Children and young people at Edinburgh’s Sick Kids hospital were treated to a Christmas surprise from some famous faces when players from Hibs, Hearts and Edinburgh Rugby joined them on a video call.
Players including Christoph Berra, Craig Gordon, Ryan Porteous, Martin Boyle and Grant Gilchrist took time out from their busy training schedules to Zoom with some of their biggest fans, tell festive jokes and answer all their Christmas questions.
The Zoom calls brought lots of smiles and laughter to the wards, thanks to revelations including Christoph Berra confessing that he is receiving a mop from his mum this Christmas and Ryan Porteous and Martin Boyle treating one young fan to a rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
The footballers and rugby players would usually visit the Sick Kids to meet children and their families in person in December, which is unfortunately unable to happen this year due to Covid restrictions.
The Zoom calls were organised by Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC), which supports the Sick Kids and works hard to make Christmas magical for those visiting the hospital every year.
Fiona O’Sullivan, Arts Programme Manager at ECHC, said: “The hospital visits from Hibs, Hearts and Edinburgh Rugby are always a huge hit with the children and young people so it’s a real shame these weren’t able to go ahead this year.
“However, we would like to say an enormous thank you to the players for taking time out of their day to chat with some of the children and young people via Zoom. Some of the kids are massive football and rugby fans so it really made their day to meet their favourite players.
“Christmas is a very special time of year and we work hard to ensure no child or young person misses out on the magic of the festive season. This year has been harder than ever for those at the hospital, so we are incredibly grateful to Hibs, Hearts and Edinburgh Rugby for continuing to support us and for spreading so much joy and Christmas cheer with the calls.”
ECHC runs a living advent calendar throughout December, which sees a different door in the hospital opened each day to reveal a surprise visitor or activity.
The advent calendar activities are limited this year by restricted visiting; however, the charity is determined to make this Christmas as magical as possible for children and young people, with everything from a silent disco, a festive cinema experience and a visit from a real ballerina.
· Royal Bank of Scotland’s Winter Sparkle festive campaign aims to bring cheer to 10,000 people and families this Christmas
· Bank’s charity partner BaxterStorey is distributing 100,000 meals to the country’s most vulnerable as part of the drive
· Businesses and organisations including The Scottish Book Trust, Tesco and Amazon back the drive
· Social Bite, Cyrenians, The Felix Project and Edinburgh Food Project help take the programme to Scotland’s neediest communities
Royal Bank of Scotland has partnered with hospitality provider BaxterStorey and security company G4S, to distribute more than 10,000 shoeboxes full of toys, books, games, food and items of clothing for vulnerable people and families across Scotland, as part of the bank’s Winter Sparkle initiative.
The shoeboxes – which have been packed in a socially distant setting at the bank’s Gogarburn HQ in Edinburgh – are being given to charity partners Social Bite, Cyrenians, The Felix Project and Edinburgh Food Project, to distribute amongst thousands of individuals and families they support across the country.
Catering company BaxterStorey will also prepare and deliver an additional 100,000 cooked meals for vulnerable families in Scotland, thanks to generous donations of fresh produce from a number of the Royal Bank’s agricultural customers.
Other supporters of the project include the Scottish Book Trust, Tesco and Business in the Community, while employees and customers of the bank have been able to purchase items via a bespoke Amazon wish list.
The shoebox initiative is the latest project from the team behind the foodbank distribution centre at Gogarburn. It was set up in March by bank employee, Sheena Hales, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to offer charities a space to store large food deliveries. In October, Sheena was awarded a British Empire Medal in recognition of her efforts.
Since opening, the foodbank centre has distributed around 6,000 meals per week, taken in huge donations including 220,000 items of new clothing, and welcomed truckloads of potatoes and carrots – all to be issued by charities to those in need.
Along with donations of food and clothing, the foodbank has also helped furnish a homeless shelter in Glasgow and through a partnership with the Scottish Book Trust, has provided families with learning packs, storybooks and even tablets and Wi-Fi access to support with remote learning.
Sheena Hales, Programme Capability Manager at Royal Bank of Scotland and Manager of the Gogarburn distribution centre, said:“Christmas can always be a challenging time but the events and added pressures of 2020 have undoubtedly created extra stress and anxiety for many families.
“The foodbank has been committed to supporting those in need since the onset of the pandemic and while the food parcels will be essential, it’s also our hope that the little extra treats in the boxes will put a few smiles on faces this festive season.
“Crucially, this has been a team effort and none of it would be possible without the hard work and dedication of our volunteers or the generosity of our staff, customers and strategic partners who have worked tirelessly to make the foodbank what it is”
Caroline Bacigalupo, Operations Manager at BaxterStorey, said: “We are delighted to have been working with local community councils and local charities, supplying a variety of sweet treats and hearty meals.
“This Christmas, we plan to fill over 10,000 boxes for Christmas gifts and food packages to help those in need across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
“With the ongoing support of our team at BaxterStorey, G4S and of course Royal Bank of Scotland, we will be out delivering the packages in the run-up to Christmas.”
