cook that actually you can you know you can smash through you know a bottle of wine

303
00:23:17,913 --> 00:23:22,213
whatever wake up in the morning have breakfast the turkey's just in there just really slowly

304
00:23:22,213 --> 00:23:26,593
cooking and then what you do is you remove it um to say you're eating at three o'clock or five

305
00:23:26,593 --> 00:23:32,373
o'clock whenever um because it's not going on above 100 degrees it's not um it's not going to

306
00:23:32,373 --> 00:23:37,753
dry down so you're not you're not going to be losing on the moisture but the um uh the kind of

307
00:23:37,753 --> 00:23:43,033
the connective tissue and a lot of those kind of tendons within the legs break down around about 80

308
00:23:43,033 --> 00:23:48,633
odd degrees so that slow kind of breaking down and it's essentially it's the sous vide method so

309
00:23:48,633 --> 00:23:52,713
that kind of principle of cooking something at a low temperature for a long period of time

310
00:23:52,713 --> 00:23:58,813
So when I've cooked a whole turkey in my kitchen where the oven isn't great and it's big, I've done it overnight.

311
00:23:59,213 --> 00:24:00,493
And then you then take it out.

312
00:24:00,553 --> 00:24:04,113
Your turkey will be completely pale and anemic, but it's fully cooked through.

313
00:24:04,193 --> 00:24:06,973
And you can probe it and make sure that, you know, it's come to core temperature.

314
00:24:07,273 --> 00:24:11,953
And then you whack your turkey, your oven up, you get your roasters going, you get all your other veggies.

315
00:24:12,153 --> 00:24:15,273
And then you literally just rub the top with some lots of butter.

316
00:24:15,453 --> 00:24:19,093
And then you pop it in the oven for about 50 minutes just to get some caramelization.

317
00:24:19,533 --> 00:24:20,833
Take it out and then carve it.

318
00:24:20,873 --> 00:24:22,293
And it is absolutely delicious.

319
00:24:22,293 --> 00:24:26,093
The downside with that method, though, is you don't get any caramelization for a gravy.

320
00:24:26,273 --> 00:24:30,373
So you have to have done, you know, you have to buy some extra bones to make a good gravy.

321
00:24:30,533 --> 00:24:38,533
So it's kind of, you know, it's a good way if you've got an inefficient oven and you've got big turkey and you definitely don't want it to be dry or undercooked.

322
00:24:38,973 --> 00:24:39,773
And that's quite a good method.

323
00:24:40,133 --> 00:24:42,693
My actual favorite way of doing it is on the barbecue.

324
00:24:42,993 --> 00:24:51,513
So if you've got a lid on barbecue, like one of those kind of kettle weather jobbies that a lot of people have, because a barbecue quite often is, you know, it's probably double the size.

325
00:24:51,513 --> 00:25:00,193
So actually you've got a turkey in the middle, as long as you've set it up properly, you don't have to make it taste like smoky or, you know, American style, like you can just use it for heat.

326
00:25:00,333 --> 00:25:02,453
But actually it cooks really efficiently.

327
00:25:02,873 --> 00:25:09,333
And I did two years ago, I did rotisserie barbecue, rotisserie turkey, because I love rotisserie chicken.

328
00:25:09,793 --> 00:25:16,213
And because you've got a metal spike going through the middle and also you've got plenty of airspace, the spike heats up.

329
00:25:16,213 --> 00:25:17,593
So it cooks it from the inside.

330
00:25:17,813 --> 00:25:19,393
So it starts to get the temperature inside.

331
00:25:19,493 --> 00:25:21,173
And then also it's self-basting.

332
00:25:21,173 --> 00:25:26,653
and it was a six kilo turkey and it cooked in about it was probably about an hour and 10 minutes

333
00:25:26,653 --> 00:25:32,773
and it was like utterly delicious like it was so good i was very i was very happy and i was

334
00:25:32,773 --> 00:25:39,093
yeah so the barbecue is a good good good route and also it means you've then got space in your

335
00:25:39,093 --> 00:25:42,973
oven for your roast potatoes and your carrots and your parsnips and all that stuff because

336
00:25:42,973 --> 00:25:48,693
you know often you know at christmas you could you you feel like you need six ovens or so because

337
00:25:48,693 --> 00:25:49,813
there's just so much going on.

338
00:25:50,173 --> 00:25:51,973
Do you tend to do Yorkshire puddings?

339
00:25:53,293 --> 00:25:53,693
No.

340
00:25:55,553 --> 00:25:56,913
I'm too much of a southerner.

341
00:25:58,333 --> 00:26:00,793
Yorkshire puddings just with beef, I'm afraid.

342
00:26:01,013 --> 00:26:02,013
But I do love a Yorkshire puddings.

343
00:26:02,113 --> 00:26:03,153
I would happily eat them.

344
00:26:04,353 --> 00:26:06,213
There's always so much other stuff that I just like.

345
00:26:06,333 --> 00:26:06,713
I don't know.

346
00:26:06,893 --> 00:26:07,593
That seems...

347
00:26:07,593 --> 00:26:08,693
How about you?

348
00:26:08,813 --> 00:26:09,553
Are you a Yorkie?

349
00:26:09,773 --> 00:26:10,413
Yeah, yeah.

350
00:26:10,453 --> 00:26:11,793
I always make Yorkshire puddings.

351
00:26:12,353 --> 00:26:13,753
Yeah, with the Northern family,

352
00:26:13,973 --> 00:26:16,193
they're quite keen for a Yorkshire puddings with their day.

353
00:26:16,193 --> 00:26:16,733
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

354
00:26:16,813 --> 00:26:17,633
Totally, totally.

355
00:26:17,633 --> 00:26:18,893
and I wouldn't

356
00:26:18,893 --> 00:26:19,153
you know

357
00:26:19,153 --> 00:26:20,453
that's the nice thing

358
00:26:20,453 --> 00:26:21,253
about Christmas isn't it

359
00:26:21,253 --> 00:26:21,933
it's all nostalgia

360
00:26:21,933 --> 00:26:22,693
so you know

361
00:26:22,693 --> 00:26:23,773
there's no rules

362
00:26:23,773 --> 00:26:24,813
your memories

363
00:26:24,813 --> 00:26:25,233
is it

364
00:26:25,233 --> 00:26:26,193
and that's actually

365
00:26:26,193 --> 00:26:27,013
one thing I probably

366
00:26:27,013 --> 00:26:27,913
get right

367
00:26:27,913 --> 00:26:29,453
yeah yeah

368
00:26:29,453 --> 00:26:29,753
more than

369
00:26:29,753 --> 00:26:31,513
whereas the turkey

370
00:26:31,513 --> 00:26:32,433
I'm probably the person

371
00:26:32,433 --> 00:26:33,073
that has made it

372
00:26:33,073 --> 00:26:33,873
a bit too dry

373
00:26:33,873 --> 00:26:35,033
okay

374
00:26:35,033 --> 00:26:35,533
yeah

375
00:26:35,533 --> 00:26:36,713
and then do you do

376
00:26:36,713 --> 00:26:37,433
anything special

377
00:26:37,433 --> 00:26:38,253
with your potatoes

378
00:26:38,253 --> 00:26:39,193
you mentioned that

379
00:26:39,193 --> 00:26:40,353
you like to take

380
00:26:40,353 --> 00:26:41,433
control of the turkey

381
00:26:41,433 --> 00:26:42,093
and the

382
00:26:42,093 --> 00:26:43,673
and the gravy

383
00:26:43,673 --> 00:26:44,393
and the potatoes

384
00:26:44,393 --> 00:26:45,593
is it about the potatoes

385
00:26:45,593 --> 00:26:45,973
I think the thing

386
00:26:45,973 --> 00:26:46,653
with potatoes is

387
00:26:46,653 --> 00:26:47,273
you want

388
00:26:47,273 --> 00:26:53,133
you want more than you think because you you know my daughter could probably eat 12 potatoes and she

