Properly drained and cleaned oil will keep for ages as long as you don't fry unbattered meat products in it. Oil in little dribs and drabs goes stale way quicker.

Oh and the batter plate gives the basket something other than the element to rest on so your food doesn't cook so fast.

I can't believe we've not had any mention of the various meals people are having on Xmas day...it was one of my great pleaasures and sources of inspiration last year.
Anyway for me it'll be traditional and simple this year...just bought a nice turkey crown, a lovely piece of beef and will be having those roasted with some glazed carrots, roast parsnips ( home grown on my allotment!), roast spuds, sprouts roast with shallots ( Hugh Fearnley recipe in Guardian last weekend), home made yorkshires, home made gravy and home made cranberry,bacon and chestnut stuffing. Getting hungry as I type this!

Sounds great.

At Mintball Mansion:

Beef consommé, followed by pasta and white truffle. Then venison steaks with chocolate sauce, puréed sprouts - and possibly something else. To finish, triple chocolate mousse with mandarin dust, candied mandarin peel, a coffee liqueur drizzle, pâté sablé biscuits, and if I can find any, Phyllis fruit.

Do you mean physalis or Cape Gooseberry?

Yeah, that one.

I too am going the traditional route, much against my better judgement. I fooking hate turkey, probably because I have never, EVER had one that didn't resemble eating cardboard but Emma has nagged me into submission. So I will be taking what I consider to be the best bits from a number of recipes but one thing is certain. I will be getting my hands between the turkey's skin and flesh and ramming as much stuffing in there as I can possible manage. Stuffing that is basically a sage & onion bread stuffing but with the addition of half a pound of butter. There'll be another half pound of streaky bacon wrapped over the top of the turkey too.

Sounds delightful...think i'll be on leigh market tomorrow looking for white truffles!

You'll find them next to the stall where the guy sells knocked off Yates & Greers pork pies and the bottles of red Dom Perignon.

We picked up a jar with tiny ones when in Paris at the beginning of the month. They were from Le Bon Marché, so I suspect they weren't knocked off.

Come on Peggy - what are you doing on the food front?

Even then they're probably white chocolate truffles, knocked off from Thorntons