The Sixth Day of Christmas Party and Menu Ideas
Entertaining Themes and Recipes Based on Goose
Nov 4, 2009
According to the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, the gift associated with the sixth day of Christmas was six geese a-laying. There are plenty of party and meal ideas which can be based around the idea of geese from the nursery rhyme about Old Mother Goose to the fairy tale of the Golden Goose.
Host an Old Mother Goose Party
Old Mother Goose is well known as the name of a pantomime. Invite guests to arrive as characters from any pantomime – not just that old Mother Goose. Encourage women to arrive dressed in true pantomime fashion as the principal boy and men to arrive outrageously dressed as pantomime dames. Organise a prize for the flamboyant costume.
Serve food which includes sliced roast or smoked goose, dishes made of eggs (goose or otherwise) and other pantomime story food such as beans (Jack and the Beanstalk), porridge or oat based dishes (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) and apple based dishes (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Sleeping Beauty).
Recipe for Goose Stuffed With Chestnuts and Celery
Goose is often eaten at Michaelmas as well as at Christmas but there is no reason to refrain from eating it at other times of the year. Smoked goose makes an excellent first course to a dinner party and this recipe for goose stuffed with chestnuts and celery would make a wonderful centre piece to a meal with friends. Serve it with roast potatoes and green vegetables.
Ingredients (serves about 6 depending on the size of the goose):
- 1 goose
- 2 lb fresh chestnuts
- 5 stalks of celery
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Peel the chestnuts. The best way to do this is to score each one with a knife and then drop into boiling water for a few minutes. Drain and allow to cool but not get cold. The skin is then quite soft and pliable and easily removed
- Put the peeled chestnuts in a saucepan of water, bring to the boil and cook for about 20 minutes or so
- Wash and chop the celery stalks and add to the cooked chestnuts – simmer for another 10 minutes to soften the celery. Drain, mix together with the herbs and season well with salt and pepper.
- Fill the goose with the chestnuts and celery mixture.
- Stab the skin of the goose in several places with a knife to allow the fat to escape and season well with salt and pepper
- Roast for an hour at gas mark 6, 200 C, 400 F for an hour then reduce the heat to gas mark 5, 190 C, 375 F and cook for a further 1 ½ hours or so until the goose is cooked, basting occasionally. Remember to save the fat to roast potatoes with at a later date.
Readers may also be interested on this article Themed Parties on the Twelve Days of Christmas for further information on the popular Christmas song. If these ideas based on geese and pantomimes don’t appeal, why not consider those offered in the article The Fifth Day of Christmas Party and Menu Ideas or the Seventh Day of Christmas Party and Menu Ideas?
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