389
00:26:53,133 --> 00:26:58,053
you know and ignore the brussels sprouts so you need plenty of potatoes you don't want to be

390
00:26:58,053 --> 00:27:02,813
short-changed and also you want a left over for you know a kind of um you know dipping into the

391
00:27:02,813 --> 00:27:07,953
bread sauce later on or public or whatever and um so the key the key is is to get a good potato

392
00:27:07,953 --> 00:27:13,753
um so like i mean the classic is you know your maris piper something that is gonna um kind of

393
00:27:13,753 --> 00:27:18,593
be kind of fluffy but also crisp up the way that i do it which i think is fairly common these days

394
00:27:18,593 --> 00:27:22,933
is you peel them you chop them chop them like fairly rough i tend to just go in half and then

395
00:27:22,933 --> 00:27:28,273
maybe half again you want a good amount of surface area and then bring them to the boil in in some

396
00:27:28,273 --> 00:27:34,153
good salty water and um and then simmer them not too aggressively but just simmer them until they're

397
00:27:34,153 --> 00:27:39,593
pretty soft so you want them to be like almost mashable so like it's not just like a bit rough

398
00:27:39,593 --> 00:27:43,093
around the edge you want them to be like fully cooked through and then you carefully drain them

399
00:27:43,093 --> 00:27:46,113
and then spread them out onto a tray.

400
00:27:46,573 --> 00:27:48,593
And ideally you can do this the day before.

401
00:27:48,813 --> 00:27:51,193
So this is a great, you know, Christmas Eve,

402
00:27:51,713 --> 00:27:53,273
get the Christmas tunes on, you know,

403
00:27:53,373 --> 00:27:54,253
do a bit of veg prep.

404
00:27:54,333 --> 00:27:55,413
That's a good time to do it.

405
00:27:55,513 --> 00:27:57,013
Because what happens is,

406
00:27:57,013 --> 00:27:58,653
is by allowing them to,

407
00:27:59,193 --> 00:28:00,873
the potato to cook through fully,

408
00:28:01,013 --> 00:28:02,673
and then it gets rid of a lot of that moisture,

409
00:28:02,933 --> 00:28:03,913
you then put them in the fridge,

410
00:28:04,253 --> 00:28:06,953
which is naturally like a dehumidifier

411
00:28:06,953 --> 00:28:08,233
because it's always removing moisture,

412
00:28:08,673 --> 00:28:09,613
leave them uncovered.

413
00:28:09,893 --> 00:28:11,493
It's going to remove more moisture again.

414
00:28:11,493 --> 00:28:15,393
so then when you come to roasting them because they're going to be like fully cooked through

415
00:28:15,393 --> 00:28:18,373
they're going to be really fragile so if they're hot out the water they're going to

416
00:28:18,373 --> 00:28:24,953
fall to bits and you're going to end up with like mash on your um in your tray but also um

417
00:28:24,953 --> 00:28:27,913
it's removed a lot of that moisture so then they're going to crisp up nicely

418
00:28:27,913 --> 00:28:34,053
and then in terms of when it comes to fat i mean obviously your classic is goose fat or duck fat but

419
00:28:34,053 --> 00:28:39,733
um i also i i like a bit of beef tallow but i would probably at christmas use just get some

420
00:28:39,733 --> 00:28:45,073
duck fat or goose fat from the from the supermarket you want to get your tray heated up nice and hot

421
00:28:45,073 --> 00:28:50,493
so you want the oven at you know kind of 200 degrees so good good good temperature preheat it

422
00:28:50,493 --> 00:28:53,673
so it doesn't need to be absolutely smoky and like free yorkshire pudding but just kind of

423
00:28:53,673 --> 00:28:58,273
it's going to get a bit sizzle in with your potatoes give them a good tossing over so they're

424
00:28:58,273 --> 00:29:02,313
all coated in the fat and then just start roasting them and then just just you know they're going to

425
00:29:02,313 --> 00:29:08,113
take 30 40 minutes or so depending on how good your oven is give them a few turns throughout the

426
00:29:08,113 --> 00:29:11,553
the time because obviously they're going to caramelize on the bottom bit and you really

427
00:29:11,553 --> 00:29:16,813
want to get all the the edges to kind of break up a little bit and and you know they almost kind of

428
00:29:16,813 --> 00:29:22,973
like slightly deep fry in in the fat um and that's what makes them extra delicious and then about

429
00:29:22,973 --> 00:29:28,893
five minutes before you finish I think it's really nice just to um chop up a rough chop up a lot of

430
00:29:28,893 --> 00:29:34,133
garlic go get some uh some rosemary from the garden a bit of sage you know sage is a lovely

431
00:29:34,133 --> 00:29:46,225
a bit of thyme you know really kind of classic Christmassy herbs and then just toss them through the potatoes just for that last couple of minutes It just gives you this really nice kind of aromatic kind of finish a little bit of mold and sea salt or

432
00:29:46,225 --> 00:29:52,265
you know some kind of christly salt and yeah and then serve them fairly quickly and delicious yeah

433
00:29:52,265 --> 00:29:57,725
that's how i make them that's really interesting that you add that at the very end i don't know

434
00:29:57,725 --> 00:30:01,165
whether it's other recipes i've looked at but i i've always sort of thought you have to put the

435
00:30:01,165 --> 00:30:04,865
rosemary in at the beginning or through and then i've wondered why the rosemary's then black

436
00:30:04,865 --> 00:30:09,885
yeah yeah well it just burns it just burns it yeah yeah so if you do it if you do it too late

437
00:30:09,885 --> 00:30:14,845
you're gonna it's just gonna be you just want like a you know three to four minutes five minutes tops

438
00:30:14,845 --> 00:30:19,425
just for it to kind of like the flavor not to be completely raw like particularly the garlic

439
00:30:19,425 --> 00:30:23,385
obviously you know like you want it to kind of cook a little bit but if it goes in too early it

440
00:30:23,385 --> 00:30:26,945
will just burn well what i often do is on the chopping board is just like chop it all together

441
00:30:26,945 --> 00:30:30,905
so it's all kind of mixed up and then just it's almost like a kind of rosemary garlicky salt

442
00:30:30,905 --> 00:30:36,265
and then just sprinkle that over give it a good good toss and um jobs are good yeah and it's

443
00:30:36,265 --> 00:30:40,685
interesting that you didn't when you had the potatoes cooked um like you say before you put

444
00:30:40,685 --> 00:30:44,725
them in the fridge that you you didn't do the classic pan and lid and kind of shaking them

445
00:30:44,725 --> 00:30:49,225
around to kind of buff them up like you kind of they'll be so if they're if they're fully cooked

446
00:30:49,225 --> 00:30:53,845
through they'll be so delicate it'll just happen anyway like it's not a problem whereas that that

447
00:30:53,845 --> 00:30:57,465
thing and that's how i used to do it was you know boil them for five minutes and then really kind of