Malcolm Buchanan, Chair, Scotland Board, Royal Bank of Scotland said: “The work that our foodbank team has delivered throughout 2020 has been truly admirable and the results achieved reflect the unwavering commitment of our staff, customers and partners, who have all gone above and beyond to support those in their local communities.
“Under Sheena’s leadership, the team have been working behind the scenes to coordinate, manage and store huge deliveries and have all been busy packing up the shoeboxes ready for distribution. Our charity partners will then take the wheel, allocating the boxes to the incredibly deserving individuals and families within their support networks.”
Admiral teams up with professional home economist to help people plan the perfect Christmas dinner –
More than one in 10 (12%) only keep Christmas leftovers for one day
One in 20 throw away excess food rather than turning it into other meals at Christmas
12% of Brits splashed out more than £100 per person for Christmas dinner last year
One in five have first alcoholic drink before 11am on Christmas Day
53% of claims involving food and drink in December relate to red wine spillages
A new investigation by Admiral home insurance has revealed that two thirds (65%) of households in the UK end up with more food than they need at Christmas, and one in 20 people throw excess ingredients in the bin, rather than turning them into other meals.
The tool helps people work out how much of each key ingredient they’ll need to cook the perfect Christmas dinner for their guests, and guides them on how many sweet treats and desserts to buy to make sure they’re properly stocked up for guests this festive season.
The investigation found that two fifths of Brits (42%) buy their ingredients for Christmas dinner a week before the big day. But while some are more organised, buying at the start of December (25%) or two weeks before Christmas Day (25%), others are less organised, opting to buy their food on 23rd December (17%) and even as last-minute as Christmas Eve (5%).
With many people yet to buy their ingredients, Admiral is encouraging people to plan ahead to make their Christmas feasts memorable for all the right reasons this year.
Stocking up for Christmas
The study found that some people are storing traditional Christmas foods in the wrong places, meaning food could potentially be going to waste.
To help make people’s Christmas go without a hitch, professional home economist, Becky Wilkinson, has shared her tips with Admiral on where ingredients should be stored.
One in ten (11%) believe that a Christmas pudding should be kept in the fridge, but Becky says that is not necessarily the right thing to do. “Where you store Christmas pudding or Christmas cake is often dependent on the recipe followed, but, as a rule, this should never be kept in the fridge.”
And with many a sweet tooth being catered to over the festive period, making sure the chocolates are in top condition for guests will be high on the priority list. Almost a quarter (23%) of people believe chocolate should be kept in the fridge, but Becky warns this can have an impact on the taste: “If you must store chocolate in the fridge, it should be sealed in an airtight container because the fat content in chocolate causes it to take on other flavours if not sealed properly.”
Before filling your fridge and stocking up, Becky recommends carrying out the four following checks to ensure your food is perfect for Christmas :
Make sure your fridge and freezer are running at the correct temperature before filling with Christmas treats. The recommended temperature is 5°C or below for the fridge and -18°C or below for the freezer. Fridge freezer thermometers are cheap and a very helpful tool to have if you don’t already!
Before the Christmas buying starts, check that all the items in your fridge and freezer are in date, remove any that are not. Overfilling your fridge and freezer will make it difficult for them to stay at the correct temperature
It’s important to store meat safely to stop bacteria from spreading and to avoid food poisoning. You should store raw meat and poultry in clean, sealed containers on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so they can not touch or drip onto other foods
Check your oven is working and has had a service if required. Also, give it a good clean to ensure for more accurate cooking times and optimum hygiene
What to do with leftovers
For those who do keep their Christmas dinner leftovers and excess ingredients, more than one in ten (12%) only keep it for one day, which means lots of leftover Christmas food gets wasted unnecessarily each year.
To avoid unwanted food waste, Becky Wilkinson has shared some simple top tips with Admiral on what to do with leftover Christmas ingredients:
Roast potatoes and Brussel sprouts: Break up the cold potatoes and mash together with the Brussel sprouts, place into a pan and fry. Add any leftover herbs or chestnuts to make extra tasty bubble and squeak.
Carrots: Heat the ready roasted sliced carrots in a pan and add caraway seeds and vegetable stock. Blend together to make a warming soup.
Pigs in blankets: Make your own mini toad in the hole’s by using an oiled muffin tin to heat the sausages and then pour over Yorkshire pudding batter. Bake until well risen.
Ham, turkey and gravy: Mix together, place into a pie dish and top with ready rolled puff pastry for a quick and effortless pie.
Turkey: For an oriental take on leftovers, try a turkey ramen or turkey stir fry.
Christmas pudding: Break up the Christmas pudding and mix with a drizzle of festive liquor, spread the mixture over some ready rolled puff pastry and roll up into a large swirl. Slice into 2cm rounds and place into a lined spring form cake tin. Glaze with egg and bake until pastry is cooked through for a festive Chelsea bun.
