Christmas Food
Today I bought the ingredients I'll need for my christmas cake. I've just put all the dried fruit and cherries and ginger into a bowl and poured brandy over it to soak for a week or so, then I'm going to bake my rich fruitcake which I'll ice.
Soon after that I'll start making things like rum balls, coconut ice, fudge and all things nice.
What special treats do you prepare for Christmas?
You! You're the one! lol. My mum and I sometimes joke when seeing features in magazines about this or that Christmas preparation to be started in Autumn. I've said so many times: "Who does that? I don't know anybody who does that"
*smiles* you do that!
Mum hasn't made a Christmas cake in years, because none of us are big fans. But I do remember when she did, we started very early. In fact it was a little baffling, because I just couldn't equate what we were doing with something that happened months later.
She also used to make her own Christmas pudding, but again - we have it for the sake of form now, and she buys nearly the smallest one available (the actual smallest is for one person).
What she still does though is start buying up Christmas treats to put in her wardrobe. The pickles first - pickled onions, pickled red cabbage, piccalilli. Then tins of chocolates, biscuits for cheese etc. Less so now that we don't all descend on her en masse, but I'll bet she's started laying things away already.
pickles, ick. I would not favor someone who gave me pickled anything for Christmas.
I used to make cookies. But I kept eating them all. I used to cook, too . . . but somehow I still manage to eat.
I'm working on some handcrafts though.
I'm impressed with myself if I go so far as to remember to clip a coupon for pizza delivery these days. :) At one time we helped make & decorate cookies. The silver and gold metallic-looking balls were a special deal around Christmas. My grandmother made candy, stolen, the best sweet potatoes ever.
My grandmother made candy, stolen, the best sweet potatoes ever.
Not being a spelling Nazi, but you can see how stolen for Stollen gives a different impression in this sentence :)
:) and what's sad is that I did a quick search for the correct spelling (my grandmother had a recipe card, but her spelling reflected her pronunciation more often than not). Had I read the links that came up I would have realized the error :o
And always let me know if I make an error in spelling, grammar, etc. Everyone. I live to learn.
And you can't see me crying on my keyboard anyway, right? :)
You're just crying because your Grandma was a crook :)
Mine never made anything sweet - I'm sure she would have soured it if she tried - but the one good thing I can say about her, she made the best Yorkshire Puddings I have ever had. Probably used slug jizz...
My mother makes Stollen every year and I cannot for the life of me believe that people actually do that to fruit. Candied fruit is weird!
Wait, you MAKE fruitcake? I thought that you just got given one and immediately regifted it.
Mass produced fruitcake is an abomination, but homemade fruitcake is a delicacy. My Mom made them for a couple of years in my youth. It's a lot of work, but the results are yummy.
Each year I make a couple hundred sugar cookies and give them to family, friends, and classmates. I also make a few chocolate sugar cookies, and some chocolate-peppermint brownie bars, and box those up with the sugar cookies for some variety. The holidays are the time of year that I give in to my Martha-Stewart wannabe impulses.
When I was a little girl, I remember my great-grandmother used to make cookies that involved lard, wine, and flavored jams -- not sure what they are called. There used to be four generations of women sitting around the kitchen table, working on assembling the cookies. (Well, I didn't work -- mostly I just got yelled at for eating raw dough.) I got the recipe from my grandmother a few years ago, and I think I might want to try to make those cookies this year now that she and my great-grandmother have both passed away. It'd be time consuming, but a nice way to remember them since this will be my first holiday season since my grandma passed away in February.
Mass produced fruitcake is an abomination, but homemade fruitcake is a delicacy. My Mom made them for a couple of years in my youth. It's a lot of work, but the results are yummy.
I don't think making a rich dark fruitcake is all that difficult. It is expensive though with most recipes calling for somewhere between 6 and 12 eggs along with 2 to 3 lbs (yes I said pounds. That's how old my recipe is.) of brandy or rum soaked fruit. I think that's why it's a special treat for Christmas. There's no way I could justify making more than one per year.
I usually let the fruit soak for a couple of weeks, so I wont actually be making it till the middle of November, then it's got to sit for a couple more weeks before I put the heavy icing on it, so that'll take me to the begining of December, which means I'm right on target with my Christmas preparations. :)
*blinks* Now, see, I just cannot get my head around that level of forward planning. I won't even buy pulses that have to soak over night, because I won't end up using them.
haha...I have dried all sorts of beans in my cupboard for making yummy chili that you need to cook all day long. ;)
I am a planner though. There's no doubt about that. If you see my posts about my study habits you'll see evidence of it there too. I get stressed when I haven't got things organized and it just makes life easier if you have a timetable, even if it's just a mental one to keep you on track. :)
From what Monster said, fruitcake is different in the US. At least wedding cake is (whereas ours is similar to Christmas cake - the amount of alcohol is wwhat preserves it)
I've never had a problem with fruitcake, in fact as a non-cake person a small piece is probably my favourite. I just can't bear the marzipan and royal icing. It even looks like a cast!
Tell you what though - if we end up doing edibles for secret santa you should send a piece of your cake. Show the merkins how it's done down under :)
I don't think making a rich dark fruitcake is all that difficult. It is expensive though with most recipes calling for somewhere between 6 and 12 eggs along with 2 to 3 lbs (yes I said pounds. That's how old my recipe is.) of brandy or rum soaked fruit. I think that's why it's a special treat for Christmas. There's no way I could justify making more than one per year.