448
00:30:57,465 --> 00:31:02,885
like bash them around a bit the problem with that is it does that that roughage on the outside you

449
00:31:02,885 --> 00:31:06,785
know it means that they go crispy but you still because the potato hasn't cooked through there's

450
00:31:06,785 --> 00:31:11,305
all that moisture in the potato still which then has to come out and so then then you're fighting

451
00:31:11,305 --> 00:31:15,845
you've got moisture wanting to come out of the potato and then you're trying to like crisp it up

452
00:31:15,845 --> 00:31:21,045
and obviously you know it stops it getting crispier it's essentially it's how you only get

453
00:31:21,045 --> 00:31:26,065
these like delicious triple cooked chips in um in pubs and you're like they're just so crispy and

454
00:31:26,065 --> 00:31:29,625
they're like they're like shatter like glass and inside it's just like fluffy and delicious

455
00:31:29,625 --> 00:31:34,525
it's essentially it's that principle but for a roast potato it's just a bigger chip really when

456
00:31:34,525 --> 00:31:40,045
you think about it and it's actually really good for you to double cook your potatoes because it

457
00:31:40,045 --> 00:31:46,385
changes the starch component um actually better for your body yeah so it's that they sometimes

458
00:31:46,385 --> 00:31:51,945
call it like twice cooked potatoes but yeah it's a much better way for your body to kind of process

459
00:31:51,945 --> 00:31:57,305
it's a healthier way to get resistance starch it's actually really good for you for you it helps

460
00:31:57,305 --> 00:32:02,785
so that's really interesting so not only will they taste delicious yeah yeah i don't know what

461
00:32:02,785 --> 00:32:08,165
you think to um using semolina on potatoes like i've sometimes done that and that can make them

462
00:32:08,165 --> 00:32:13,405
quite crispy but what do you think to that well i have done that before i mean i've tried you know

463
00:32:13,405 --> 00:32:18,885
i i'm a bit of an experimenter and i like to try all sorts of different things and um and again yeah

464
00:32:18,885 --> 00:32:21,585
I think it can add a nice little crust and a bit of a crunch.

465
00:32:23,025 --> 00:32:23,385
Again,

466
00:32:23,525 --> 00:32:26,785
I certainly think these things can be a distraction or a little bit of

467
00:32:26,785 --> 00:32:27,525
novelty or whatever,

468
00:32:27,625 --> 00:32:27,765
but,

469
00:32:27,865 --> 00:32:28,265
but yeah,

470
00:32:28,265 --> 00:32:28,505
there's,

471
00:32:28,585 --> 00:32:29,205
there's nothing wrong.

472
00:32:29,285 --> 00:32:29,505
I mean,

473
00:32:29,705 --> 00:32:30,645
you know,

474
00:32:30,885 --> 00:32:33,245
essentially the semolina is going to,

475
00:32:33,265 --> 00:32:36,505
going to add a kind of drying force to the outside that then it's going to

476
00:32:36,505 --> 00:32:36,665
be,

477
00:32:36,745 --> 00:32:37,205
cause it's a,

478
00:32:37,265 --> 00:32:37,465
you know,

479
00:32:37,465 --> 00:32:38,465
it's a hard grain.

480
00:32:38,505 --> 00:32:39,745
It's going to be able to caramelize,

481
00:32:40,225 --> 00:32:40,465
you know,

482
00:32:40,465 --> 00:32:41,705
give you that super kind of crispy,

483
00:32:41,985 --> 00:32:43,205
a bit like you might get with,

484
00:32:43,385 --> 00:32:44,565
I don't know,

485
00:32:44,565 --> 00:32:45,445
like fried chicken,

486
00:32:45,565 --> 00:32:45,765
you know,

487
00:32:45,765 --> 00:32:46,825
it's going to give you that kind of feel,

488
00:32:46,865 --> 00:32:47,145
isn't it?

489
00:32:47,145 --> 00:32:47,965
Cause it's like a kind of,

490
00:32:48,165 --> 00:32:48,625
you know,

491
00:32:48,625 --> 00:32:54,485
yeah exactly on the outside but yeah I mean delicious I mean semolina's it's got a lovely

492
00:32:54,485 --> 00:32:58,445
flavor it's got beautiful yellow color yeah I think the thing I love about cooking is that

493
00:32:58,445 --> 00:33:03,505
there's no there's no right or wrong way there's just you know there's just you know whatever makes

494
00:33:03,505 --> 00:33:10,685
you happy yeah oh that sounds good and so any any other tips for how you do your veg or your

495
00:33:10,685 --> 00:33:16,405
sprouts do you kind of do your bacon and your sprouts together or what do you like bacon lardens

496
00:33:16,405 --> 00:33:22,725
or how do you i mean i'm a fan of i'm always a fan of bacon and any opportunity to have their

497
00:33:22,725 --> 00:33:29,845
bacon yeah i think yeah sprouts i've been a sprout hater you know probably for most of my um up until

498
00:33:29,845 --> 00:33:35,485
probably you know the age of about 18 i don't think i like sprouts and then and i think that's

499
00:33:35,485 --> 00:33:40,745
probably because they were always just boiled whole um you know i just kind of you know the

500
00:33:40,745 --> 00:33:45,165
smell of an old people's home i don't know all that that kind of cabbagey school dinner vibe yeah

501
00:33:45,165 --> 00:33:47,325
this wasn't, wasn't, wasn't my bag.

502
00:33:47,925 --> 00:33:52,705
So I definitely got into that whole kind of like loads of butter, you know, lots of, you

503
00:33:52,705 --> 00:33:58,385
know, pancetta and chestnuts and parsley and lemon juice, you know, kind of, again, lots

504
00:33:58,385 --> 00:33:59,665
of seasoning, lots of butter tossed around.

505
00:33:59,885 --> 00:34:02,065
I've done the whole kind of like roasting sprouts.

506
00:34:02,425 --> 00:34:04,025
I think roast sprouts really delicious.

507
00:34:04,025 --> 00:34:08,165
So you can chop them in half, a bit of olive oil, you know, plenty of seasoning on it.

508
00:34:08,165 --> 00:34:10,905
And then just, you know, roast them quite, quite hard.

509
00:34:10,945 --> 00:34:14,385
I think delicious, but actually even, even just like a kind of shredded sprout, you know,

510
00:34:14,385 --> 00:34:19,165
it's quite nice uh probably not for your christmas dinner but like you know i actually

511
00:34:19,165 --> 00:34:26,925
my wife loves sprouts she'll eat them all uh all when our veg box starts uh arriving with a bag of

512
00:34:26,925 --> 00:34:31,025
sprouts each week she makes her very happy so uh we have to kind of get a bit creative about it but

513
00:34:31,025 --> 00:34:36,585
um but yeah i think any you know with a sprout it's got a nice kind of um peppery kind of flavor

514
00:34:36,585 --> 00:34:41,025
to it hasn't it and uh and i think you just don't want to like you just like boiling it in like

515
00:34:41,025 --> 00:34:45,605
unseasoned water and then just serving them steaming is just you know is not the way to do it

516
00:34:45,605 --> 00:34:51,025
but actually um uh and if i find that psychologically if people don't like sprouts

517
00:34:51,025 --> 00:34:55,225
chopping them in half is quite a good way because it just like it doesn't feel like this kind of big

518
00:34:55,225 --> 00:35:02,465
intimidating ball of like smelly death uh so so actually like cutting in half maybe for me it