Cost of Christmas this year
Last Christmas, more than one in ten households (12%) splashed out over £100 for each person joining them for the festive feast. On average, homeowners spent £41.30 per person to feed their dinner guests in 2019.
Meanwhile, 22% of people said they are planning to spend even more money on food this Christmas.
With many restrictions still in place across the UK,17% of households said they would be spending less because they weren’t expecting as many guests around their Christmas table this year, and 12% want to cut down because they either ate too much or bought too much food last year.
However, younger households are looking to splurge this year, as 30% of those aged between 18 and 34 are planning to spend more on their dinner in a bid to treat themselves and their family this Christmas, in comparison to just 7% of people aged over 65.
Kitchen chaos at Christmas
In a bid to help make sure Christmas goes without a hitch this year, Admiral is urging people to watch out for some common culinary mishaps as these can be costly.
Analysis of Admiral claims data, relating to damage involving fridge freezers over the last five years, reveals that 7% happened during the month of December alone, with the average cost of each claim coming in at around £7001.
According to Admiral data, the most common causes of fridge or freezer failures in December were where the fridge freezer has broken and stopped working by itself (30%), or power cuts and power surges (23%) that either damaged the fridge freezer wiring or the prolonged loss of power caused the food to defrost.
‘tis the season to be Merry
Admiral found that one in five (20%) adults like to crack open the bubbly before 11.00am on Christmas day, and just less than one in ten (9%) open the alcohol before 10.00am.
Accidents can and do happen, and analysis of Admiral claims data relating to wine, gravy and sauce in the months of December found that 53% of claims, related to red wine being spilt on sofas, carpet, soft furnishings and even on laptops. To avoid any accidents spoiling the Christmas spirit, Admiral suggests standing glasses and bottles on a table and well away from small hands and pets if you can
David Fowkes, Head of Household Underwriting at Admiral, said: “Christmas is always a special period but this year will be even more important to households who, after a tough year, are looking to make the best of it with their close friends or family.
“Our study shows that people can easily go overboard and buy too much food for their Christmas dinner, leading to unnecessary food waste and people are also spending more money than they need to. As food plays such a big part of the festivities for many people, we want to help make sure the day goes as smoothly as possible – regardless of how many people you have around the dinner table.
“Unfortunately, not only are leftover ingredients being thrown away, but just a small percentage of people are giving excess food to food banks who would welcome the donations.
“We’d recommend carrying out a few simple checks around the kitchen a few weeks before Christmas. At Admiral we’ve seen examples where fridge freezers and cookers have been damaged in the build up to Christmas – some even on the big day itself – causing havoc and unnecessary stress for many households.
“Make sure you don’t over stock your fridge freezer so it keeps all of your Christmas food chilled at the perfect temperature, and it doesn’t spoil the festivities.”
Morrisons has extended its 10% ‘Thank you’ discount until further notice meaning key workers can use it throughout the festive season and into the new year.
The discount is available to NHS staff, teachers and Blue Light Card holders to recognise and thank them for the care and support they have offered to the British public throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.
Morrisons has also made it easier and quicker for NHS staff and teachers to redeem the discount after listening to feedback from key workers. They can now join the More For NHS Club or More For Teachers Club and use the Morrisons More Card app at the till.
Blue Light Card holders still need to present their card at the till of any of Morrisons 498 stores in order to receive their discount.
David Potts, Morrisons Chief Executive, said: “As we approach the Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations, we want to continue to support those that have gone above and beyond their usual roles this year, often in exceptionally difficult circumstances. This discount is a thank you for all that they have done and continue to do for us all.”
Morrisons introduced the first ‘Thank you’ discount in April to NHS staff alongside a dedicated shopping hour from 6am – 7am (Mon – Sat). The service has since been extended to include teachers and their support staff as well as emergency service workers via the Blue Light Card.
Additionally, Morrisons is also continuing to offer a 5% discount to its 2,700 farmers to thank them for feeding the nation through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The discount is not valid on fuel, spirits (England), all alcohol (Scotland and Wales), tobacco, lottery products, gift vouchers & cards, infant/formula milk, cash-back, dry cleaning, fireworks, online games & instant tickets, photo printing, saver stamps, postage stamps, ‘Top-Up’ mobile phone cards, garden centre & pharmacy. Full terms and conditions are available here: https://my.morrisons.com/discounts/
To spread Christmas joy across the local community, Murrayfield Nursery has donated care packages to two Edinburgh care homes.
Parents, children and team members at Murrayfield Nursery gathered food and monetary donations to help create the care packages for Manor Grange and Struan Lodge care homes.
Food donations included sweet treats and Christmas decorations to lift the spirits of residents.
The team and children from Murrayfield then safely visited each care home to deliver their packages.
Murrayfield Nursery’s generous donation is part of an ongoing relationship between the care home residents and the nursery, who were involved in regular activities together prior to the pandemic as part of the nursery’s commitment to supporting their local community.