I usually let the fruit soak for a couple of weeks, so I wont actually be making it till the middle of November, then it's got to sit for a couple more weeks before I put the heavy icing on it, so that'll take me to the begining of December, which means I'm right on target with my Christmas preparations. :)
Would you post the recipe?
I don't like marzipan either, but I do put what's refered to as plastic icing on it. I think I posted a pic of one of my christmas cakes a couple of years ago somewhere around here. I'll see if I can find it.
Of course, the decorations have to change every year. I'll definitely post pics of this years one once it's finished.
Would you post the recipe?
Sure thing dar. I'll do that a bit later on today. :)
Here's a picture of the cake I did two years ago.
This my mum's old recipe which used to be her mother's. Back in those days everything was still in the old measurements, so I'm going to just give you the recipe as it's written. I'm going to add a bit more liquid to the recipe this year though so it's just a little bit more moist.
Ingredients
2 - 3 lb Mixed fruit (I get all sorts of exotic dried fruit including crystalized ginger)
1 glass of rum or brandy (this year I'm using brandy)
8 oz butter
8 oz brown sugar (I use muscovado)
6 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tspn bicarb soda
2 tspn parisienne essence (this is just a browning agent)
1 tblspn mixed spice
1 tblspn ground ginger
1 tspn instant coffee powder
1 tspn cocoa
(At this point, the only other instruction my mum's recipe has is: bake about 3.5 to 4 hours. I'll give you the method she taught me though. That might make it easier.)
Method
Place all dried fruit into a large bowl and pour over brandy. (I usually use 2 cups instead of 1, so did my mum) Leave to soak for about 2 weeks, stiring occasionally.
1. In a mixing bowl, add softened butter and sugar. Beat until creamed.
2. In a separate bowl, add all dry ingredients together. In another bowl crack room temperature eggs.
3. Alternately add eggs and dry ingredients to butter and sugar mixture on a low speed until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency, add in parisenne essence and mix thoroughly.
4. Remove bowl from mixing machine and add fruit mixture. Stir gently until all fruit is evenly distributed throughout cake batter.
5. Line a large cake pan with baking paper.
6. Pour cake mixture into pan.
7. Place filled cake pan into large roasting pan half filled with water. (this helps to keep the cake moist as it's cooking)
8. Place cake in a low heat oven. (about 150 celcius)
9. Bake for about 3.5 hours.
10. When cake is cooked, remove from oven and leave in cake pan to cool. (At this stage you can put slits in the top of the cake and pour additional brandy or rum over the cake if you desire. I don't do this, but some recipes suggest you can and it would be fine with this one.)
11. When cake is completely cool, remove it from the pan but leave the baking paper around the cake till you're ready to decorate or serve.
Wow your cake looks gorgeous! I hope your family appreciates all your hard work just for them! :)
They sure do. Actually, my husband comes from a very small family. More or less just him and his mother (who was what you'd call an abusive alcoholic when he was kid. Now she's just an alcoholic) and they never really did much about Christmas.
I remember the first Christmas we had together. I told him about it during the lead up, and he saw all my preparations, and to be honest, he was dreading it. Thought he'd hate all the fuss and noise.
In the end, he said to me the next day that it was the best Christmas he'd ever had.
The funny thing is, the day after last Christmas I was overwraught after having had words with my father about a family issue and said I didn't want to worry about Christmas next (this) year, and he's been the one telling me to get excited about it, and I'll regret it if I don't etc, and that he wants me to do all the usual stuff because it part of what makes me special to him. Apparently he likes the way these things bring our extended family together, and having come from virtually nothing, it means all the more to him.
So in short, yes they do. The kids just love everything about how we celebrate Christmas in our house and I just love seeing my family have fun and enjoy the fruits of my labours. :)
Sounds like you could leave the parisienne essence out. Looks delicious... old-school desserts are usually the best ones.
Yeah...I could leave it out. I did actually leave it out one year and wondered why it wasn't as dark as usual. lol D'oh!
It is a good recipe. The fruit smells delicious, but I think I can attribute that to the good quality brandy Dazza brought back through duty free. :)
Yesterday I went to get some christmas stuff, and found that I could get a whole heap of chocolate bauble ornaments for the tree, so this year, our tree is going to be chocolate coated. :)
Hope they're Cadburys.
We used to fight over the tree chocs, till one of us had one. Ewwwww, cheap choc off the market! Visiting friends' Mums thought we were ideal little Christian children, because we would offer them to guests :D
Some of them are lindt, so they'll be yumm. I think some of the others are generic, but I don't think the kids will care. :)
Actually, I'm exaggerating. That was one Christmas :)
They were grim though.
Yeah...a bit like some of the cheap generic brand easter goodies we get here I suspect.
I guess I could always try one of the ornaments and see how they taste. ;)
I just hope your place is air-conditioned, Ali. Melted chocolate on the carpet would suck.
We don't have carpet. Tiled throughout. :)
If we had carpet the house would smell because of the cats...and be more trouble to keep clean.
One year I made these German cookies that literally took DAYS to make.
they were freaking awful.
I'm not too fond of the German Stollen cakes either. They're always so dry. I prefer just to make gingerbread cookies instead. Much nicer. :)
The cake is in the oven now, along with 8 fruitcake muffins and one V small cake which may or may not end up being a gift.
