Finally, finally, FINALLY!!! It has taken 3 long weeks since we moved in, and at last, we have broadband. Need I describe my absolute sense of deprivation at continuing my non-blogging life? And knowing that I had promised a complete description of our Retox Weekend...

So in case you were wondering what a Retox Kit looks like, I'll have you know that ours looked like this:

Is it a wonder our backs hurt after the journey home from Auvergne? What can you see in this true Horn of Plenty?

• A whole AOSTE cured ham
• A St Nectaire cheese
• A piece of Cantal cheese
• Onion jam
• Various saucissons
• 2 foie gras entiers
• Duck gizzards
• Smoked and dried duck breast
• Shallots and garlic from Montchoisy (the chateau where we got married) - a gift from our Aunt and Uncle
• Enough chocolate to open a shop to rival Juliette Binoche's in Chocolat
• Danish marzipan and nougat

What do you mean "Is that it"? That was just for the 2^nd evening!

As announced, the first evening was spent at our friends' E & J. J had put her new sushi-making kit to good use, so while we were all sipping champagne like it was going out of fashion, she was preparing the little parcels of yum-yum. OK, this is where I need to come clean... I wasn't sipping champagne and J was preparing special non-raw maki rolls just for me since at that time I was... 10 weeks pregnant! So it was Elderflower Pressé and canned tuna or cooked prawns maki for me. Oh, the hard life!

The fantastic sushi and tuna sashimi were later followed by J's speciality from her years living in Spain: warm tapas. From the top of my head, I recall gambas in sherry, chorizo in red wine, ensaladilla rusa, mushrooms with pine-kernels... Well, you can see it for yourself. And of course a fantastic cheese platter, where the cheese was pre-cut into thin slices, like you get it in Spain. And to think that this was only the first episode of our weekend...

Knowing what our evenings with E & J are usually like, even without any champagne for me, I had been a bit Bree-ish in the afternoon and set the table for the brunch next day. Our first guests in our new home! It was such a thrill to lay a nice table, with a table-cloth, given that for almost 3 years we had been living with a Japanese-style sunken table. Very stylish and beautiful but limited when it came to number of people (max 5) and decoration. Yes, Mum, I know you are thrilled no longer having to get up and down from that table...

And it was good to have everything ready when we finally woke up the next morning, as I had been a tad ambitious about the brunch menu. Which explains why I COMPLETELY forgot to take pictures of the food!

Fruit Salad - to kick start after the night before

Your favourite fruits, cut into chunks - I used apples, pears, bananas and mangoes

Pomegranate seeds - if you buy the pomegranate whole, roll it hard on a table top before opening it. This frees the seeds from the white 'skin' inside and makes it much less cumbersome to prepare. Careful when you cut it open, as the juice will come sprinkling out!

Roasted whole skinned almonds

Orange blossom water - I used just 2 tsp for a BIG bowl, as it is very fragrant

Yogurt a la Sydney

As the name hints, we had this in Sydney years ago. There were yogurt booths everywhere, gelati booths in Italy. Each yogurt was topped with fresh fruit, and you were given scoops, just like ice cream.

You need 1 glass per person, where you layer:

1/2 banana in small chunks, mixed with juice from 1/4 lime

Natural yogurt, mixed with runny honey and fresh chopped mint

1 passion fruit

Goes down a treat, I can tell you!

Oeufs en Cocotte with salmon and coriander or "Retoxing kicks in again"

Pre-heat oven to 125 C and boil 1 l of water

1 cocotte per person, where you layer:

1 slice of smoked salmon, shredded

some chopped coriander

double or single cream (guess what I used...) to cover

1 egg, carefully broken out so that the yolk remains intact

pepper (the salmon adds enough salt)

Place all the cocottes in a roasting tray, then pour the boiling water around them, not too high so the water doesn't splash into the eggs when it starts boiling again

Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes. The egg whites should be opaque, but the yolk still runny (unless you're pregnant, in which case the yolk should be "hard-boiled")

Scatter some more coriander on top and serve with toasted 'soldiers' (bread slices cut into strips, so they can be dipped in the runny yolk. Bummer, if you're pregnant!)

