Winning Bronze

We've had our first Christmas at the new Hillside. Not as full a house as we'd envisaged months ago, but with the house not quite complete it's probably just as well.

Even though there were only four of us for Christmas dinner we decided to stick with the UK tradition of turkey. This hasn't been my favourite meal of Christmases past. So to avoid the all too often bland, dry and white supermarket variety we've splashed out on a bronze Copas turkey from our favourite Chipping Sodbury butcher.

Aside from the ethics - all Copas turkeys are traditional breeds that are free range and slow grown without growth promoters ( 5 months versus intensive 2 months) - there's a lot to recommend them as the end result is fantastic. I never eaten such tasty turkey. Nodoubt a result of the breed of bird, the non intensive rearing and the fact that they are hung for two weeks prior to delivery. And on top of all this the bird is supplied in greaseproof paper in a cardboard box with a simple set of instructions and recipe ideas - no excess plastic packaging in sight.

So the bronze turkey is a hit, and could well be set for a return next year. Meanwhile the stripped carcass is simmering on the hob to give us a tasty supply of turkey stock for the new year. There's no way we're wasting any of this!