519
00:35:02,465 --> 00:35:07,045
certainly helps as a psychological point of view um getting a bit of butter in there but um but

520
00:35:07,045 --> 00:35:13,225
quite often depending on how the meal is you know if you've got if you've got like you know a lot of

521
00:35:13,225 --> 00:35:16,645
caramelized stuff you've got roasted parsnips you've got roasted carrots you've got roasted

522
00:35:16,645 --> 00:35:21,385
potatoes you've got actually sometimes it's nice to have a bit of contrast and not have too much

523
00:35:21,385 --> 00:35:24,585
caramelized stuff because sometimes it can be a bit overkill i've definitely done it where

524
00:35:24,585 --> 00:35:28,145
everything's been roasted and it's got like there's you know there's everything's caramelized

525
00:35:28,145 --> 00:35:31,725
and um and probably individually it's quite delicious but when it's all together it's then

526
00:35:31,725 --> 00:35:38,225
it's a bit much so actually probably of late i've been a bit more gentler with my sprouts and maybe

527
00:35:38,225 --> 00:35:44,265
you know um yeah just cook them in good salty water and just toss them in in um in plenty of

528
00:35:44,265 --> 00:35:48,345
butter and you know good squeeze of lemon and lots of black pepper and and probably kept it

529
00:35:48,345 --> 00:35:53,385
quite simple but i don't know i i am i'll almost certainly do it you know if i if i'm cooking the

530
00:35:53,385 --> 00:36:02,105
sprouts and it's one of my jobs um it'll almost certainly be um uh a last minute um uh vibe it as

531
00:36:02,105 --> 00:36:06,405
i go kind of thing which is why i quite like my christmas you know a couple of glasses of wine in

532
00:36:06,405 --> 00:36:11,645
and i just see see how it takes me how do you do your sprouts hayley i'm intrigued well i've tried

533
00:36:11,645 --> 00:36:16,745
both as well i've tried just the normal cooking them in salty water and then trying to toss them

534
00:36:16,745 --> 00:36:21,325
in butter whatever i didn't know about the lemon juice so that's a good tip and uh and then i've

535
00:36:21,325 --> 00:36:27,065
also try i've even tried in the horrid air fryer last year and they just okay i personally for me

536
00:36:27,065 --> 00:36:31,725
they just didn't taste very nice and they sort of go a bit chargrilled and i was like i'm not sure

537
00:36:31,725 --> 00:36:37,485
i want to do that to my sprouts but you're right about having too many roasted veg because sometimes

538
00:36:37,485 --> 00:36:42,045
you get it on your plate and you actually crave something like cauliflower cheese something just

539
00:36:42,045 --> 00:36:47,205
with a different texture so um yeah that's interesting i've thought that but not come to

540
00:36:47,205 --> 00:36:53,005
that realization that's what i'm thinking on the meeting so uh i'm gonna definitely i often think

541
00:36:53,005 --> 00:36:58,725
like christmas dinner like you know we there's always probably too too many sides so actually

542
00:36:58,725 --> 00:37:02,125
when you know you're kind of looking at and you're like you know you never go to a restaurant and

543
00:37:02,125 --> 00:37:07,665
have like you know six veg three types of meat two different stuffings all these different sauces

544
00:37:07,665 --> 00:37:12,525
loads of great you're like it's it is quite intimidating and um and um and uh my little

545
00:37:12,525 --> 00:37:19,825
brother is really he's he maybe doesn't have the nostalgic twist of um or or pull of christmas and

546
00:37:19,825 --> 00:37:24,925
so he's quite often like you know uh if he's writing the list he'll be he'll say like oh no

547
00:37:24,925 --> 00:37:28,665
i think we should just do um we'll just do three sides we're not having parsnips because we've got

548
00:37:28,665 --> 00:37:34,185
carrots like we can't have both you know what do you mean you can't have both and um and then like

549
00:37:34,185 --> 00:37:38,185
you know my mum was like oh i left red cabbage he's like no red cabbage can't have sprouts and

550
00:37:38,185 --> 00:37:42,925
red cabbage whereas of course you can you know most people do you know so then if you're you know

551
00:37:42,925 --> 00:37:48,665
you're adding in cauliflower cheese you'll be like whoa this is this is too much but i kind of like

552
00:37:48,665 --> 00:37:55,565
i don't know i feel for christmas you know actually um uh you know don't try and kind of

553
00:37:55,565 --> 00:38:00,885
turn it into some kind of super gourmet thing it should be it should just be a great opportunity to

554
00:38:00,885 --> 00:38:04,285
sit down with your family and you know and have a good time so this food shouldn't be a stress

555
00:38:04,285 --> 00:38:09,645
but you know um but that that doesn't mean you can't try and like balance the flavors and

556
00:38:09,645 --> 00:38:13,905
you know just be a bit conscious of stuff if everything is roasted then you know maybe don't

557
00:38:13,905 --> 00:38:17,145
roast your sprouts but actually you know if you haven't got parsnips and the carrots are just going

558
00:38:17,145 --> 00:38:21,785
to be i don't know steamed carrots and then maybe getting a bit of color on your sprouts might you

559
00:38:21,785 --> 00:38:28,185
know might might be perfectly uh definitely fine did you steam your carrots um i i roast them with

560
00:38:28,185 --> 00:38:34,345
like honey and a bit of oil so i just kind of do that with parsnips that's how i always tend to do

561
00:38:34,345 --> 00:38:38,705
them but um and then when it comes to dessert what do you do what do you do for that do you

562
00:38:38,705 --> 00:38:44,945
have a traditional christmas pudding yeah um uh so i'm going to my mum's house this year and i think

563
00:38:44,945 --> 00:38:49,005
i think there's about 15 of us so i'll probably make a big old trifle mostly because i've got

564
00:38:49,005 --> 00:38:55,625
one of those like old school cut glass trifle bowls yeah i imagine this year there'll probably

565
00:38:55,625 --> 00:39:00,725
be requests from my daughter to do some kind of dubai chocolate style one with lots of pistachios

566
00:39:00,725 --> 00:39:06,485
and whatnot but again like or you know maybe you know like a tiramisu style one i don't know i'll

567
00:39:06,485 --> 00:39:12,305
just i'll google some recipes and be like oh well let's give that a go but yeah i like the kind of

568
00:39:12,305 --> 00:39:17,905
custard and that kind of bit of showmanship but in terms of yeah i'm a big fan of um christmas

569
00:39:17,905 --> 00:39:22,545
pudding so with when i'm with my my in-laws my father-in-law and i are the only ones who eat

570
00:39:22,545 --> 00:39:28,105
christmas pudding he uh he'll he'll get a christmas pudding and steam it for hours though actually you

571
00:39:28,105 --> 00:39:32,745
can do it in the microwave though he swears that the microwave dries it out and it's uh it's a nice

572
00:39:32,745 --> 00:39:37,405
sustain but the thing that i love doing is um is and i think we talked about before is is the flambé

573
00:39:37,405 --> 00:39:41,845
so i've got a bit of a kind of christmas trick which i've maybe tamed down a little bit but i i

574
00:39:41,845 --> 00:39:47,845
would set up a um a camping stove this comes with a warning of um maybe don't try this at home um

575
00:39:47,845 --> 00:39:53,545
right yes so set up a camping stove and you get a frying pan and you get it till it's absolutely

576
00:39:53,545 --> 00:39:58,345
smoking hot and then you have your christmas pudding already you dim the lights you then get