Slices of Aoste ham, freshly sliced

1 whole Aoste ham

1 lovely husband who will carry the ham (and a holder) from Auvergne to London, then hang it in the new garage where the temperature is apparently perfect for ham, sausages and wine; who will cut off all the top layer of fat the evening before and then cut out enough slices on the day itself to cover a big plate which will just be continuously replenished all day long, to the intense joy of your guests.

Do not under any circumstances attempt this the evening before your wedding, in which case it would result in a groom with a big bandage on his finger, on the hand with the ring...

The board games were half-heartedly brought out, but never used, as we just lounged around for hours, eating ham and saucissons with hazelnuts, drinking buck-fizz/mimosas (champagne and freshly squeezed orange juice) and reading the Sunday papers.

When it was deemed that our bodies needed more retoxing, we did so with slices of peppered whole foie gras with wine jelly (more of that on The Madeleines Project soon) and a salad. Salad??? Doesn't that sound a bit too detox-y? Not this salad...

Retox Salad

Quantities are entirely up to you. We had bought enough for 8, but ended up finishing everything although we were down to 5 retoxifiers by this time.

Frisée or other bitter salad leaves, washed and torn

Dried and or smoked duck breast - the best is from foie gras ducks, in which case it is called magret

Duck gizzards (gesiers), sliced and fried in a pan

Walnut kernels

Dressing: walnut oil (preferably from Auvergne of course!), raspberry vinegar, dijon mustard

Mix the salad leaves and dressing (reserve some dressing for drizzling on the finished dish)

Top the dressed salad leaves, with all the other ingredients, drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve with nice crusty bread. Voilà!

Were we retoxed? I think the fact that we have decided to make it a yearly event says it all!

Oh, and then we had the French cheeses, followed by Escargots de Lanvin (traditional chocolates eaten for New Year in France) and 'sandwiches' of Danish marzipan and nougat.

AH, that question, heard one too many times during every move. Or rather towards the end. And the end is what we are aiming for at the moment, along with the Blogger's Holy Grail: an internet connection!

Last Saturday our friends helped us move most of our things from one flat to the other, but a majority of boxes still remain to be unpacked. And I just know it won't happen this weekend, as we are heading for the year's first foodie extravaganza: the RETOX!

Deciding that de-toxing in January was best left to others, we are a group of dissidents who have decided to retox. Which means a marathon schedule of:

Saturday 7 pm: sushi & sashimi, accompanied by champagne tasting and comparison

Saturday much later: Spanish tapas, once the raw fish and bubbles have settled

Sunday 11 am: brunch, with a few lighter healthier options thrown in for good measure

Sunday much later, after one too many board games: French delicacies brought back from Auvergne

Complete menu, occasional recipes and photos to follow, as our fellow retoxers might be reading this, and it should really be a surprise...

Wish our livers good luck, while you sip your aloe vera juice and feel superior in the gym

In a few hours, I'll be boarding the Eurostar, en route to another wonderful family Christmas. At the moment, I'm finishing off at the office, listening to Christmas carols on Pandora and dreaming, maybe not of a White Christmas, but of a lovely one, like all the others. Unlike many people (apparently), I don't have any Christmas traumas. No therapy needed, thank you very much, Mr F.

When we lived in Africa, we would spend every other yuletide in the tropical way. I distinctly remember my mum buying our tree at the butcher in Nouakchott, because he had a fridge big enough to store them in. It must have been very challenging for my parents to make a real Christmas for the 3 of us, in countries where you couldn't find what you needed, but somehow, they always pulled it off and we have lots of good memories of these sun-filled times.

