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Sunday 27 December 2015

Feeling a bit ginger?

After all the excessive celebratory food and drink consumed over the last few days I think we are all feeling a little bit ginger! However, there are times when only a cup of (Yorkshire, or at least English) tea will do! We don't have to forfeit the seasonal sweet offerings as they all go perfectly well with this beverage whether it be warmed mince pies, Yuletide log or a slice of Christmas cake (served with cheese in Yorkshire!)

My personal favourite is a ginger biscuit, delicious at any time of year but made seasonal with the use of a snowman, snowflake or star cookie cutter. The recipe below was passed on from my mum who used to let us make gingerbread men as children. You can vary the amount of ginger according to taste but I like mine to do what it says on the tin, ie taste of ginger!

4 oz Stork margerine
4 oz Demerara sugar
8 oz Self Raising flour
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp Ground Ginger

Cream together the margerine and sugar then add the syrup.
Add all the dry ingredients and form into a ball
Roll out and cut into shapes
Bake on a tray at gas mark 4 for 10-15 mins
Leave to cool for as long as you can manage without trying one!
Can be decorated with piped icing or a dusting of icing sugar

Bake and enjoy ...



Sunday 20 December 2015

Oh Sinner Man!X Oh Cinnamon!

ISorry, no, not the spiritual song recorded by several artists since 1956 and played on recorders in primary schools up and down the country!

Cinnamon is a spice available in stick or powder form and used in cooking, baking and beverages as well as having medicinal uses. Watch any Christmas cookery or baking show and you can be sure the presenters will inhale the aroma of whatever they are preparing and agree, that is the smell of Christmas!

My mum told me that when she was younger they used to light the ends of cinnamon sticks and try smoking them!!

Popular dishes include Christmas Cinnamon rolls baked together in the shape of a Christmas Tree but it is also used in biscuits and cakes. Although available all year round, it's warming properties are possibly what make it a seasonal spice.

Eggnog is a popular Christmas Drink (referred to in the 1932 novel Cold Comfort Farm as "Hell's Angel" and taken for breakfast). It usually consists of milk, cream, sugar and eggs whisked together with brandy (or sherry or rum) added and a good sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Each Christmas as we wrestle with the Christmas Tree, lights and decorations I feel we should be singing carols and clinking our glasses of eggnog in a resonating "Cheers!"

So here it is, a great big Cinnamon Eggnog Cheers to Christmas!


Sunday 13 December 2015

Now bring us some figgy pudding!

Figgy pudding originates in the 16th century when it was a kind of porridge. In the 19th century it resembled the pudding we recognise today and was at the height of popularity, also known as Plum pudding and Christmas pudding. Yes it really is like steamed Christmas pudding but made with the addition of dried figs. In days gone by we vegetarians probably could not have eaten it as it would have been made with suet but nowadays the pudding recipes are mostly vegetarian versions.

The seasonal song "We wish you a Merry Christmas" is sung by Christmas carolers who ask to be paid in figgy pudding. And, of course, they won't go until they get some!

In Victorian England, Charles Dickens penned "A Christmas Carol" and wrote about the pudding made by Mrs. Cratchit which would, no doubt, have resembled the figgy/plum/Christmas pudding we know today:

"... the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.

Oh, a wonderful pudding!"

So, let's indulge ourselves in the past, present and future of Christmas. In the words of the carolers, "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year".

Sunday 6 December 2015

Chestnuts roasting by an open fire!

Having tasted my first chestnut some 30 years ago I broke out in a rash and thought I must be allergic. It turned out to be an allergy to elastoplast thankfully! It would be such a shame to miss out on this seasonal produce. It's very rare to see the street vendors with their glowing braziers offering a brown paper bag stuffed with the sweet hot nuts nowadays but, if you do want to see them, now is the time.

Chestnuts are extremely versatile as they can be used in savoury dishes such as soups and stuffings to add flavour and texture. They are a popular addition to Christmas Day Brussels Sprouts.

Much as we would all like to sit beside an open fire roasting our own chestnuts, they do have to be peeled (shell and inner skin) once cooled. However, an easier alternative is to use Merchant Gourmet packets which are already cooked and peeled for convenience. The added bonus is that they can be used all year round.

Alternatively, chestnuts can be boiled in sugar and water then dried in the oven and used as a topping on cakes (marrons glace) or made into a puree (creme de marrons). However, for your convenience, this can also be purchased in a can or jar. 

Having had recent success with Nigella's coffee ice cream I am aiming to make the No-churn chestnut ice cream from her Nigellissima book - seasonal, easy peasy and scrummy - that's my kind of Christmas!

And so, I'm offering this
Simple phrase to kids from
One to ninety-two
Altho' it's been said many times
Many ways
"Merry Christmas to you"