577
00:39:58,345 --> 00:40:04,585
a bottle of brandy or you know something that's 40 plus but brandy works fine and uh and then you

578
00:40:04,585 --> 00:40:09,505
christmas pudding in it um little bit of parchment paper because it can burn quite quickly and you

579
00:40:09,505 --> 00:40:14,105
don't want to burn your pudd and then in with a good glug of of booze and then tilt it to the flame

580
00:40:14,105 --> 00:40:19,545
and the the flames will you know they they'll they'll they'll catch your ceiling so it's it's

581
00:40:19,545 --> 00:40:24,365
preferable to do either outside or if you've got um a double ceiling you know somewhere with plenty

582
00:40:24,365 --> 00:40:28,925
of height but you can get yeah you can get those flames pretty high it's a good um crowd pleaser

583
00:40:28,925 --> 00:40:33,145
for the uh the nephews and nieces though i did it a couple years ago just outside it was quite windy

584
00:40:33,145 --> 00:40:39,505
and it singed all my eyebrows off so uh you have to you have to be a bit careful but it's become a

585
00:40:39,505 --> 00:40:47,005
bit of um yeah uh it's now requested is uncle henry gonna set fire to the christmas anyway yeah

586
00:40:47,005 --> 00:40:52,125
um obviously that's not the safe way to do it but it's quite exciting doesn't add anything to

587
00:40:52,125 --> 00:40:57,765
the flavor but certainly adds to the um adds to the christmas drama anyway we always have the uh

588
00:40:57,765 --> 00:41:04,525
the hassle of trying to find a nut-free christmas pudding and i never can quite work out how to make

589
00:41:04,525 --> 00:41:10,325
one is tasty without using some of the nuts so i know you can probably just use the dried fruit

590
00:41:10,325 --> 00:41:15,125
and things and just hope it binds and sticks together but our family are not that keen on

591
00:41:15,125 --> 00:41:19,645
christmas pudding either so i tend to go down more of a chocolate dessert route or a yes like

592
00:41:19,645 --> 00:41:26,325
say classic 80s trifle yeah my wife doesn't like trifle or christmas pudding so she goes down the

593
00:41:26,325 --> 00:41:31,525
chocolate route lately we've been making a nice like a kind of chocolate chocolate pot so uh so

594
00:41:31,525 --> 00:41:35,705
essentially it's like it's like a kind of mousse that then you bake very lightly so it's it's almost

595
00:41:35,705 --> 00:41:40,505
kind of like a kind of semi souffle but um but much easier to make and then and then it's kind of

596
00:41:40,505 --> 00:41:44,805
almost like a kind of chocolate fondant tea kind of you know a big dollop of ice cream it's

597
00:41:44,805 --> 00:41:49,105
delicious but you can you can make it in advance and do them in little pots or or a big one and

598
00:41:49,105 --> 00:41:55,585
then and then bake them off but yeah it's um it's an easy easy put to do and uh she always makes it

599
00:41:55,585 --> 00:41:59,645
with her brother i think it's about the the only time they're civil together um is when they're

600
00:41:59,645 --> 00:42:05,665
making chocolate pudding at christmas so how does he how does he make that it's too

601
00:42:05,665 --> 00:42:10,785
melted chocolate and butter and then you essentially you sorry you melt the chocolate

602
00:42:10,785 --> 00:42:17,505
and then you um uh sabby on the um the egg yolks and the sugar so you've got to beat it for ages

603
00:42:17,505 --> 00:42:21,645
until it gets light and fluffy so it does help if you've got one of those electric mixes and then

604
00:42:21,645 --> 00:42:26,425
you fold in the melted butter and chocolate and then fold in the egg whites and um so it's like

605
00:42:26,425 --> 00:42:31,525
a flourless chocolate thing and then in the bottom you can put you know some nice prunes or some

606
00:42:31,525 --> 00:42:35,425
raspberries or you know if you've got some nice kind of christmasy fruit maybe some figs you know

607
00:42:35,425 --> 00:42:39,485
something nice and then you and then you just bake them in the oven for about eight minutes

608
00:42:39,485 --> 00:42:44,265
and you want in it you want to catch it so it's like it's it's cooked enough that it's not

609
00:42:44,265 --> 00:42:48,645
completely raw but you don't want it to be fully cooked through because it's a bit dry and um and

610
00:42:48,645 --> 00:42:53,205
i would say they it happens mostly it's because i don't eat it because i'm like got the christmas

611
00:42:53,205 --> 00:42:57,465
pudding and they'll pull them out the oven they'll say are they ready and they'll be like oh no they're

612
00:42:57,465 --> 00:43:00,885
quite raw and i'll be like maybe another minute and then they'll put them in forget about them

613
00:43:00,885 --> 00:43:04,385
and then like oh crap the chocolate pudding and then and then they're overcooked anyway so

614
00:43:04,385 --> 00:43:10,745
but it's fine they've made them so they're happy i don't get involved oh these are delicious

615
00:43:10,745 --> 00:43:18,625
god that's made me really hungry do you find um anyone in your household ever has any issues over

616
00:43:18,625 --> 00:43:23,405
christmas time because um like i said at the beginning people going in and out the oven is a

617
00:43:23,405 --> 00:43:31,085
classic one where people go oh my back and i've now like got the turkey halfway up from the oven

618
00:43:31,085 --> 00:43:37,985
and it's gone do you i guess yeah i guess christmas you know it's often a time of excess and maybe

619
00:43:37,985 --> 00:43:42,885
people are you know whether that's drinking a bit hard or eating a bit hard i think you know i've

620
00:43:42,885 --> 00:43:48,685
always just you know if you're feeling kind of lethargic that actually going for a walk after

621
00:43:48,685 --> 00:43:53,345
dinner quite often after dinner before pudding just get up and go for it even if it's just like

622
00:43:53,345 --> 00:43:58,425
10 minutes around the block just to you know you'll feel better even if it's you know it's dark and it

623
00:43:58,425 --> 00:44:04,125
feels you know a bit kind of stormy actually just getting out there and um uh because you know i

624
00:44:04,125 --> 00:44:08,905
don't know i i can't just like indulge and then just sit you know and because one because then

625
00:44:08,905 --> 00:44:12,805
you just fall asleep and actually you know you kind of you lose you lose the day don't you but

626
00:44:12,805 --> 00:44:18,125
um I've yeah um I guess I don't know I guess it depends how big your turkey is I don't know I

627
00:44:18,125 --> 00:44:22,805
I've never had my back go in but is that something that you see at clinic is it a Christmas injuries

628
00:44:22,805 --> 00:44:38,658
is there like um is there a running pattern yeah there there things like people falling off their ladder when they trying to get something at the top of the Christmas tree that another classic Or trying to get the tree out of the loft and their back goes or their partner been sent up into the loft

629
00:44:38,658 --> 00:44:41,958
and, you know, they're crawling around and then, you know, classic like,

630
00:44:42,078 --> 00:44:45,518
oh, my back's gone and I don't know what to do and speed dial their physios.

631
00:44:46,418 --> 00:44:46,818
Yes.

632
00:44:47,138 --> 00:44:50,138
Or they get a lot of backache because they're standing in the kitchen.

633
00:44:50,638 --> 00:44:56,718
And one thing I always say to patients is just resting your knees is a really good top tip

634
00:44:56,718 --> 00:44:59,638
is to just rest your knees against the cupboard door

635
00:44:59,638 --> 00:45:02,318
or your kind of work surfaces

636
00:45:02,318 --> 00:45:04,878
because it kind of keeps your back nice and stable,

637
00:45:05,018 --> 00:45:05,618
nice and upright.