OK, here's my mini christmas cake (naked) and 7 of the 8 muffins. I had to do a taste test of course, and it was yum yum yummy. :)
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Ooooh!
Looks lovely. I'd eat it as it is, before being contaminated by marzipan and icing :)
I've come here from the peanut thread, for a bit of reminiscing, because I realised Christmases past were not the same as Christmases present.
I've said before, and no doubt will again - we grew up poor in the 70s. Not dirt poor, not below the poverty line poor, but working class poor, council estate poor. We had a holiday every year, and that was more important than having a car (we hired one to go camping). We shopped on the market, dragging fruit and veg over a mile in a shopping trolley rather than get the bus. We didn't eat out unless Dad's brothers came to see us, and they paid - we didn't have take-aways until I was at least 10 and that was only Mum & Dad as a real treat.
But Christmas... Christmas!
Mum & Dad were part of the church Christmas Hamper group. I didn't realise until years afterwards that some people gave to the fund who didn't actually want a hamper. So although my parents used it as a weekly savings fund (Dad was paid weekly in cash) they effectively got more than they paid in, in goods. For years I remember Christmas really arriving with Father Harris dropping off the hamper. He'd always stay for a cup of tea, but I think he stayed to witness our excitement on opening it. He's still in touch with my parents now.
I can't explain how amazing it was without sounding like I was a starving orphan. We always had enough to eat, but this was pre-packaged food. Food in exciting tins and packets and boxes. Bird's Trifle, fruit cocktail, tinned ham, tinned pineapple, Christmas pudding, shortbread, tinned hotdogs (which no-one ate at the time, but that's another story).
Over Christmas there was another bonanza of food. There was food for the taking, eat what you want. Always nuts out (as previously mentioned) but also sausage rolls - tray after tray of them. Mince pies. sliced turkey - help yourself, even between meals! Leftover roast potatoes - eaten cold in pre-microwave days, but still good. As we grew older there were also leftover fish dishes - prawns, salmon, scampi. All available in the fridge. And Pickles! Pickled onions, red cabbage, piccalilli, beetroot. Cheese! Always big cheese eaters, we excelled ourselves at Christmas - Stilton, Brie, Camenbert, Boursin (well it was the 70s).
The amazing thing - and I can't stress it enough - was that it was all available and you could help yourself. Even bread, which was closely monitored the rest of the year. There were a couple of loaves in the shed (attached to the house, not a spidery thing at the bottom of the garden) where they froze quite effectively before we had a freezer.
It's not the same now of course. You need a certain type of deprivation to glory in gluttony. But it shines in my memory anyway, like a slice of cherry in a fruit cake.
i didn't know sausage rolls were christmas food in the UK. I can't remember ever having them over here for that purpose.
Most of the other stuff you mentioned we've always had though. Even though our Christmases are blazing hot here, we've usually had a roast pork and some kind of bird along with ham and fish dishes. Roast veges, sweets on the table such as coconut ice, fudge, white christmas, rumballs (all of which I'll be making again this year) and of course nuts. For us when we were kids it was the cashews which were such a treat. Mum used to get the mixed bag of salted nuts and us kids would pick out the cashews because they were so expensive and we didn't have them besides at christmas. My family was middle class when I was a kid. Dad was a manager of an electrical workshop, so I guess we had it better than lots of others, but not as good as plenty either. I was lucky though. Our Christmases were always awesome and I guess I have just tried to keep the traditions going for my kids. They seem to like it although they have life much easier than I did (as is generally the case) so a lot of the treat items aren't such treats for them as they were for me.
You 'ad it lucky! We 'ad to live in a pond, work down at t' mill for 23 hours every day...
The more I hear of other people and their families, the more I know my family is whack.
last year for Christmas we had tacos! My 17 year old son said, "when you guys said you were having tacos for Christmas I thought you were kidding!"
This Christmas, hot roast beef sandwiches, hash brown casserole and assorted other side items.
It is weird Bri, although Dazza and I went to have Christmas lunch with his mum a few years ago and we were served beef stroganoff which I thought was weird, then the next year we went for Christmas with her the day before and had take away chinese. lol It was bloody weird to me. Pretty standard for them though apparently.
I think that's why Dazza has realized Christmas isn't just another day anymore.
We now have a Boxing Day tradition of having salmon en croute and a prawn ring. Because my SIL really loves it and they usually come over on Boxing Day. Boxing Day always did have a bit of a fishy theme (I was cajoled into making salmon & cheese flan every year from 15 until I left) but it's a definite tradition now.
Not that I'm complaining, I love it too.
Although it's Boxing Day lunch I like best - jacket potatoes, sliced turkey, baked beans and pickles. There's something so simple and yet so wholesome about it.
I forgot to mention sweets on my Christmas food list. Again, it was the only tim we were allowed to eat them almost totally at will. Even at Easter we were monitored - especially after the year my brother went to bed with a headache and sicked chocolate up all over his duvet.
We always had pick n mix in a big Roses tin. Which was of course cheaper than buying Roses, but Dad always sneaked some in anyway. They came from Woolworth's, which had a great selection in those days, catering mostly for old ladies. They still do apparently, but the real money is in the kid's section, where you're charged an arm and a leg for things your parents bought as penny sweets. Still, I suppose they've gone up in line with house prices in the last 20 years!
We never made our own sweets (too messy, too expensive according to Mum) but we did make shortbread and mince pies.