Rhonda Houston, Nursery Manager said: “We already have a relationship with our local care homes and wanted to bring some festive joy to them this Christmas, after what has been a challenging year for us all.
‘‘We were overwhelmed by the donations from our generous families, and the children enjoyed taking the gifts over to the residents. It’s so important to us to nurture this connection between generations.”
Murrayfield Nursery is part of the independent CC Nurseries group, which provides inspirational Early Childhood Learning and Care for over 500 families in settings across England and Scotland.
Aldi has teamed up with three renowned Scottish chefs to inspire people to try an exceptional range of Scotch Galloway Beef joints this Christmas.
Tender and full of flavour, Galloway beef is rarely available in supermarkets and Aldi’s trio of joints offer incredible value for money.
Aldi’s Scotch Galloway Beef Sirloin Joint (£14.99 per kg), Scotch Galloway Beef Rump Joint (£8.99 per kg), and Scotch Galloway Beef Joint wrapped in Ayrshire bacon (950g, £10.99) will make the perfect centrepiece for your festive meal.
The supermarket has partnered with chefs from across Scotland to show customers how to re-create restaurant quality festive feasts using each of the joints from the comfort of their own home.
Each joint will be showcased in three video recipe guides created by renowned chefs Chris Walker, owner of the Selkirk Arms Hotel in Kirkcudbright, 2019 Masterchef finalist, Jilly McCord, and Craig Wilson, owner of Eat on the Green in Aberdeenshire, that will premiere on Aldi Scotland’s Facebook page this weekend.
Based in Dumfries & Galloway – the home of the Galloway breed – chef Chris Walker has developed a recipe using the Scotch Galloway Beef Sirloin Joint, which he serves with a hazelnut, mushroom and mustard crust and a mushroom and Port wine jus.
He commented:“Galloway Beef is the ancient native breed of my local area, so it was very exciting to be asked to help promote these fantastic quality Scotch Galloway Beef joints.
“One of the things that makes Galloway Beef stand out is its depth of flavour and tenderness. So I’ve developed a recipe that locks all those juices and flavour inside the joint, coating it in a stuffing-style crust that creates a mellow, festive accompaniment to the dish.
“Galloway has a reputation for being one of Scotland’s best kept secrets, and the beautiful flavour of Galloway Beef is also a hidden gem. I’m delighted that we can now share that local secret with the rest of Scotland, in the hope that everyone will appreciate the texture, the taste and the very special nature of Galloway Beef this Christmas.”
Travelling north, Masterchef finalist Jilly McCord has created a winter warming dish with the flavours of a classic Boeuf Bourguignon paired with the delicious Scotch Galloway Beef Joint wrapped in Ayrshire bacon – a real Auld Alliance. Served whole and beautifully pink in the middle, this dish is enjoyed with creamy mashed potatoes and lashings of the beautifully rich sauce.
Finally, the trio is rounded off with Aberdeenshire’s Craig Wilson, aka The Kilted Chef. Craig has developed a recipe using Aldi’s Scotch Galloway Beef Rump Joint, which he roasts with rapeseed oil, fresh thyme, sea salt, cracked black pepper and Orkney Brewery’s Clootie Dumpling Ale (or any Innes & Gunn beer) for a scrumptious festive centre piece.
Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, Aldi Scotland said:“We’re thrilled to be able to offer our customers these three fantastic cuts of one of the finest types of beef Scotland has to offer at our everyday amazing prices.
“Scotch Galloway Beef is of the highest quality and enjoyed in restaurants around the world, and we wanted to show our customers exactly how some of Scotland’s top chefs would cook it this Christmas.
“Chris, Jilly and Craig have created three deliciously indulgent recipes that our customers can easily follow at home using quality produce stocked in our 96 Scottish stores.”
Aldi is the biggest retailer of Scottish origin beef* and regularly tops NFU Scotland’s ‘shelf watch’ surveys, which means customers are guaranteed to find the highest quality, locally sourced meat all year round at Aldi stores in Scotland.
Dorothy Goldie, Breed Secretary of Galloway Cattle Society, said: “By championing the Galloway breed over Christmas Aldi is providing people with an opportunity to experience the rich flavour of one of Scotland’s oldest and most environmentally sustainable native breeds.
“We are absolutely delighted to be working with Aldi and Scotbeef, and we’re looking forward to knowing that Galloway Beef will be the centrepiece of festive dinners across Scotland.”
The Scotch Galloway Beef Sirloin Joint, Scotch Galloway Beef Rump Joint and Scotch Galloway Beef Joint wrapped in Ayrshire bacon, which was recently commended at the Christmas Quality Food Awards 2020, will be available from Aldi stores in Scotland from 19th December.
In a small bowl, mix together crushed hazelnuts, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic, French mustard and olive oil to make a paste, add finely chopped mushrooms and blitz in a blender
In a large oven-proof skillet, sear the beef joint in a dry pan over high heat until golden all over. This does several things; it adds colour and flavour to the outside of the meat by crisping it up. Secondly it helps seal in the moisture.