638
00:45:05,618 --> 00:45:09,138
And that kind of slight forward lean position

639
00:45:09,138 --> 00:45:11,398
that really makes the muscles work really hard.

640
00:45:11,618 --> 00:45:14,338
So just trying to kind of punch your knees against the cupboard

641
00:45:14,338 --> 00:45:15,258
just so you kind of,

642
00:45:15,398 --> 00:45:17,398
almost like you're just trying to rest against it,

643
00:45:17,898 --> 00:45:19,138
really, really helps

644
00:45:19,138 --> 00:45:21,258
when you're doing preparation work in the kitchen.

645
00:45:21,898 --> 00:45:24,658
And just having a stretch backwards every now and then

646
00:45:24,658 --> 00:45:30,838
because if you are in the kitchen being forward flexed like washing up or anything bending down

647
00:45:30,838 --> 00:45:35,458
up and down up and down down to cupboards and and trying to kind of really think about

648
00:45:35,458 --> 00:45:41,438
the way that you do things because um a classic one as well is dishwashers emptying dishwashers

649
00:45:41,438 --> 00:45:46,678
and people going i just i had you know you have patients say i just avoid it because i get someone

650
00:45:46,678 --> 00:45:51,978
else to do it because i can't do it um and it's actually not that they can't do it it's the way

651
00:45:51,978 --> 00:45:57,558
that they approach emptying the dishwasher so they'll do a lot of twisting um and they'll stand

652
00:45:57,558 --> 00:46:04,298
at the corner of the door as the doors open and stand at one of those corners and i say stand side

653
00:46:04,298 --> 00:46:10,018
on to the to the dishwasher and get really close and just do that half with a with a half quarter

654
00:46:10,018 --> 00:46:15,018
turn so you empty everything out onto the work surface and then move everything from there and

655
00:46:15,018 --> 00:46:20,298
put it away and then go around to the other side if you can and do exactly the same thing but reverse

656
00:46:20,298 --> 00:46:26,218
your position and then push the drawer in by keeping forward and then bending with your knees

657
00:46:26,218 --> 00:46:31,738
and properly keeping your back straight to empty from the lower um from the lower tray but the

658
00:46:31,738 --> 00:46:37,678
amount of people who just stand look the knees back really hinge over up and down up and down

659
00:46:37,678 --> 00:46:42,518
and um and they go that's really troublesome especially when you've got heavy pans or heavy

660
00:46:42,518 --> 00:46:47,998
kind of um you know all those lovely uh kind of oven dishes that that you probably have in your

661
00:46:47,998 --> 00:46:52,858
kitchen anyway those new weighty ones are gonna again really pull on your back if you're kind of

662
00:46:52,858 --> 00:46:58,998
really hinging over and bending forward so so we see a lot of that people um yeah hosting and doing

663
00:46:58,998 --> 00:47:03,638
more washing and you know trying yeah and that i guess i guess in christmas you're just doing

664
00:47:03,638 --> 00:47:07,938
yeah there always seems to be more going on so you're like rushing around you're carrying

665
00:47:07,938 --> 00:47:13,498
you know you seem to be moving stuff from a to b whether that's your turkey or your presents or

666
00:47:13,498 --> 00:47:17,638
you know you're you're you know it feels like life suddenly accelerates doesn't it and you're

667
00:47:17,638 --> 00:47:21,738
doing everything a bit faster because you've, you know, you've got to be at a carol concert or,

668
00:47:22,058 --> 00:47:25,078
you know, there's something going on, you know, where you've got people coming over. So you're

669
00:47:25,078 --> 00:47:29,658
just trying to like squeeze absolutely everything in because you want to like, you know, you want

670
00:47:29,658 --> 00:47:33,918
Christmas to be full. And so you're going to cram in because you want to feel that festive cheer.

671
00:47:34,378 --> 00:47:39,758
And I guess, you know, that I can see that that would be a time where you could be, you know,

672
00:47:39,778 --> 00:47:43,838
you just go a bit faster and then something goes. And then, yeah, I can imagine like, you know,

673
00:47:43,838 --> 00:47:48,838
pulling your back muscle or you know well they don't oh people don't think about distributing the

674
00:47:48,838 --> 00:47:52,658
weight with their shopping they'll um they'll carry everything on one side so we completely

675
00:47:52,658 --> 00:47:56,998
lopsided and i say just put it across two bags something as simple as that or take a backpack

676
00:47:56,998 --> 00:48:03,138
and have some in your backpack some in your either hand and loading the car is is another one so sort

677
00:48:03,138 --> 00:48:07,958
of using that same knee trick to put your knees against the boot of the car um so that as you

678
00:48:07,958 --> 00:48:11,538
load something heavy into the car you're not having to wrench through your back

679
00:48:11,538 --> 00:48:17,478
and wrapping like the amount of people who wrap um presents just like bending over on the floor

680
00:48:17,478 --> 00:48:22,898
and they're usually like my hypermobile patients that then get that real classic lower back ache

681
00:48:22,898 --> 00:48:27,998
right in the dimples of your lower back because they're you know on their knees bending over with

682
00:48:27,998 --> 00:48:33,438
the sellotape trying to wrap up but actually if you can take a few minutes to sit at a desk and

683
00:48:33,438 --> 00:48:36,758
it's often with wrapping it's like well where's a good place to wrap because obviously you know

684
00:48:36,758 --> 00:48:42,258
ideally the kitchen table is probably the biggest place that's nice and flat and at a good height

685
00:48:42,258 --> 00:48:46,178
but then if you're trying to do it in secret you end up doing it in you know upstairs on the

686
00:48:46,178 --> 00:48:49,698
bedroom floor you know you can't do it on your bed so you're doing it kind of you know on the floor

687
00:48:49,698 --> 00:48:56,298
and um and yeah but i try and kneel on the floor occasionally but i i can definitely you know you

688
00:48:56,298 --> 00:48:59,438
know you've got that kind of onslaught of you've bought too many presents and now you've got to

689
00:48:59,438 --> 00:49:04,998
wrap the bloody things and and you've got 15 minutes to do it you know yeah i can and someone's

690
00:49:04,998 --> 00:49:11,798
would you recommend before kind of you know in that kind of lead up to christmas you know to

691
00:49:11,798 --> 00:49:16,118
make sure you're doing plenty of stretches in the morning just to get yourself nice and supple if

692
00:49:16,118 --> 00:49:19,838
you know you're going to be having quite a kind of full-on day is that like what what what what

693
00:49:19,838 --> 00:49:24,578
could you do to kind of you know because no one wants to spend christmas in pain and miserable

694
00:49:24,578 --> 00:49:29,178
not good for you or anyone around you so what you know if you if you know if you think that you're

695
00:49:29,178 --> 00:49:34,378
like acceptable to you know hurting yourself what kind of what kind of things could you do to kind of

696
00:49:34,378 --> 00:49:40,998
get through it and as jolly as possible yeah so it's um it's thinking about those functional tasks

697
00:49:40,998 --> 00:49:46,098
for sure so making sure you're not um building up risk factors throughout the day making sure you

698
00:49:46,098 --> 00:49:50,618
stretch throughout the day so doing those back stretches periodically especially if you had a

699
00:49:50,618 --> 00:49:56,858
long drive to go to a family's house three hours away um making sure you use heat and breaking up

