laptop issues

 I had a few problems with my laptop, which meant it had to go off for repair, but it is back now and working fine.  Thank goodness for that!

Tuesday was pancake day, so made some vegan pancakes, which were quite thick and squishy and absolutely delicious.  Just flour, sugar, baking powder and soya milk, whisked together to make quite a thick batter and then fried in a little oil.  I had mine topped with yogurt and blueberries, Steven had golden syrup (adventurous as always!)  The recipe made so much we had to have the same again on Wednesday

The lettuce I grew in the greenhouse in the autumn is coming to an end so I grew some alfalfa sprouts in a jar. So easy to do, just soak in water overnight then rinse out each day for about 4 days and then they are ready to eat.  Great in sandwiches and salads, but I had them on Ryvita with topping a broadbean pate that I made

Tiny little things, but so crunchy and fresh tasting, perfect for the middle of winter.

OUT OF OFFICE ON

No more work until March - that sounds like ages away, but only 10 days.  I finished work at 2PM yesterday for the week.  We were supposed to be heading off to Potters, in Norfolk for our annual dancing holiday.  It would have been our 8th one, but all cancelled due to the virus.  I have got to take my holiday by end of March or I will loose it, so kept it booked in.  Not much to do, as we can't go far, but hope to spend a bit of time at the allotment, the forecast for the weekend is looking good.

As I finished work yesterday afternoon the sun came out and for the first time in two weeks it wasn't snowing or raining, so headed out for a run.  It was actually quite warm and lovely to get some fresh air, but oh! my legs, they felt so heavy after no walking or running for two weeks.  I have been doing weights workouts, but obviously not the same.

DECEMBER SCAVENGER HUNT

Well here we are with the very last scavenger hunt for the year.   What fun it has been and a bit of a challenge at times, so here we go..............

25

Wednesday 25th December  - Christmas day!

CHRISTMAS

Making mince pies - well it wouldn't be Christmas with out them?

RELIGOUS ICON

I bought this lovely wooden decoration in Hamburg a few years ago when I went to the markets there, it has to have special sized candles to go in it, so if anyone is going over next year perhaps they can pick me up a couple of packets?

SHINY

A close up of my tree, looking very shiny and twinkly!

MOVEMENT

Well nearly!  Just fooling!

CELEBRATION  
Me bringing in the Christmas pudding to the table, the flaming fountain was amazing, it certainly finished off our feast

WORDS

Well not really a photo, but found this subway art, printed and framed it and displayed it on the bookeshelf.  It has all the words that I need!

RECIPIE

Sticky date and raisin pudding served with Brandy butter ice cream and salted caramel sauce- recipie found in Good Food magazine December 2012.  I have made this two years in a row and it is delicious!

CANDLES

I love candles and often have them twinkling around the house.  This is my fireplace with some big candles.

WINDOW DISPLAY

I have been looking for a shop window, but not found one suitable, so here is my lounge window.  I spent a couple of eveinings licking and sticking all these paperchains and then hung them from the net curtain wire, with the nets pushed back. A metal Christmas tree candle stand is in the middle, I bought this at a German Market a couple of years ago.

CAKE

I have had to put two photos for this one! We have had two cakes this year. Alice and Jared spent one evening creating this wonderful Gingerbread house, a week later and we are still not allowed to eat 

 And this is my one.  A rich fruit cake made weeks ago, marzipaned and iced with little marzipan Christmas trees and silver balls sprinkled on top.  We were allowed to eat this one!

 

A very, very big thank you to Suzie over at Made with love thinking of all the catagories each month and linking everyone together. It has been great to see how people from all over the world have interpreted the photos.  I have been taken  to Colarado, Australia, Borneo, Wiltshire and Birmingham!!!  Looks like we are keeping this going in the New Year too!

the very last advent calender

Tuesday 24 December 

Christmas eve!

Well I've done it!  I have posted an advent photo every day!

This is the finished gingerbread house that head chef Alice and assistant Jared made the other evening.  They have reached the grand ages of 24 and 21 and never made a gingerbread house, oh how deprived they have been, what a bad mother I have been to have never suggested this before! Anyway it looks wonderful, a centrepiece for the dresser!

In case you missed any of the other advent posts here they all are

 So off for a glass of Baileys, hang up my stocking and brace myself for the mad house of nine plus a baby for lunch tomorrow...........

Happy Christmas to all my blog friends, hope you all have a lovely day!

Advent Calender

Tuesday 10 December

 Mince pie making!  I make a sweet almond pastry and fill them with the plum mincemeat (without nuts or peel) that I made a few weeks ago.

 Some to take to my friends tomorrow night, froze some and only one left!

Yummy!  Think I will have to make some more...............

no nuts or peel

When I first met Mr HH he said that he didn't like mince pies, it turned out that he didn't like mince pies made with traditional mincemeat as it always has nuts and peel in it.  
In 1996 I bought a magazine "Prima Christmas Traditions", which I still have and use each year for various recipes.  In it was a recipe for mincemeat.  I didn't realise that you COULD make your own!!!  The recipe had nuts and peel in it, but I figured out that I could just leave them out, yes, leave them out and that is exactly what I did.

From then on every Christmas I made a few jars of mincemeat and mince pies were enjoyed by all, including Mr HH.