Let it cool slightly and cover evenly all over with crust mixture using French mustard as a base to allow the crust to stick to the joint. Transfer back to the skillet. Leave whilst you prep the potatoes
PREP THE ROAST POTATOES – 10 MINUTES
Peel 1kg Maris Piper potatoes and cut each into 4 even-sized pieces if they are medium size, 2-3 if smaller (5cm pieces).
Drop the potatoes into a large pan and pour in enough water to barely cover them.
Add salt, then wait for the water to boil. As soon as the water reaches a full rolling boil, lower the heat, put your timer on and simmer the potatoes uncovered, reasonably vigorously, for 2 mins.
Meanwhile, put 100g duck or goose fat or 100ml olive oil into a roasting tray and place in the oven at 180
Drain the potatoes in a colander then shake back and forth a few times to fluff up the outsides.
Sprinkle with 2 tsp flour and give another shake or two so they are evenly and thinly coated.
BEEF & BLANCHED POTATOES INTO THE OVEN FOR ROASTING – 1 HR 10 MINS
Carefully put the Galloway Beef joint into a roasting tray and Bake in a 325°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes covered in tin foil and then a further 10 minutes without the tin foil to crisp up the crust.
Roast the potatoes for 15 mins, then take them out of the oven and turn them over.
Roast for another 15 mins and turn them over again. Put them back in the oven for another 10-20 mins, or however long it takes to get them really crisp and golden. The colouring will be uneven, which is what you want.
Remove the beef joint from heat and transfer the roast to a cutting board cover with foil for at least 20 minutes while you make the sauce.
MAKE THE SAUCE – 15 MINUTES
Heat 20g butter over medium high heat with any pan juices, add the 100ml of port and reduce, add the button mushrooms and cook until softened and starting to colour, about 5 minutes then add 500ml of beef stock.
Add a bay leaf and let sauce reduce and thicken slightly, about 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Thicken with cornflour if needed. Leave in a saucepan until ready to serve
PREP THE CARROTS – 15 MINUTES
Peel the carrots and remove both ends. Slice the carrots diagonally into 2-inch-long batons or carrot sticks. Just remember to use the same cut for all the carrots, and keep them to about the same size so they cook evenly
Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat.
Add the carrots and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots start to soften, about 5 minutes
Stir in the orange juice and maple syrup. Cook until the liquid reduces to a glaze, about 15 minutes, while stirring occasionally to coat all the carrots.
Taste and season carrots with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve immediately.
PREP THE CABBAGE – 5 MINUTES
Remove all the tough outer leaves from the cabbage.
Cut the cabbage into four, remove the stalk and then cut each quarter into fine shreds, working across the grain.
Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of water into a wide saucepan, together with the butter and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, add the cabbage and toss over a high heat, then cover the saucepan and cook for a few minutes.
Toss again and add some salt, freshly ground pepper and the knob of butter.
BRING THE WHOLE DISH TOGETHER & PLATE – 5 MINUTES
Re heat your saucepan of gravy
Carve the Beef and plate
Add your roast potatoes, cabbage and carrots and ladle the gravy on top and serve immediately.
Pot Roast Beef a la Bourguignon with creamy mashed potatoes
by Jilly McCord
This is a great warming dish with the flavours of the French classic Boeuf Bourguignon paired with delicious Scottish Beef – a real Auld Alliance. The joint of Galloway Beef will remain whole and beautifully pink in the middle. Slice and serve with creamy mashed potatoes and lashings of the beautiful rich sauce. Add some green beans on the side for a bit of colour.
For the Pot Roasted Beef
Prep time – 15 minutes
Total cooking time (including resting) – 1hour 15minutes
Take a large cast iron pan and heat the oil until very hot. Sear the beef joint – browning on all sides. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
Now sauté the finely chopped onion and celery until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for around a minute before adding the tomato puree and herbs. Cook gently in the pan for 2 minutes, then up the heat and add the red wine and de-glaze the pan. Simmer the wine and reduce by around a third. The add the beef stock dissolved in around 500ml of water. Place the lid on the sauce and cook in the oven for around 30 minutes. At the same time, place the potatoes in the oven to bake.
Now chop the streaky bacon into lardons, peel the shallots and wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth to ensure they are clean. Take a frying pan and heat to a high temperature. Fry the bacon until the fat has rendered and it is becoming quite crispy. Add the shallots and the mushrooms to the pan and colour on all sides.
Remove the sauce from the oven and place the beef roasting joint and the fried shallot mixture around the side of the casserole. The liquid should come around half of the way up the roasting joint. Remove the lid from the cast iron dish and place back in the oven to cook the meat. This should, take around 45 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, the internal temperature should reach 55C for medium. Once the beef is cooked, remove the joint from the sauce and wrap in foil to rest for around 15 minutes (keep the sauce warm on the hob or in the oven).
