'Christmas dinner is not the same without brussel sprouts' - Kilkenny author on Christmas memories

Growing up in Castlecomer, Christmas was always a special time in the home of author Anne Kelly.

Anne, who now lives in Kildare and has just released her debut novel, The Heir, a romantic work set in nineteenth century Yorkshire, has endeavoured to keep the traditional festive season of her childhood alive in the way she keeps Christmas with her family today.

“Christmas in our house today is very much an old-fashioned style Christmas,” she says. “We try not to have any plastic or commercial decorations except for the lights on the real tree and the star on top of it.

“Holly and ivy from our garden is strewn liberally on mantles and open fire stoves with Christmas cards intermingled while the holly is placed carefully on picture frames of deceased family members,” she adds.

Though they were without the more abundant luxuries of Christmas today, Anne’s parents and community always went the extra mile to make the occasion as special as possible, something which still makes her look forward to it every year.

“I have always loved Christmas. My favourite one is difficult to say, maybe when Santa brought me a mama doll with two long plates, her eyes opened and closed and Noreen next door made little blankets and a pillow for turquoise carrycot so my doll could go to bed,” she outlines.

“The best Christmas present came as a surprise to me. Daddy looked after a cottage for his cousin Jack who went to England to find work. Dad would go and light a fire there in the open grate and open windows to air it out.

“One year on St Stephen’s Day, Dad and I went to the cottage. While there he posed the question, “I wonder if Santa left anything upstairs for you?” I gasped with delight and climbed down the narrow twisty stairs that rose up behind the chimney stack arriving eventually up in the loft room.”

“I gasped with delight and climbed the narrow twisty stairs that rose up behind the chimney stack arriving eventually up in the loft room. My eyes lit up as I let out a yell “Daddy, Daddy come quick”.

“By the time my Dad climbed the narrow staircase I was already examining a gorgeous navy and red wooden dolls pram with small round wooden wheels and a fixed hood, but I didn’t mind once my doll fitted in and I could cover her up snuggly.”

“I never forgot that surprise, it was the best present I ever got. Now that I know how kind the real Santa was, I treasure that moment in time even more.”

In keeping with their theme of old fashioned Christmases, Anne takes on the brunt of the cooking herself with traditional food and drink throughout the day after mass and a champagne toast.

“I always make homemade brown bread with smoked salmon, capers and cucumbers. Then roast potatoes, roasted vegetables, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic, sprouts, marrow fat peas served with roast turkey and homemade stuffing with gravy on the side and homemade cranberry sauce. All served with a Flurries red wine and a Chablis white wine,” she describes.

“After a period of time, it’s dessert which takes the form of homemade Christmas pudding brought to the table flaming from lighting the brandy on top and it’s served with custard or cream and accompanied with a cup of tea or coffee.”
On the sprouts versus no sprouts debate, Anne is unwavering on her stance: “Christmas dinner is not the same without brussel sprouts."

The family will often play chess or cards after dinner in the presence of the tree which isn’t put up too early, generally Christmas week. She observes the tradition of taking the decorations down on January 6, Women’s Christmas and a favourite song of hers is Little Donkey, which was always sung by her sister Monica.

Though Anne is a seasoned Christmas all-rounder, even she isn’t immune to some last minute dinner panic before the big day.

“One year I bought a breast of turkey which was rolled and boned and a piece of ham. Normally I’d cook the ham on Christmas Eve so as to have that job done. But instead of boiling the ham, I boiled the rolled and boned turkey,” she remembers.

“Later that Christmas Eve I went to make my husband a sandwich and commented on how white the ham looked and eventually I realised I had made the mistake of boiling the turkey and not the ham.”

“My husband was quickly dispatched to SuperValu in Sallins to locate a proper turkey with legs, wings and all. Christmas was saved”.

The hectic nature of the season and Anne’s central role in organising the day leaves her with little breathing room for any of her passions of reading and writing, but she still finds a few minutes to spend at them with her grandchildren, giving them the memories to carry on their family traditions through the next generations.
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“I don’t get much time to read at Christmas but if I do, I like reading children’s stories or telling my own grandchildren stories that my mother told me. Sometimes the children and I create a story together, writing it down in a notebook that will be there for them in years to come, after I’m gone,” she concludes.

Anne Kelly’s debut novel, The Heir, is available to buy in local bookshops. The book is a ‘romantic fictional and factual novel’ dated in nineteenth century South Yorkshire, England and beyond.