The Smell Of Christmas

I do so wish you could smell my little cottage at the moment, it smells of Christmas.  My trusty Christmas mixing bowl came out last night, evoking lots of lovely memories.  Our youngest daughter and I always bake together and it was her that bought the beautiful mixing bowl.

The ingredients for a walnut, orange and whiskey mincemeat were added, the aroma once again evoked memories of Christmas's past.  It took some stirring due to my shoulder but between us we mixed it well.

Another bowl used to mix the ingredients for another mincemeat using figs and apricots as well as the more traditional sultanas and currants but once again it was given a good stir.  

It was left overnight to develop the flavour.  So you can imagine the smell already.  The tantalizing smell of aromatic spice blending with the fruit, peel and juice was a delight.  The stove was already lit due to the temperatures dropping and yet another storm hitting so we lit a couple of  Yankee Candles to add to the atmosphere.  Beautiful.

This morning we woke to  gale force winds howling around the cottage and  rain, lots of rain hammering against the windows.  We are thankful that we have a roof over our heads and heat.  Once again the ferries are cancelled for today so I am thankful for our store cupboard and all the extra food I have put away.

I have packed the mincemeat into sterilised jars and labelled them.  I have also made some covers out of scraps of cotton and stamps.

I use Archival ink which is permanent/waterproof.  It seems to work.

All ready for the store cupboard to be used as little gifts when needed.

The recipes I used were from an old Women's Institute book that I had so are easily available from the internet.  I have made it a little earlier than usual but we are hopeful of getting away to visit family through December, we shall see...

I once again thank you for your comments and emails, Gerard is feeling much better the steroid injection has certainly helped.  Rest, warmth and a little spoiling goes a long way.

See you soon.

Mincemeat

As a family we are all lovers of mince pies.  I have some lovely memories of making mincemeat with my own Mum as a child and also some wonderful treasured memories of making it with my own daughters.  As far back as I can remember it was always made at half term, not sure on the reason behind that.  Maybe, it was something to fill the time I am not sure but is has now become the tradition to make the mincemeat at half term.   This is the first of several batches made.

I make several variations to the same basic recipe adding alcohol to some but not all.  I also use different variations of dried fruit to suit individual taste.  Nuts are added to some but not all again to suit individual taste.

I use:

1 Kg of dried fruit such as sultanas/currants/raisons/cranberries
450g apples (I prefer Bramley) cored and chopped small
225g shredded suet
225g whole candied peel finely chopped
350g soft dark brown sugar
the grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
the grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
4 teaspoons of mixed ground spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
6 tablespoons of alcohol such as brandy/port
50g chopped nuts

All you do is mix all the ingredients together with the exception of the alcohol in a large ovenproof mixing bowl.  This is why it is fun to include the children as it needs to be mixed and stirred thoroughly.

 

Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave overnight so that the flavours combine and marinate together.

 

Place some foil over the bowl and place in the oven for 3 hours on a very low heat of 120 degree C.  Then leave to cool stirring occasionally.  Once cold add the alcohol and once again give it a good stir and then pack into sterilised jars.

 

 

I then like to add a fabric circle and some form of embellishment.  Not forgetting to label the contents.

 

 

I made the embellishment using cinnamon sticks tied together with some natural jute twine and added a little bird.  Looks good in the kitchen or makes a wonderful gift.   I hope that you will give it a try and enjoy it as much as we do.

 

See you soon.