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Total cooking time – 1hour 15mins
1 kg Maris Piper potatoes
150g butter
150ml warm milk
Bake the potatoes in the oven for an hour until very soft. Scoop out the flesh and put through a potato ricer or mash with a masher until smooth. Place the mash in a pan and gradually add the butter and warm milk, whisking all the time until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
To Serve
Once the beef has rested, slice the whole joint into thin slices and place on top of the sauce. Finish with a little chopped parsley and serve with the creamy mashed potatoes and some green vegetables. I chose fine French green beans which are also available in Aldi stores.
Boozy beer beef with honey and chilli glazed root vegetables
by Craig Wilson, Eat on the Green
Ingredients:
300ml The Orkney Brewery Clootie Dumpling Ale (or any Innes & Gunn beer)
1 Galloway rump of beef
300 ml Beef stock (using Aldi Beef Stock melts)
5g Fresh thyme
1 clove of fresh garlic
3 tbsp Aldi Scottish rapeseed oil
600g Rainbow carrots
400g Parsnips
1 Red onion
1 Fresh chilli
1tsp Chilli flakes
1 tbsp Honey
Good grind of cracked black pepper
15g sea salt
Method
Get a large roasting tray, place the beef in the tray.
Crush the garlic and place in a bowl with the rapeseed oil, fresh thyme, sea salt, cracked black pepper and 3 tbsp of the beer. Mix together then rub all over the beef joint.
Place into the oven at 220 degrees Celsius fan for 15 mins
For the vegetables, roughly chop the parsnips, red onion and carrots.
Once the meat takes on a good colour, remove from the oven and scatter the vegetables around the meat, add the beef stock and the rest of the beer into the tray.
Cover with foil, reduce the heat of the oven to 200 degrees fan and put beef back in for around 1 hour.
Once ready, take out of the oven, remove the foil and take the vegetables out and put into another tray. Add the honey, the fresh chilli and the chilli flakes then put back into the oven at 200deg fan for 15 minutes.
Wrap the beef in foil and place onto a board and leave to rest. Pour the juices from the tray into a pan and reduce by 50% on a high heat, for a delicious, flavoursome gravy.
Carve the beef and serve with the vegetables, to finish pour over the lovely, flavoursome gravy.
Fort Kinnaird has installed a giant giving box to help give back to those most impacted by the pandemic in the local community.
Located outside Tony Macaroni, visitors can use contactless payment to easily donate £3, £5 or £10 to Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids Mission Christmas campaign. The giving box will flash in response and say a special thank you following any donation it receives.
Cash for Kids Mission Christmas supports underprivileged children in Edinburgh, from birth right up to the age of 18, by ensuring they wake up to a gift on Christmas morning.
The campaign is a lifeline to families living in poverty, for who Christmas is a luxury they just can’t afford. While it won’t change their circumstances, it helps to make Christmas Day feel that little more special in a year that has been especially hard for them.
Liam Smith, centre director at Fort Kinnaird, said:“This festive season, it seems only right to focus on supporting the people and charities who are going above and beyond to help the people most in need in our community.
“We’ve designed the Giving Box to allow our shoppers to choose the amount they want to donate and have used a contactless payment option to ensure our customers feel as safe as possible. We hope our customers will enjoy reversing the role of Santa and giving back to this amazing initiative that helps make a real difference to children and families across Edinburgh and the Lothians.”
The centre has also launched a competition to reward someone who has gone out of their way to support the local community this year with £250 to spend on themselves at Fort Kinnaird as a small ‘thank you’ for all their hard work.
Victoria Hendry, Charity Manager of Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids Mission, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Fort Kinnaird have selected Radio Forth’s Cash for Kids as their charity partner this Christmas. The Giving Box is a fantastic, innovative way of fundraising and we are thrilled to be involved.
“Our Mission Christmas campaign sees thousands of applications for disadvantaged children living across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife & Falkirk. At this time of year we appreciate the support from corporates and local businesses but this year more so than ever as we face the challenges of Covid. We thank the colleagues at British Land and Fort Kinnaird for their on-going support and look forward to seeing how successful the Giving Box is this winter.”
Throughout December Fort Kinnaird’s core opening hours will be from 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 9am – 6pm on Saturday, and 10am – 6pm on Sunday. Many retailers will be offering extended opening hours which can be viewed on individual shop’s websites. Free parking is available as usual and shoppers are being encouraged to visit outside of peak times if they can.
Almost half of older people say they’ll spend the season alone
Many older people are set to ignore the Government’s easing of coronavirus restrictions over the festive season and spend this Christmas alone, according to a new survey.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have announced that lockdown restrictions will be eased between December 23rd and 27th to allow up to three households to mix over the Christmas period.
However, in a survey of 1,000 people by retailer Chums, 46% of Brits aged 55+ said they will ignore this lift in the coronavirus restrictions and spend Christmas with only their household.