BTW I don't know if sausage rolls are proper Christmas food outside our house. It's just that they're quick, easy and self contained. I'll take a photo of them this Christmas to prove it :)
SG, I had to google "prawn ring" -- I was imagining some sort of shrimp-fritter-doughnut thing! :lol:
Sundae, did you get the chocolate bar selections ?
6 or so assorted chocolate bars (and an inexplicable packet of rowntrees fruit pastilles) laid out in a plastic tray in the shape of a stocking and sold at an exhorbitant price! yey. For me, they epitomise Christmas sweetie excess...ahhh glorious. You've hit the nail on the head Sundae: all that food, not just there, (by there, I mean everywhere) but there to be eaten at will. Wow.
The more I hear of other people and their families, the more I know my family is whack.
last year for Christmas we had tacos! My 17 year old son said, "when you guys said you were having tacos for Christmas I thought you were kidding!"
That's my family. They're desperate to reject anything that smacks of mainstream tradition. We often have Mexican food, and on several years we've had a soup potluck, where everyone brings a different kind of soup. When
I hosted last year,
I made a damn ham.
We're just mavericky, Clod. Mavericky.
Dana - yes!
We got a selection pack from someone every year.
And bearing in mind that a bar of chocolate was a treat after Mass every Sunday, to have six to be consumed at will was riches beyond compare!
Every now and then I'll buy my sister one for Christmas. I tell her Christmas isn't Christmas if you don't get a selection pack! But really I'm saying, remember what it was like when we shared our lives and you still liked me?
I think my subtext is too subtle.
We're just mavericky, Clod. Mavericky.
Hell, I'm such a conformer, I chose not to rock the boat with my mainstream defiance, and still put some tamales and other random things out alongside my traditional fare just to be safe.
I had home made sushi as an horsdeavre two years ago. It was pretty funny watching my step mother get wasabi up her nose...even after she was told to go easy on it. The second time she did it was even funnier. :)
I got a fruitcake once. It was so heavy, I think it could kill a man if dropped on his head. I did not taste it. I made that mistake once.
I used to make cookies. But I kept eating them all. I used to cook, too . . . but somehow I still manage to eat.
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I'm A Celebrity... is sponsored by Iceland (cheap frozen food store, not the country) so after watching no tv for months I'm now watching two hours every night with 16 Iceland ads served up in between. I have found myself craving all their Christmassy buffet food, to the extent that if I had received my payment from EEA today I know I would have ended up going shopping, despite having the staples in the house.
The staples just don't include jalapeno poppers, mini Cornish Pasties, chicken goujons, mini cheesecakes etc etc etc though. Nom nom nom.
I will go and have beans on toast and feel virtuous, even though it's not by choice.
Not just sausage rolls, but SMALL sausage rolls so that you could have lots of them!
I'm A Celebrity... is sponsored by Iceland (cheap frozen food store, not the country) so after watching no tv for months I'm now watching two hours every night with 16 Iceland ads served up in between.
SG - they aren't really celebrities and that isn't really food - resist the temptation - RESIST! You must.
If you've got staples, why don't you make yourself some fruit mince pies (the ones without the mince.) All you need is water, butter, flour and sugar for the pastry and then make some fruit mince with mixed fruit. Stick the mixed fruit in a pot...bring it to the boil with some water, sugar and spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves etc. Let it go syrupy and then fill your little prepared pastry shells. Pop the lids on and bake for 10 mins. Voila...your own simple little Christmas treats. ;)
I'm not a mince pie fan to be fair. And Mum has no mincemeat in the cupboards. And left me no fruit either (she did ask, I got veggies instead). As for the rest - they're not staples in my Mum's house :) She has chilli, vanilla essence, curry powder, Italian mixed herbs. I think that's it. She grew up in the 40s.
With all of us gone, she just buys mince pies in batches of six - makes much more sense. Also, I loathe my own shortcrust pastry. Bleugh.
Oh well...it was just a thought. :)
Ok. The weird menu is set: hot, home made roast beef sandwiches, hash brown casserole, mediterranian salad, pasta salad, salt rye wit spinach dip, lasangne, chips, assorted nosh's like veg and dip, chocolates, olives, nuts, cheeses.
SG, I had to google "prawn ring" -- I was imagining some sort of shrimp-fritter-doughnut thing! :lol:
I assumed it was the same as our shrimp ring ... couple dozen shrimps arranged on a black plastic ring with a tub of cocktail sauce in the middle that you buy during the holidays and hope that it thaws by the time that you get it to your friend's party, a friend, incidentally, that you like very much, but one for whom you weren't willing or able to cook something better yourself.
I just made my first shortcrust pastry last week. I was pretty pleased. My mom used to make it sweeter, I think by mixing some sugar into the flour before cutting in the Crisco, which she always used. Next time, I guess.
A "cider crust" substitutes chilled cider for the ice water. And there's a lot to be said for 'fridging the mixing bowl. This works best with a massive crockery one, but it's helpful even with a stainless bowl. Everything goes in cold.
There's a lot of lard around town. Think I'll try that method sometime.
And fruitcake has to be 1) drunken, and 2) properly handled to keep it properly moist during its ageing process.
Stained-glass fruitcake is an excellent way to go: far more candied, boozed fruit than rich damp cake, of which there should be only just enough to hold the fruit together. That is a fruitcake that would change even Radar's mind.