700
00:49:56,858 --> 00:50:01,618
postures throughout the day don't just lie or sit on the sofa for too long don't cross your legs is

701
00:50:01,618 --> 00:50:06,658
is the other one um making sure if you do you if you are susceptible make sure you just got a little

702
00:50:06,658 --> 00:50:12,458
bit of paracetamol and some heat packs or something in the house just if you manage to have an issue

703
00:50:12,458 --> 00:50:16,318
and then you can't get to the shops because the shops are shut you know so it's good preparation

704
00:50:16,318 --> 00:50:21,738
um and then just being hydrated people obviously with christmas they stop going to their normal

705
00:50:21,738 --> 00:50:28,278
exercise classes or routines so making sure that you can do some general movement going for a walk

706
00:50:28,278 --> 00:50:33,798
after lunch like you mentioned um and just drinking plenty so you don't dehydrate those muscles so if

707
00:50:33,798 --> 00:50:38,858
you're having your wine alcohol either turning some of them into spritzers to reduce the

708
00:50:38,858 --> 00:50:45,478
concentration of your alcohol down for having a glass alongside um your festive uh festive poison

709
00:50:45,478 --> 00:50:52,298
as i like to call it sometimes yeah just kind of give your body a bit more of um a chance to to

710
00:50:52,298 --> 00:50:58,158
kind of keep hydrated a bit like your turkey but you want to keep the moisture in um and you don't

711
00:50:58,278 --> 00:51:04,498
to kind of dry out your back discs because anything dry is always going to be a bit harder

712
00:51:04,498 --> 00:51:10,238
to function. So just keeping and being sensible. So if the weather changes, especially for our more

713
00:51:10,238 --> 00:51:17,138
elderly patients, good footwear, you know, good footwear and standing in kitchens where it's quite

714
00:51:17,138 --> 00:51:22,958
cold or hard flooring, you sort of do need to have, you know, a good solid slipper or shoe or

715
00:51:22,958 --> 00:51:27,458
something that you can stand in that can give you a bit more comfort. So there's lots of things,

716
00:51:27,458 --> 00:51:31,038
but those are the classic ones to help yourself over the Christmas time.

717
00:51:31,358 --> 00:51:34,358
Do you think there's an element, because I mean, like, you know,

718
00:51:34,418 --> 00:51:38,738
I obviously, there is an expectation, you know, if I'm having Christmas,

719
00:51:38,878 --> 00:51:43,158
that I will be taking probably, you know, doing a decent amount of the cooking

720
00:51:43,158 --> 00:51:46,438
because that's what's expected and that's fine and I'm really happy with it.

721
00:51:46,758 --> 00:51:50,478
But I guess for a lot of people, it might be that there's like, you know,

722
00:51:50,498 --> 00:51:53,558
it's that classic, you know, mum does it all and everyone's sat, you know,

723
00:51:53,918 --> 00:51:55,618
watching TV while mum's slaving away.

724
00:51:55,618 --> 00:51:59,338
and actually you know if you if you know that you're in a situation where you might be vulnerable

725
00:51:59,338 --> 00:52:04,058
to like you know doing your backing or whatever actually just i don't know maybe is it kind of

726
00:52:04,058 --> 00:52:09,778
like sharing the load a little bit because i think you know it's a um obviously i can't talk

727
00:52:09,778 --> 00:52:14,578
from lived experience but i do know that having spoken to other people that you know in lots of

728
00:52:14,578 --> 00:52:18,138
families it is you know one person does the majority of the work and everyone else just has

729
00:52:18,138 --> 00:52:23,058
a lovely relaxing time you know drinking the beers and you know and relaxing and playing a board game

730
00:52:23,058 --> 00:52:27,678
whenever while one person's kind of doing all the the carrying and actually you know if you're that

731
00:52:27,678 --> 00:52:33,738
person maybe you know uh maybe this christmas is a time to kind of um you know make a plan and be

732
00:52:33,738 --> 00:52:37,698
like hey look you know i want to get through this without getting injured it's going to be good for

733
00:52:37,698 --> 00:52:42,158
everyone so actually can we you know can we all help out a little bit can we you know and actually

734
00:52:42,158 --> 00:52:46,478
probably be good for you know good for the family unit because it you know gets people working

735
00:52:46,478 --> 00:52:51,998
together and communicating and you know and um and you know might it might be it might be a different

736
00:52:51,998 --> 00:52:56,898
kind of Christmas but maybe maybe maybe a better one I don't know yeah definitely sharing the load

737
00:52:56,898 --> 00:53:00,598
because then you're you're basically pacing everybody and you know if they're they're kind

738
00:53:00,598 --> 00:53:04,598
of tucking into the suites if you're sitting down and that person you know you've got someone who's

739
00:53:04,598 --> 00:53:08,798
doing all the work and other people who are sitting it's really good for those people to get up and

740
00:53:08,798 --> 00:53:13,398
move around so their blood sugars don't rock it and you you do want to keep moving around but um

741
00:53:13,398 --> 00:53:18,758
I think you said it beautifully like just trying to share out jobs um and just keeping some activity

742
00:53:18,758 --> 00:53:23,038
you're going because then it's going to be much harder for people otherwise in january when they

743
00:53:23,038 --> 00:53:27,698
want to get back to their fitness goals and that's sort of suddenly start going into exercise again

744
00:53:27,698 --> 00:53:31,758
um you know they haven't really prepared themselves very well over christmas but

745
00:53:31,758 --> 00:53:36,958
so christmas can be you know a relaxing time time with your family but it can be a vulnerable time

746
00:53:36,958 --> 00:53:41,918
for the body if we don't look after it but if you think about you know the christmas dinner could be

747
00:53:41,918 --> 00:53:46,738
quite healthy with all your vegetables and things that we've discussed totally it's just trying to

748
00:53:46,738 --> 00:53:51,958
make some slightly healthier choices throughout so maybe they could have more of your delicious

749
00:53:51,958 --> 00:53:58,538
sides um as opposed to too many carbohydrates or or you know just trying to think about how else

750
00:53:58,538 --> 00:54:03,638
they can um keep a bit healthier a tip that i have learned that um and this is from definitely

751
00:54:03,638 --> 00:54:10,158
from lived experiences to not eat the quality streets or the celebrations too early in the day

752
00:54:10,158 --> 00:54:14,738
i think there was one christmas where you know we'd had a cup of tea and it was probably seven

753
00:54:14,738 --> 00:54:18,258
o'clock in the morning because the kids were up and we were at the in-laws house and you know they

754
00:54:18,258 --> 00:54:22,398
wanted to open the stocking so we you know i would have liked to have been in bed a little bit longer

755
00:54:22,398 --> 00:54:26,918
but i was up with a cup of tea and then my father-in-law kind of shook her celebrations i i

756
00:54:26,918 --> 00:54:31,058
think he just did it just to be friendly and i was like oh go on then and you know before i know i've

757
00:54:31,058 --> 00:54:36,658
eaten four and then i just felt quite ill and i think staying off the sugar for as long as possible

758
00:54:36,658 --> 00:54:40,858
if you can you know if you can get through the lunchtime you're gonna feel so much better just

759
00:54:40,858 --> 00:54:46,258
like whereas if you cave in early and start you know hitting those sweet sweet things and um and

760
00:54:46,258 --> 00:54:51,318
it's so easy to be like well it's christmas isn't it but actually you know i know personally i just