The other years, we would be in Denmark, commuting from one set of grand-parents to the other and relishing being with our families. Those times bring memories of eating way too much, especially as most of my cousins lived abroad as well so we had to have our fix of all things Danish in as little time as possible. If it had been snowing enough, we would take the horse-sleigh into the woods to find the tree (how idyllic can it get?). And always, always, we would decorate it on the 23rd and never before. In my mother's family, the Certified Tree Decorators were my mum and her brother Michael. In my dad's family, I think it was my grand-father, but we were never there to see it happen.

Ever since we relocated to Europe, our Christmases have become bi-cultural, since we now spend them in France, where my French family lives. So instead of blending the traditions, we have 2 celebrations...

Our Danish traditions go something like this:

A few days before Christmas, we start worrying about not having bought a tree. Whoever is brave and patient enough, sets out to find the biggest and most beautiful there is. If we have to chop off a bit to make it fit, it's only the better. The question is always whether it will be approved by my mum. And me :-)

Then on the 23rd, we decorate it. I have now graduated to Certified Decorator as well, and Skat is exceptionally allowed to lend a helping hand. The rules are:

• Top Star goes on first. I'm not entirely happy with the old heirloom we have, so last year I bought a new one, but I'm not convinced by that one either.
• Baubles and all small things hanging go on first. We try to have as much home-made or sentimental-value on as possible. And the same decorations every year. You'll never catch us with a trendy tree!
• Then the Danish flag garlands go on. Yes, surprising, but very traditional in Denmark. We always discuss whether we want the garlands to 'drop from the top' or 'wound their way round'
• After the garlands, it's time for the 'lametta', long thin strings of tin foil. Here, restraint is the key word, otherwise it looks awfully tacky
• And finally, the candles. Yep, live candles! They have to go on last, so we make sure they are not too close to anything else, for obvious reasons

The tree itself will be standing on one of two Christmas Tree Rugs, handmade by one of my grand-mothers. And yes, I will post a photo when I get a chance. Maybe not until we come home after New Year.

If we can convince them, my dad and Skat spend some time making traditional sweets, with marzipan and nougat. They have to whistle while they do it, or sing, so we can be sure they are not eating everything! Being a management consultant, Skat always gets teased that he optimises the process to death instead of just enjoying the moment. Carpe Diem!

On the 24th, it's Danish Christmas. My mum, Skat and I take care of the food. That's a big honour, since until some years ago, my mum was sole in charge. So, this being a food blog, what's a Danish Christmas Dinner like?

• There is no traditonal starter, but we sometimes have some smoked salmon
• Then the piece de resistance, which in our case is a roast goose (or duck), stuffed with apples and prunes. Side dishes are boiled potatoes, small potatoes fried in caramel, sweet and sour red cabbage and gravy.
• Dessert is ris a l'amande, a French title for something no Frenchman has ever heard of: a rich rice pudding, mixed with whipped cream and chopped almonds, and onto which is poured a warm cherry sauce. Now the special thing about this, is that there is one whole almond in the serving bowl, and whoever gets it, gets a gift. In my family it can be anything from something nice, funny or useful, to something horribly tacky and awful...

After dinner, the evening is far from over, since now we partake to the living room and light the candles on the beautiful tree before dancing around it. I don't really mean dance, but that's what it's called. We hold hands and walk around it, singing Christmas carols. I love this part as it's the only time of the year where I'm allowed to sing in public and nobody can complain about my lack of musical sense. So I always want to sing a bit more...

And then it's time for prezzies! The tradition is that the youngest gets them under the tree, but having been the youngest for far too many years, I sometimes go on strike, and we take it in turns, although my dad needs a little coaxing.

The next day, it's the French Christmas... and I'll get to that in my next post, as it's almost time to catch my Eurostar and whiz through Southern England and Northern France, relaxing hand in hand with Skat, snoozing a bit, marvelling a the beautiful weather and generally enjoying being on holiday. Then we pick up my mother-in-law in Paris (flown in from Denmark) and continue Southwards.

God Jul, everybody!