Rebecca Mascull's Itty Bitty Christmas...

Wishing you a Merry Christmas 

from

Rebecca Mascull

What’s your earliest Christmas Memory?

I remember watching Meet Me in St Louis with my mum and later lying in bed and I swear I heard bells jingling in the night air outside, I swear it!

Do you have any special Christmas Traditions?

When I was a child, we did stockings in bed, and presents all together in the living room after. Later in my teens, for Xmas breakfast we had smoked salmon on very thin brown bread with butter, lemon juice and black pepper sprinkled on top. My partner Simon and I used to make each other Xmas cards every year, using cut-outs of characters from stuff we were watching on TV, like Brother Mouzone from The Wire with a Xmas hat on; they were bloody hilarious. These days, it's all about our daughter Poppy. So, now our little family is starting to develop our own traditions. We always make mince pies and jam tarts on Xmas Eve and I always do my favourite veggie dish Oat Roast for Xmas lunch, but I'm the only one who likes it, so it's just for me! I'm hoping one day Poppy will grow to like it too...Also, Poppy has a collection of Playmobil Xmas figures and a few little illuminated houses, one with a frosty train running round it, so we set those up at the same time as we dress the tree, and turn the lights off and see the little bulbs twinkling and watch the train go round and round, and then I know Christmas is really coming.

What’s your favourite festive carol or song?

Oh gosh, I love them ALL. I absolutely adore Christmas and carols most of all. I love In the Bleak Midwinter, O Little Town of Bethlehem and I love the a cappella version of Carol of the Bells (especially the version in the West Wing). I watch Carols from Kings every Xmas Eve without fail.

Do you have a favourite festive film?

Ooh several - my favourite has to be A Christmas Carol (see festive read below) - more or less any version, though I particularly like the Patrick Stewart one, as I feel he acts Scrooge as a real person and not a comedy baddie - yet I also love It's a Wonderful Life and even Scrooged with Bill Murray, which is very funny but strangely touching too! And Meet Me in St Louis of course, as it reminds me of childhood Christmases with the smell of my mum's cooking...

What’s your favourite festive read ?

DICKENS, every time. With Poppy, we love Melrose and Croc Together at Xmas by Emma Chichester Clark.

Are you organised or do you leave everything until the last minute ?

A bit of both, I reckon! I tend to get the shopping done in advance, but I like cooking all through Xmas and I like wrapping the presents on Xmas Eve to get in the Xmasy mood, especially the stocking, my favourite bit.

Christmas Tree – real or artificial?

I used to be a Real or Nothing kinda gal, but since Poppy was little we found it was much easier to have a safe, reliable artificial one. And the one we have looks very real but doesn't shed or turn brown, and we can put it up on December 1st as Poppy demands and it still looks great by 12th Night!

Tinsel or Glitter?

BOTH. 

Gingerbread Latte or Orange spiced Hot Chocolate?

I loathe ginger. And it absolutely did not cure my morning sickness. So Hot Choc all the way.

Mince Pie or Yule Log?

BOTH, preferably on the same plate, topped with a dollop of Extra Thick Double Cream.

Christmas Dinner – Traditional Turkey or something Different?

Well, we don't eat much meat in our household, so for Simon and me we tend to do mushroom and goats' cheese puff pastry parcels, with 2 types of stuffing, roast potatoes and parsnips, peas and sprouts, onion gravy and mushroom gravy, and then Poppy will have something like sausages or a sausage roll alongside, as she likes meat. We all muck in and have bits and bobs of everything. As I said, I always do Oat Roast for me, as it's an old recipe from my teenage years and I love it. See here for the recipe: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaMascull/posts/744099525619392

Christmas Tipple – Bucks Fizz/Mulled Wine or something stronger?

A cup of Earl Grey tea with honey for me, please.

A fun game of after dinner charades or more chocolates and the television?

BOTH, with chocolate throughout.

Rebecca is the best selling author of The Visitors

available to buy on Amazon

and from all good book retailers.


Rebecca is kindly offering a signed paperback of The Visitors in this festive giveaway.

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Huge thanks to Rebecca for sharing her Christmas with us.

Jaffa and I wish you a very happy Christmas.

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