This news comes after SAGE warned that the UK could see a massive spike in COVID-19 cases in January if Christmas festivities carried on as normal this year.
A further 24% of older Brits surveyed said they are “less likely” to spend Christmas with another household due to the coronavirus pandemic. Only one-fifth of people (21%) said that they would carry on as usual this year.
Coronavirus is known to disproportionately affect older people and for many older Brits this is precisely the reason why they are choosing not to mix this Christmas.
One third of the older people surveyed by Chums (33%) said they were worried about theirs and members of their household’s health over the festive season.
Josh Rubin, managing director at Chums, said: “After such a challenging year, we are pleased to see that restrictions will be eased for Christmas to allow many older people to celebrate with their loved ones.
“However, coronavirus won’t be taking a Christmas holiday. It is still a very real and present threat to older people in the United Kingdom.”
“Our study has found that a lot of older Brits are not prepared to take this risk, especially since social distancing guidelines are still in effect which may be difficult for many households to accommodate.”
Have yourself a virtual Christmas
Chums has also created a list of six festive activities you can do over Zoom if your family cannot be together this season:
Christmas jumper contest
Who will turn up wearing the wackiest Christmas jumper? In the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, each family member could be tasked to hunt down the loudest, funniest and downright tackiest jumper they can find. Every participant could also contribute a small amount of money to purchase a fun gift for whomever is voted the winner.
Create and exchange your own ecards
A fun, environmentally friendly way to exchange Christmas cards this year could begin with designing your own online. These can be exchanged via email to see who has the funniest or most creative Christmas card. The more technologically advanced may want to make something on Photoshop, but there are also plenty of websites where the average Joe can easily design their own Ecard free online.
Virtual Secret Santa
Secret Santa is a fun tradition for many families in the United Kingdom and there’s no reason this has to change because of coronavirus. Draw Names has created an online Secret Santa tool, for instance, where families can take part. Set a monetary value, find a great gift online and mail it to your loved one before doing a virtual unwrapping via Zoom.
The ultimate Christmas playlist
No Christmas party is complete without the perfect playlist to match, and families who are unable to spend the season together can collaborate on one from home. Spotify allows multiple users to add songs to a playlist, which can then be streamed on your video call to liven up the party.
Christmas scavenger hunt
Teams can scour their respective households for seasonal clues in a virtual Christmas scavenger hunt. Furthermore, there are many options for unique hints that can extend the game online. Who can find the funniest dressed-up pet via Google search? Or who can find the worst Santa impersonator?
6. Gingerbread house project
Whether they decide to hold a decorating competition via video or just enjoy the festive treats while watching a Christmas movie over Zoom, making gingerbread houses online is a fun way to champion togetherness and combat loneliness this yuletide.
Chums has even launched a competition where bakers who do this can share snaps of their gingerbread houses on Chums’s Facebook post and the most creative entrant will win a festive hamper worth £100.
To protect the NHS, the UK government must abandon ‘rash’ plans for household mixing
Two leading medical journals – the British Medical Journal and the Health Service Journal – have joined forces to warn that the UK’s plan to ease Covid rules over Christmas is a “rash decision” that will “cost many lives”:
Since the UK’s first lockdown in March, the government has had one (perhaps only one) consistent message—protect the NHS.
Now, with the number of hospital patients with covid-19 again on the rise, and a third wave almost inevitable, the New Year is likely to see NHS trusts facing a stark choice: be overwhelmed or stop most elective and non-urgent work. Rather than lifting restrictions over Christmas as currently planned, the UK should follow the more cautious examples of Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
By and large the NHS has coped well with the additional caseload from covid-19 patients during the autumn. The second wave began to hit hospitals at the start of September. Government figures report 451 inpatients with covid-19 in England on 2 September.1 Over the ensuing 10 weeks, the numbers rose steadily and then rapidly, peaking at a reported 14 712 inpatients in England on 23 November.
If the third wave turns out to be of the same order of magnitude as the second wave, the health service should manage. But this will be the case only if the third wave starts with a broadly similar extra caseload of covid-19 inpatients as at the beginning of the second wave: around 450.
With current restrictions failing to control the virus, extrapolation suggests that the actual figure is likely to be more than 40 times higher, as we explain below. The planned relaxation of restrictions over Christmas will boost the numbers further as the NHS also struggles with the additional demands of winter.
England went into lockdown on 5 November, and the number of inpatients with covid-19 began to fall, down to 12 968 on 5 December.1 If this rate of decline had continued, the English NHS would have been on course for just under 11 000 covid-19 inpatients on 31 December.
However, in the past two weeks, despite most of the country being in tiers 2 or 3 of restrictive measures, numbers of inpatients have started to rise again. By 14 December (the latest data available) the covid bed occupancy had climbed back to 15 053.