I assumed it was the same as our shrimp ring ... couple dozen shrimps arranged on a black plastic ring with a tub of cocktail sauce in the middle
Quite right. I've heard before that what we call prawns, you call shrimp.
UG, I cooked shortcrust pasrty for years - NEVER liked it, although other people didn't complain (I admit this may just have been courtesy). I'm not a huge fan of other people's either, I admit. It had to be present in very small quantities - compared to filling - for me to enjoy.
Flavoured pastries are the exception though (tomato, cheese, olive etc) so maybe I'd go for cider pastry. I assume it would have to be scrumpy though, to be flat?
Pastry with sugar sounds like crumble. Now that I could handle - haven't had a crumble for years! Damn, wish I'd thought about this when the blackberries were out. Apparently you can buy them frozen now, but it's not the same - part of the pleasure was that we were eating nature's bounty. Blackberries from The Field (now built on) and apples from Mrs Fox (now dead). Time is fleeting.
I always put sugar into a shortcrust pastry for sweet pies and tarts.
If it's savoury I leave the sugar out.
Not really a Christmas food per se, but we had a lot of this around the holidays in my family.
Cheese Dip
1 jar Kraft Old English Cheese
1 package Cream Cheese
1 tbsp milk or cream
onion powder or grated onion
Set the cream cheese out to soften a bit. Cream together the Old English, cream cheese, and milk or cream in your mixer. Scrape the beaters and hand mix in the onion powder or grated onion to taste. Hand mixing keeps it from getting bitter.
This recipe has been popular in my Mom's side of the family since the 30s.
sounds a bit like how you make french onion dip using packet soup mix. I don't know what old english cheese is, but we do have kraft cream cheese in a jar. I'm guessing it's fairly similar.
It's a spreadable cheese in a jar with a sharp(ish) cheddar flavor.
Oh, Christmas cake.
Our version is a variation of the german Stollen, but with more candied fruits instead of nuts, and a darker dough.
Here's a recipe in English
We just resort to buy it in the supermarket since we're not that talented at cooking in my family. It's always good anyways, even the cheaper stuff.
I haven't had proper german Stollen. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of nuts, but I guess it would be well worth a try. Maybe for a better year. :)
maybe I'd go for cider pastry. I assume it would have to be scrumpy though, to be flat?
Cider here is neither fizzy nor alcoholic :(
click pic for more info ;)
Cider here is neither fizzy nor alcoholic :(
Depends.
Cider, and hard cider, in American parlance. Doubt it would matter in the quarter-cup quantities typical for a double-crust recipe (top and bottom crust). Sounds like SG just really never got into piecrust -- one of those things.
Cider crusts play well with fruit or apple pies.
How are you on graham cracker crusts or gingersnap crumb crusts, SG?
Now me... one of our treats as kids was eating the raw piecrust trimmings when Mom made a pie. Cain't tell me not to like piecrust!
Flew up to Denver to visit Mom over the weekend. Made a lemon meringue pie per the recipe in the Latest Recipe Thread, using lemon and lime juices squeezed from the fruit and not out of a bottle. Everyone including my younger brother's Significant Other (they flew in from Maui for the same weekend) AND Mom raved over it. I think the mantle is passed to me.
I just made the easiest chocolate fudge recipe ever...and it tastes great too.
Here it is.
INGREDIENTS
450g dark or milk chocolate, chopped
395g can sweetened condensed milk
50g butter
METHOD
Lightly grease a 20cm square cake pan. Line base and sides with baking paper.
Combine all ingredients in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until smooth.
Spread chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Chill for 3 hours or overnight, until mixture is firm. Using a hot knife, cut fudge into small squares.
Keep fudge chilled in an airtight container.
Today I made all the lollies I'm going to make.
Finished doing the rum balls last night as mentioned elsewhere. Today it was chocolate fudge, coconut ice and white christmas.
I've got some nuts in shells to have fun with on the big day. I just have to get a couple of nut crackers in the mean time. I also have a bag of pistachios which Aden really likes and a kg of Jelly Belly jelly beans for the table snacks.
I think that's enough table snacks.
I've got a few bottles of sparkling grape juice for me and the kids. Some champagne and other wines for the drinkers and I'm going to make up some jugs of lemon, lime and bitters.
I bought a turkey the other day, so that'll be the roast meat along with the ham, cold prawns and oysters (dazza says he's going to make some into kilpatrick for me, so that'll be nice), salads and a bowl of roasted veges.
I think I've got it all sorted.
:confused: What's a kilpatrick?
And how many dozen people are you expecting at Christmas dinner??!
Only about 10 of us. There'll be leftovers, but that's the best part about Christmas. We get to pig out again on Boxing Day while we watch the cricket and generally laze about. ;)
Oysters Kilpatrick is simply oysters in the half shell scattered with a little bit of worcestershire sauce and diced bacon and lemon juice and then grilled. Very yummy and cooked, so I can eat it too. :)
Oh, Christmas cake.
Our version is a variation of the german Stollen, but with more candied fruits instead of nuts, and a darker dough. Here's a recipe in English
Did that become popular in Chile after WWII? ;)
(I also have noticed that one of the most popular card games in South America has a German, rather than Spanish or Portuguese name. I play Ecuador rules Telefunken.)
This is the recipe for the curried walnuts I sent for Cellar secret santa. I think they are really yummy. You think you are going to eat just one or two, and before you know it, you've had a few handfuls.
