Peggy Thomas loves Christmas. Even so much that he wouldn’t even dare to admit his Christmas madness.
Joulu is a food influencer and author To Peggy Thomas an important celebration. Well, let’s put it straight:
– I’m an impossible Christmas person.
Peggy has loved Christmas for as long as she can remember. The love has not diluted over the years, it has only deepened – and the madness has even gotten worse.
Peggy is married to a man from Wales, UK. It hasn’t made the situation easier at all, because in the man’s home country, Christmas starts earlier than in Finland. So does the Thomases.
Because there is an allergy in the family, you cannot bring a real Christmas tree inside, but there are three artificial Christmas trees. Peggy laughs that in the past the trees were decorated during Christmas week, then around Independence Day, now already in November.
Peggy knows that not everyone likes Christmas. It evokes many emotions.
– For me, Christmas means family and loved ones, feeling good and smiling. Christmas makes me feel good.
According to Peggy, at Christmas most people smile, they are kind and polite to each other. Peggy suspects that this is why she is hooked on Christmas.
Not all Followers of Peggy’s Little Red Kitchen are Christmas people.
– Although I myself am a Christmas person in spirit and blood, I know that Christmas can be stressful for some. I don’t want to spoil Christmas for anyone.
Published this fall Peggy’s Little Red Christmas -book (Readme.fi 2023) is, according to its author, a better winter food book. You can eat root vegetables, meat stew or, for example, jammed onions at any time.
In addition to the recipes, all the pictures are Peggy’s handwriting.
– I thought for a long time about how many Christmas pictures could be in my book, but it is a Christmas book after all, Peggy laughs.
The pictures have a warm Christmas atmosphere.
Peggy Thomas laughs that her daughters have become as impossible Christmas-makers as she is.
Peggy has received a lot of thank you messages related to the book from her followers. One moved him to tears.
In the message, the woman said that she had not celebrated Christmas in many years. Now he was encouraged to buy Peggy’s Christmas book. The pictures made him remember his old Christmases, and he decided to celebrate Christmas this year.
During Christmas time, Peggy can talk about Christmas as much as she wants. She bakes, prepares Christmas dishes and plans gifts. He has already acquired some of the gifts in the summer.
– As early as Midsummer, I was thinking about what we would eat at Christmas. I usually don’t dare to say these things out loud, but my family and loved ones know me, Peggy confesses with a laugh.
However, everything has its limits. Peggy has also had Christmases when she has said with tears in her throat that next year she would buy everything from the store. Never been bought.
Peggy has finally given up her me, me, me mindset and given her mother-in-law’s carrot box a chance.
– I have told myself that Peggy is loosening up. Once I got the hang of it, Christmases have become even better. I’m not a martyr mother, but I really want to do everything myself, because I simply think I’m doing better than others, Peggy admits.
Year by year, however, Peggy knows how to divide work tasks better. Nowadays, the daughter brings a cheesecake to the Christmas coffee table and the mother-in-law takes care of peeling and cooking the roots – her carrot box is also delicious. Peggy’s husband, on the other hand, does every little thing that Peggy asks.
– I don’t always succeed in my goal of having an unhurried Christmas. Because I’m Christmas crazy, we have big Christmases. There are usually a dozen or so people at the same table: the mother-in-law who flew in from Wales, our four children, their girlfriends or boyfriends, a grandchild. The whole group usually comes already in the morning.
Peggy has gotten into the habit of cooking rice porridge the night before in the aroma nest. In the morning, the porridge is ready.
Another realization that has eased Peggy’s Christmas rush is that there is no need to have hundreds of different kinds of food on the table. Every year, Peggy asks her family which two or three foods they definitely want on the Christmas table.
The boxes are all in the top three, as are the fish. Instead, the rosolli has remained, and it has been replaced by tarragon carrots or roasted beets.
– I’ve also reduced the portion sizes considerably, starting with ham, salads and fish. I no longer make huge batches of food.
The Thomases have the same diners on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They have a goal that on Christmas day we will no longer eat crackers.
Peggy has been sharing Christmas preparations throughout the fall. He has already baked and frozen the boxes. There is also island bread in the freezer, and pickled red onion.
It eases both the workload and spreads the costs over several months.
– Christmas also brings great pressure. I’ve tried to forgive myself that I can’t stretch to everything. If someone offers to help with the preparations, it’s worth accepting. It took me a long time to understand that.