Unless something happens to change this trajectory, hospitals in England will have just short of 19 000 patients with covid on New Year’s Eve. This figure, derived by extrapolating a straight line from 5 December to 14 December through to 31 December, would be almost exactly the same as the 18 974 peak of the first wave on 12 April.
The NHS currently has around 95 000 general acute beds. It is operating with around 10% fewer beds than a year ago as a result of infection prevention and control measures introduced to try to stop the spread of covid in hospitals.
The main effect of a further surge in covid-19 inpatients is likely to be felt most by those with other conditions. The NHS has learnt from the first and second waves and has robust plans to rapidly increase intensive care capacity, including through the Nightingale hospitals. But how are these to be staffed? A large influx of patients with covid-19, similar or greater than that seen in the autumn, can only be managed if staff and other resources are diverted from treating non-covid patients.
Having recovered much of their capacity for elective and non-urgent care during the autumn, NHS trusts in the most pressured regional health systems are already having to cancel almost all such activity because of the resurgent virus.
A substantial third wave could wipe out almost all the reductions in waiting times for elective procedures achieved in the past 20 years. Average waiting times will reach 12 months by March next year.
This will take years to recover from, at the cost of much suffering and loss of life.
The coming months are also likely to see the NHS under intense winter pressures from seasonal outbreaks of norovirus, increased admissions of frail older people, and the peak of staff absence. The NHS will also be in the middle of delivering the largest vaccination programme in its 72 year history, through already overstretched general practices and hospitals.
Even if NHS England succeeds in vaccinating all those “at risk” by Easter, this won’t be in time to prevent hospital admission and death for many during the next few months. NHS Track and Trace, which in fact has almost nothing to do with the NHS, continues to squander money on failure.
So too does the mass testing of asymptomatic people using lateral flow tests that are not fit for purpose.
London and many neighbouring counties will enter tier 3 on 16 December. However, other areas such as Kent, which has been in tier 3 since 2 December, are still seeing strong increases in hospital admissions. These measures are clearly inadequate.
Ministers are meeting on 16 December to review current restrictions for England. When they devised the current plans to allow household mixing over Christmas they had assumed the covid-19 demand on the NHS would be decreasing. But it is not; it is rising, and the emergence of a new strain of the virus has introduced further potential jeopardy.
Of particular concern is the effect on staff, many of whom have already worked through the hardest nine months of their professional lives. Levels of burnout and sickness absence are likely to exceed those already experienced.
What should be done
Members of the public can and should mitigate the effect of the third wave by being as careful as possible over the next few months. But many will see the lifting of restrictions over Christmas as permission to drop their guard. The government was too slow to introduce restrictions in the spring and again in the autumn.
It should now reverse its rash decision to allow household mixing and instead extend the tiers over the five day Christmas period. In order to bring numbers down in advance of a likely third wave, it should also review and strengthen the tier structure, which has failed to suppress rates of infection and hospital admission.
This joint editorial is only the second in the more than 100 year histories of The BMJ and the Health Service Journal. We are publishing it because we believe the government is about to blunder into another major error that will cost many lives.
If our political leaders fail to take swift and decisive action, they can no longer claim to be protecting the NHS.
The BBFC has published a list of ‘Santa Safe’ films that focus on the origin story of Father Christmas.
All films watched and vetted by BBFC staff to ensure that they don’t spoil the ‘Santa secret’.
All films featured rated U and PG, so suitable for the whole family.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has published a list of ‘Santa Safe’ films that focus on the origin story of Father Christmas, to help busy families who want to keep the magic of Christmas alive.
The list features nine festive films, all of which have been vetted by BBFC staff to ensure that they don’t spoil the ‘Santa secret.’
All the films picked are rated U and PG, so they are suitable for the whole family. Arthur Christmas, Klaus, The Polar Express, The Snowman, The Grinch and The Christmas Chronicles all feature.
Sarah Peacock, Compliance and Education Manager, said: “Christmas is one of the most magical times of the year for families, but sometimes enquiring little minds can often start asking difficult questions about exactly how their presents are delivered.
“Understandably, parents and carers want to keep that festive magic and mystery alive for as long as possible.
“We know that this time of year can be incredibly busy and stressful for parents and carers, who are already time poor – which is why we’ve published a list of ‘Santa Safe’ films that don’t spoil the ‘santa secret’ for kids.
“We’ve watched and vetted the films so you don’t have to, can press play with confidence and keep the magic alive for another year or two. There’s not a false beard in sight!”
The BBFC has also published a wide range of Christmas themed content and activities to keep families entertained this festive period, no matter what your festive celebrations look like:
Our latest ‘Movie Night with the BBFC’ pack features Klaus, and includes everything you need to know about the film as well as activities, games, and discussion points to keep the movie magic alive once the credits roll.
Families who might be spending time apart this year can check out a list of films that are themed around long distance, all rated from U to 12. The BBFC is encouraging those who aren’t able to spend the festive season this year to organise a festive film watch along – by either watching a film together and chatting over a messaging service, or downloading the Chrome extension TeleParty.