1 lb walnut halves (4 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 T corn oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/4 tsps cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp chili powder
Preheat oven to 325 F. Blanch walnuts in boiling water for 1 minute and
drain well. While still hot, put in a bowl and toss with the sugar and
corn oil. Let stand 10 minutes. Arrange in single layer on a rimmed
baking tray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, turning every 5-10 minutes. When
nuts are browned and crispy, put them into a bowl. Combine seasonings
and toss with the still warm nuts. Spread nuts in a single layer to
cool completely. Store in an air tight container.
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Peanut butter crispy balls:[/COLOR]
1 18 ounce size jar of creamy peanut butter
2 cups rice crispy type cereal
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 1/2 bags chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate for these)
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine first four ingredients. Blend well until mixture forms a dough. Form into 1-inch balls. If dough is too sticky, add additional rice crispies, if too dry, add additional peanut butter. You can place balls in freezer (or out on the back step if you live in the arctic north like me*) for 30 min to make them easier to dip into the chocolate if you wish. In a double boiler over low heat or microwave safe bowl on low power slowly melt chocolate chips. Drop the balls into the chocolate until well coated. Place onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place in freezer for 30-60 min to harden chocolate. Makes approximately 60 balls, depending on size.
--I then keep these in the fridge. If I keep them out on the counter, I eat them :D.
ADDICTIVE!
[SIZE="1"]*watch for the local neighborhood stray cat though...apparently some like peanut butter :eek:[/SIZE]
Yeah...I might make some of those LR. I think the kids would love them!
How are you on graham cracker crusts or gingersnap crumb crusts, SG?
I have no idea!
Crusts... is that the same as bases?
Because I like a biscuit base on a cheesecake...
I think I am too far away for any of this to make sense!
Yeah...he's talking about a biscuit base, in which case you can just use gingernuts or something like that instead of Nice biscuits which make a sweet, but less overpowering base as you probably know.
Ta :)
Oysters Kilpatrick sound YUM!
I'm going to cook some cornbread for Boxing Day.
I don't care if I'm the only one who eats it.
I love cornbread. Slather that shit in butter.
Oooh oohh...cornbread casserole is the bomb!
Recipe
here, but there are hundreds of variations it seems. I can't remember the recipe I used last time I made one.
ok, here's my cake for anyone who's interested. :)
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Wow, Ali. that is amazing! Great job!
Thanks Bri. There's a lot of stick on stuff there of course, but doing that lattice work and then getting it on the cake was a challenge to say the least. lol
I'm glad it's done. I'd built up quite a sweat by the time I finished. :)
[COLOR="DarkRed"]Peanut butter crispy balls:[/COLOR]
1 18 ounce size jar of creamy peanut butter
2 cups rice crispy type cereal
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 1/2 bags chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate for these)
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine first four ingredients. Blend well until mixture forms a dough. Form into 1-inch balls. If dough is too sticky, add additional rice crispies, if too dry, add additional peanut butter. You can place balls in freezer (or out on the back step if you live in the arctic north like me*) for 30 min to make them easier to dip into the chocolate if you wish. In a double boiler over low heat or microwave safe bowl on low power slowly melt chocolate chips. Drop the balls into the chocolate until well coated. Place onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place in freezer for 30-60 min to harden chocolate. Makes approximately 60 balls, depending on size.
--I then keep these in the fridge. If I keep them out on the counter, I eat them :D.
ADDICTIVE!
[SIZE="1"]*watch for the local neighborhood stray cat though...apparently some like peanut butter :eek:[/SIZE]
I just made a batch of these.
I ate two because they wouldn't fit on the tray for the fridge.
They're so rich. I think I'm going to be sick. :greenface
Yummy though. Thanks LR. :)
Ali. A great looking cake. I've got all the junk together for date nut bread, to be baked in the small Bunt pans. 6 per pan= 12. Maybe. If this goes bad, I'll be unhappy. The cost of 2 cups of nuts + 4 cups of dates. :smack:
Think I'll check the fruitcake seasoning, again. :bolt:
Ali, that cake is beautiful. How will you bear to cut it?
Your fruitcakes are gorgeous!!!
Yeah, those balls are 'heavy', but sooooooo yummy. You eat one. Then you walk away. Then you come back and eat another the next time you pass through the kitchen. Then you put them in the fridge. Then later you need to get the milk, and see them, and take out 2, one for now one for later. After you eat them both back to back, you force yourself to go to the basement to fold laundry to get out of the kitchen...
I should rename them PB Debbil Balls :).
Ali, that cake is beautiful. How will you bear to cut it?
We've managed to cut every one before. I don't think this one will be any different. ;)
Besides, the funnest part for me is watching people enjoy eating it. :)
LR...I think if my digestion was normal I'd be having the same troubles with those things. As it is I'm having a hard time keeping them away from the kids. lol
I have no idea!
Crusts... is that the same as bases?
Because I like a biscuit base on a cheesecake...
I think I am too far away for any of this to make sense!
As you heard, yes, I think it is. Only it goes up the sides of the pie pan too, like a short crust.
To be sure about it, look at the lemon meringue pie recipe in Most Recent Recipe; it's got the crumb crust. Very easy really: pulverize graham crackers, add a little sugar, mix in melted butter until the texture and appearance reminds you exactly of beach sand just damp enough for sandcastles, and smooth it into place in the pie pan with the back of a spoon, cook a few minutes at 350 F. Don't press it in really hard or you may have real trouble getting slices up out of the pan after baking. Just medium firm, so it stays where you want it.