761
00:54:51,318 --> 00:54:56,478
feel horrendous and then and then i don't enjoy the rest of the food because i just feel like i'm

762
00:54:56,478 --> 00:55:02,398
on this kind of like sugar high and then and then it's you know it's not i then just don't yeah i

763
00:55:02,398 --> 00:55:07,298
don't i don't feel like i enjoy the food as much and um and so yeah staying off those sweet things

764
00:55:07,298 --> 00:55:12,498
as much as possible but it is hard isn't it like you know if you're like i work at a bakery and

765
00:55:12,498 --> 00:55:16,718
there's mince pies already around and i know that you know we start getting gifts from customers and

766
00:55:16,718 --> 00:55:19,818
people start bringing in and i've baked some cookies and you know suddenly there's just all

767
00:55:19,818 --> 00:55:25,098
this just temptation around and it's so easy to be like oh it's christmas you know it's and it

768
00:55:25,098 --> 00:55:29,098
probably it's it's those rally advent calendars where it goes wrong isn't it because you know

769
00:55:29,098 --> 00:55:34,238
they encourage you to wake up and the first thing you do is eat a thimble of sweet chocolate and

770
00:55:34,238 --> 00:55:38,658
you're like well that's it game over so maybe don't don't don't buy an advent calendar or get

771
00:55:38,658 --> 00:55:44,658
one that isn't edible sorry i'm sounding a bit bar humbug no or you could i mean one one simple

772
00:55:44,658 --> 00:55:50,158
trick is if someone's bought you like one of those huge boxes of um uh quality street or whichever you

773
00:55:50,158 --> 00:55:56,018
know said chocolate brand if you kind of just when as soon as you open them if you tip half of them

774
00:55:56,018 --> 00:55:59,898
into a bag and just put them in a cupboard where you just don't think you kind of forget about them

775
00:55:59,898 --> 00:56:04,598
when you keep going to them you you're you're saying oh actually they are going low and i'm

776
00:56:04,598 --> 00:56:09,878
not going to eat all of them because some families are diving in and yeah so once they're gone they're

777
00:56:09,878 --> 00:56:14,358
gone and you might just have a different you know you might be telling your brain you know actually

778
00:56:14,358 --> 00:56:19,478
we've eaten enough that's it that's enough now we can't see anymore because if you can't see it

779
00:56:19,478 --> 00:56:25,178
you don't want it so you could just kind of divide them out and um just you know so they're they're

780
00:56:25,178 --> 00:56:29,798
not out all the time because it is just temptation or if you've had some put them away

781
00:56:29,798 --> 00:56:33,558
so that they're not just going oh should we just have another pringle because they're out you know

782
00:56:33,558 --> 00:56:42,778
yeah you almost need to have like like a um a strategy in advance of like how you're gonna

783
00:56:42,778 --> 00:56:47,878
like tackle christmas particularly you know like where is it i don't know what they call like how

784
00:56:47,878 --> 00:56:52,278
strong-willed you are or whatever like you know i'm i'm fairly strong-willed but i know that if

785
00:56:52,278 --> 00:56:57,058
there's just temptation everywhere and then you know you you you caught you know a slight hunger

786
00:56:57,058 --> 00:57:01,058
a pang and you're and it's just in front of you it's so easy just to like cave in isn't it and

787
00:57:01,058 --> 00:57:04,598
particularly when it's christmas and you're like wow it doesn't really count so actually having

788
00:57:04,598 --> 00:57:08,498
that kind of stress you beforehand whether that's like you said putting some stuff on a cupboard or

789
00:57:08,498 --> 00:57:12,558
just you know removing half or just you know being conscious that you're going to be in that situation

790
00:57:12,558 --> 00:57:17,858
and can you kind of um because i i really do think like for me it totally derails my

791
00:57:17,858 --> 00:57:23,098
you know my day if i if you know if i eat too much sweet stuff too too soon it's just like it's

792
00:57:23,098 --> 00:57:28,158
game over and then and then you know you just don't enjoy it so much yeah yeah and i quite like

793
00:57:28,158 --> 00:57:33,318
um just like squeezing loads of different fruits or like trying to do more of a like tropical

794
00:57:33,318 --> 00:57:40,198
cocktail bit of fruit juices rather than always relying on those horrible like schler fizzy things

795
00:57:40,198 --> 00:57:45,018
that are just no good for anyone really um so just to try and get a little bit of vitamin c into your

796
00:57:45,018 --> 00:57:49,338
day but you know if you could and you can make a fancy can't you with like a straw and you have

797
00:57:49,338 --> 00:57:51,578
and your offshore glasses that you don't normally use.

798
00:57:51,718 --> 00:57:52,158
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

799
00:57:52,798 --> 00:57:55,538
That's another way to kind of make it just feel a bit different

800
00:57:55,538 --> 00:57:57,858
to just always reaching for the same drinks

801
00:57:57,858 --> 00:58:02,018
or breaking things up with some hydration and other things too.

802
00:58:02,138 --> 00:58:06,178
But I think you said it beautifully there, Henry, with a nice summary.

803
00:58:06,478 --> 00:58:09,998
And so I think I'm going to go and order my turkey legs.

804
00:58:11,578 --> 00:58:15,678
Well, I'll write a recipe up for it because it is a good hack.

805
00:58:16,058 --> 00:58:18,038
Particularly if you want to buy good quality,

806
00:58:18,038 --> 00:58:21,258
but you cannot justify spending, you know,

807
00:58:21,298 --> 00:58:22,938
130 quid on a turkey or so.

808
00:58:23,138 --> 00:58:23,718
And you know what?

809
00:58:23,958 --> 00:58:24,998
We're going to have to do next, Hayley.

810
00:58:25,078 --> 00:58:26,258
We're going to have to do a January one

811
00:58:26,258 --> 00:58:29,458
because I find January,

812
00:58:30,118 --> 00:58:32,018
I've been, last couple of years,

813
00:58:32,078 --> 00:58:32,998
I've approached it differently,

814
00:58:33,198 --> 00:58:35,278
but I'd be interested to hear how you approach January

815
00:58:35,278 --> 00:58:37,158
because a part of me has been like,

816
00:58:37,218 --> 00:58:38,498
oh, sod it, it's the worst time of year

817
00:58:38,498 --> 00:58:40,018
because it's cold and dark

818
00:58:40,018 --> 00:58:42,158
and I'm just going to carry on with the festive fun.

819
00:58:42,998 --> 00:58:45,298
But actually maybe it is an opportunity

820
00:58:45,298 --> 00:58:46,378
for a bit of a reset.

821
00:58:46,678 --> 00:58:47,838
Yeah, it'd be great to, you know.

822
00:58:48,038 --> 00:58:51,558
and I know I know obviously a lot of people you know book their gym membership and then

823
00:58:51,558 --> 00:58:57,538
never go but um yeah it'd be a good one to to get into and discuss how we how we how we beat

824
00:58:57,538 --> 00:59:03,578
those winter blues yeah we can and um have to say lovely Christmas jumper as well Henry yeah thank

825
00:59:03,578 --> 00:59:07,718
you yeah little burger doesn't look very healthy does it but anyway there we go it's got a hat

826
00:59:07,718 --> 00:59:12,338
well I'd love to speak to you and that yeah feeling very festive now yes yeah and I'll see

827
00:59:12,338 --> 00:59:16,958
you on the next episode yeah brilliant cheers Hayley bye thanks Henry

828
00:59:18,038 --> 00:59:19,998
you