This is the recipe for the curried walnuts I sent for Cellar secret santa...
Oh wow, I made a batch of these today and they are
awesome! The plan was to give little containers of them to all my relatives on Christmas, and I had to force myself to package them up before I accidentally ate them all. Tell Mrs. Glatt that our house is stealing her Christmas tradition from here on out.
pickles, ick. I would not favor someone who gave me pickled anything for Christmas.
Oh, I would. :yum:
I pickle everything from eggs (British pub style - mmmmm) to onions to japale[FONT=Verdana]ños to New Orleans pickle meat (for cajun red beans and rice). [/FONT]
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I love anything pickled. Saying that, I've never had pickled walnuts. Not being big on nuts anyway, they might be a step too far.
The pickles are out in force in the fridge right now. Onions, beetroot, red cabbage, and gerkins. In the cupboard are Branston pickle and piccalilli. Oh and my jalapenos I suppose (never really thought of them as pickles but of course you're right).
Oh wow, I made a batch of these today and they are awesome! The plan was to give little containers of them to all my relatives on Christmas, and I had to force myself to package them up before I accidentally ate them all. Tell Mrs. Glatt that our house is stealing her Christmas tradition from here on out.
:)
I won't go so far as saying New Orleans pickle meat (for cajun red beans and rice).. But pickeled meat is the bee's knee for red beans and rice.
What I'm trying to say is, a coonass thing. Not just NO. And great for cooking any dried beans.
Here is Our Xmas Feast ,
I been needen that Pate Taste !!
The Gouda and the Sweet Hot mustard was the Stand out !!
The Tradition Continues !!!!!
Aw man, is that the farmer cheese that burns the lining of your nostrils out? I love that stuff...
Naa this farmers cheese is be nine , smooth suttle easy to eats stuff
Snacks first. Clockwise from top left - Roses chocolates, crisps (chips), dry roasted peanuts and the remaining mini sausage roll.
Below are the leftover prawn skewers from last night.
Also on the table, my Mum's joke present to my Dad - Russel Brand's autobiography (Dad hates him) and our mini Christmas tree.
Christmas dinner.
First our little turkey - it looks really grim but I assure you it tasted great.
Then the full meal. On our plates are turkey, roast potatoes, carrots, peas, roast parsnips, brussel sprouts, stuffing balls (shop bought and over-cooked, ahem) bacon wrapped chipolatas and plain chipolatas. Mum forget the yorkshire puddings until after the pic was taken.
We had Christmas pudding with brandy cream for dessert, and you can see the cheeseboard and grapes waiting for after that. Just out of the picture are the biscuits for cheese (crackers?), Turkish Delight and liquer chocolates. And the Grand Marnier.
We're all washed up and done now. I'm off to sit with Diz for a bit in the cool of my room (window open, radiator off) while mes parents gently slip into a doze in the hot living room :)
Yummy!!
Mrs. Dallas has made lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. Five-minute warning . . . .
For years I've wanted to try the rotisserie thing on my toaster oven. So this is it.
Looks really good BB! How was it?
Now that does look appetising!
I think I can even smell it...
It was great. Marinated overnite in Allegro hickory smoke marinade.
Wow. Our stuff is bigger. Anybody else notice that the American Cornish Hen is about the same size as that British Turkey?
It was a deliberately small turkey, to be fair. There were only four of us for Christmas dinner (Grandad doesn't like to walk round here any more, so Dad and I took his round to him before we sat down).
It was just enough for the meal, sandwiches and a bit in each cat.
I'm not dissing your turkey, Sundae, really. It looks delicious, just petite by our standards.
I just honestly don't think they come in that size here ... a cow orker who has lived in Glasgow said it has to do more with Brits not shooting their birds up with hormones and force feeding them.
... a cow orker who has lived in Glasgow said it has to do more with Brits not shooting their birds up with hormones and force feeding them.
It is illegal to inject or feed steroid hormones to poultry in the US. And I've never heard of force feeding turkeys or chickens, only ducks and geese for foie gras. I think they use less antibiotics over there though.
You get HUGE turkeys here as well.
I remember one year when Mum won one in the work raffle just before Christmas. She was really grumpy about it, "Stupid prize, everyone with any sense would have bought their turkey by now, grumble, grumble." I think she had her eye on the bottle of whisky. I wrote about it on here somewhere (can't be arsed to look).
And we have a terrible record of mistreating our farm animals I'm ashamed to say. Battery hens were reviled throughtout my childhood, but it's only in the last few years that retailers have started to cotton on, beginning to use only free range eggs in their products. I fear we have a long time before I can say the same about chickens. And don't forget which country introduced the world to BSE. That opened a few eyes as to normal practice down on the farm I can tell you. To say nothing of regular outbreaks of foot & mouth.
We're getting better, I'll grant you that. And consumers are far better educated than they used to be - many buying free-range or RSPCA farm inspected products. But I can tell you that there is no duck producer in the country who has RSPCA approval. Not one. I won't buy duck now.
My temporarily Glaswegian cow orker became a vegetarian, not for ethical reasons, but because of her fear of mad cow, and horror at discovering some of the food safety practices there (which are probably equivalent to ours, they just don't let us see them).
We had a turkey which was enough for about 5 of us to have some and then a bit left over for a sandwich the next day. It was a free range organic one and very good I have to say. Didn't cost more than a dollar or so more per KG either, so well worth the effort.
Here's a close up of our ham which I baked with cloves and red currant jelly.
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And here's one with the ham and the turkey (left) As you can see, it's not too big, but big enough.
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hmmm...I just noticed that I indicated left when I should have indicated right.
D'oh!
This is the recipe for the curried walnuts I sent for Cellar secret santa. I think they are really yummy. You think you are going to eat just one or two, and before you know it, you've had a few handfuls.
1 lb walnut halves (4 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 T corn oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/4 tsps cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp chili powder
Preheat oven to 325 F. Blanch walnuts in boiling water for 1 minute and
drain well. While still hot, put in a bowl and toss with the sugar and
corn oil. Let stand 10 minutes. Arrange in single layer on a rimmed
baking tray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, turning every 5-10 minutes. When
nuts are browned and crispy, put them into a bowl. Combine seasonings
and toss with the still warm nuts. Spread nuts in a single layer to
cool completely. Store in an air tight container.
I'm going to make a batch of these this year!
you won't be sorry. I'm going to go eat some right now.
Me too, they were soooo good... I want to try with pecans though I think.
Heh... those nuts are what I gave to all of Minifob's teachers for Christmas this year. And shockingly, I made too much and just had to keep the leftovers for myself.
I've not had this in years. Rich, but good. Of course, like anything good , about $50 bucks worth of crap.
Ingredients:
•2 pounds sifted confectioners' sugar
•1 can sweetened condensed milk
•2 cups flaked coconut
•1 stick butter or margarine, melted (4 ounces)
•3 cups chopped pecans
•Dipping Chocolate (below), melted
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together, shape into balls, then chill until hard. Dip chilled balls in dipping chocolate and let cool.
Store in airtight container in refrigerator.
Dipping Chocolate
Use melted chocolate almond bark or purchased dipping chocolate, or the mixture below
•1 cake paraffin wax
•12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Melt wax and milk chocolate chips together in double boiler. Dip candy in mixture then cool.
I was a bit doubtful about all that sugar, but can assure you all that the end result is entirely satisfactory (what a shame my husband doesn't like nuts .. ;))!
1 cake paraffin wax
So that's how they do it. :smack:
Yes OXB. And if too much it tastes yuk
Christmas dinner this year will consist of: Home made pasta (using my brand new pasta maker) with a cream sauce, crab and 3 types of cheese baked in ramekins, as well as HUGE AAA Rib eye steaks BBQ'd of course, complete with onions and mushrooms, 5-6oz lobster tails, and a full pickle tray. For desert: choc walnut fudge, home made turtles and deluxe fruit & nut clusters.
I will take pictures if I remember ;)
Dinner at Jaydaans house !!!!!!
I took pictures before I would let anyone sit down and eat... all but "Grampa" surrendered about halfway through.. "Grampa" cleaned his plate :)
Now if anyone can tell me how to make pictures appear on here, I would be grateful.
Here ya go Jaydaan
May I say NOM NOM NOM !!!!!!
So I made my first batch of yogurt with my new yogurt maker, and I have to say, its not as sweet at store bought, and is a bit thicker, but quite good. I was scared at the calorie content at first, but then realized the 229 calories is for an 8 ounce container, where most store bought single serves are 3-4ounces. That was for Strawberry. Even with fresh Strawberries its basically compote before its added. The plain yogurt was 149 calories for 8 ounces... so as soon as I can get over the not sweet factor, I will be loving the healthy side of it!
Also I have an ice cream maker, and the frozen yogurt is 1/3 of the calories as regular ice cream, and cheaper to make :)
I am making a plain yogurt as we speak that will be for frozen yogurt, and a cream cheese style cheese, as well as enough starter for 2 more batches.
Anyone else have a yogurt maker, with recipes you like? I have found a few, but they are fairly basic. I am loving the fact I can make yogurt for my friend (with soy milk) and her mom (with Stevia sweetener). I was thinking of Clodfobble when I found the soy milk recipe... Can your kids have Soy milk, or rice milk?
Well, right now they can have neither, because they're on a medical formula diet. But hopefully in another month or two they can start having real foods back, including our milk substitutes of choice,
almond milk and coconut milk, both of which you can make yogurt out of. I'm also curious about hemp milk, but we haven't tried it. A yogurt maker is almost certainly in our future, but I don't really like yogurt myself, so I keep putting it off for now.
makes good ice cream.....
Printed off the details of our New Year meal just now because we'd forgotten what was in it!
I paid for it months ago as a present for the 'rents.
Dad picks it up tomorrow and we have to decide whether we're having it New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.
We don't know what the rest of the family are doing yet - which is driving my organised Mum mad! Things are still tense at my sister's. Previously the 'rents had a standing invitation there over New Year. In fact I bought the meal so Mum, Dad and I could have some special time together at some point, as I expected to be excluded from the invite. I did tell them we could have it whenever they wanted, but they were NOT taking it over to Laura's if I wasn't invited!
Shellfish Platter
Serves: 4 (£7.50/g)
A feast for shellfish fans that's just perfect for sharing. Includes:
• Two halves of fresh Canadian lobster
• King prawns
• Madagascan tiger prawns
• Orkney crab meat served in a shell
All with a creamy lemon mayonnaise and lemon slices
Nom nom nom.