Last year I tried a new recipe, Plum and Russet mincemeat from the Rivercottage Handbook No.2, preserves.  It was lovely, more jammy than brown and lumpy, but very nice, so have made some more this year

  

1kg of chopped plums are cooked in the juice of two oranges and then pureed.  This is mixed with the zest of the 2 oranges, 500g of peeled and chopped russet apples (I used normal cooking apples as i had been given some) 200g each of currents, sultanas and raisins, 100g of marmalade, 250g of demerara sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 2 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 a grated nutmeg.  50 mls ginger wine.  mix this all together and leave over night.  The next day cook for two hours in a very low oven (130C) and then stir in 50 ml of brandy. put into sterilised jars.

Then the fun begins

These are normal mince pies made with sweet pastry with ground almonds, they freeze well and I will probably make quite a few of these.

or maybe these ones with stars on top
 

 

 or maybe these puff pastry Christmas trees, a bit fiddly but my favourite

Our other favourite, that get eaten so quickly I can't find any photos of them are baked mincemeat donuts.   The recipe is in good food magazine




Can't wait to make these!

Will need to give the mincemeat a week to mature - well maybe a couple of days!

Autumn Equinox

Today is the Autumn Equinox.  The day and night are equal in length.  It is the start of Autumn.

I am ready for it now.

Today I went for a walk and cut some autumn foliage from the hedgerows.

Arranged with some dried seed pods.

I knitted an Autumn garland with leaves, acorns and Rudbeckia flowers.

I cleaned the kitchen and re-arranged the dresser, so pleased with how it looks

Flowers, leaves, acorns, fir cones and conkers.  

Yesterday I was given some damsons and used the to make some wine, you only need the juice, so this morning I cooked up the pulp and made some Chinese style plum sauce

My duvet is the sort with a thin one and a thicker one that snap together to make an extra warm one.  Today I took the thin summer one off and popped it in the wash and put the warmer one on the bed, will be nice and cosy now!

Harvest time

The weather forecast for this weekend was warm and sunny, perfect for harvesting the potatoes.  Today turned out not to be that sunny,but it was warm and dry.  We were at the allotment early and dug up all the potatoes and laid them out to dry off.  I love digging up potatoes, you never know what is growing under the earth.  Under some where some huge ones and others just a few. Also picked a small handful of French beans, a couple of courgettes and some sunflowers.

Basil popped his head over the fence and wondered if we would like some field mushrooms that he had just picked -"lovely" I said! " We eat them on toast with Worcestershire sauce" he said.  "Lovely" I said"

Later, Godfrey, the allotment manager came along.  "I hear you make wine?"  He said, "oh yes" I replied.  "Do you want some Damsons?"   He said.  "Lovely". I said.  An hour later he turned up with a carrier bag with 5 pounds of Damsons.

I have just spent an hour chopping them up and removing the stones, a bit of a fiddly job!

Have to boil them up, then strain onto the sugar and add some yeast.  Stir daily for 3 days and then pop into a Demi-John and let it bubble away until all the sugar is turned into alcohol.  Then leave it to mature for a few months, it will probably be ready to drink this time next year.  

Must remember to give Godfrey a bottle if I want any more Damsons from him!

Later we went back to the allotment. For a moment we wondered if the potatoes would still be there or had someone taken them?  They were fine, just as we had left them.  Sorted them into bags, those to store and any damaged ones to eat first.   Well it turned out to be a good harvest - 3 bags!  Not sure that they will see us through the winter, we will see!

Picked some flowers too - chrysanthemums.

Autumn show

It's not quite Autumn here yet, but yesterday was our Horticultural Societies Autumn show.  It is quite a small show, with only and handful of entries in each class, but I enjoy all the preparation -  the growing - the making - the cooking.  
Some things have been over a year in the making such as the wine and others are very last minute like the Victoria sandwich and the flowers, which need to be made or picked early in the morning.

 I have had a plan for the week running up to the show. Firstly I had to choose and and order my photos 

Four categories here, My 4 legged friend, Trees, The seashore and A special event, my photos of the Olympics won a 2nd prize.

 Next the wine needs to be tasted, re-bottled and labelled. I entered 4 bottles, white dry, white sweet, red dry and a rose and won a 1st, 2nd and 3rd!

Have been working on the handicraft entries over the year, this knitted fair isle jumper for a child won 3rd prize.

I am quite proud of this appliqued and quilted tea cosy, especially as it came 1st!

The worst thing in the whole show is a dressed doll.  So old fashioned and really not my thing at all.  I found a really complicated pattern with a very difficult lace pattern, knitted on thin needles and 4 ply wool, but it only got 2nd prize.  I was a little disappointed.  I have no idea what to do with this now, who on earth would want it?  I won't be entering this again.

Gave the pot plants a wash and brush up.  Wiped over the pot and cleaned the leaves - made all the difference my lovely Aloe Vera won 1st prize.

 We grow lots of raspberries on the allotment and I made some jam earlier in the summer, this also won 1st prize.  Last week I made some very red beetroot chutney - 2nd prize.

No luck with the rest of my cooking. Alice beat me with her Victoria Sandwich, she was very happy to get the 1st, but neither of us got anything for the banana cake and both our savoury biscuits were "a bit dry"!!!

A basket of veg, all picked from the allotement.  1st prize for some Cavalo de Nero kale, carrots, beetroot, peas, lettuce, spring onions, courgettes, cucumber and tomatoes - Wow!  Of course can't take all the credit for this one, Mr HH does the hard work  -all the digging, composting and watering!

 There are two types of flowers that can be entered, one is called decorative, which is proper flower arranging with bought flowers which I cannot do and the other is homegrown flowers which I can do.  These are my ten stems of garden flowers (no prize!)

 

and a vase of annuals - came 2nd with these, mainly marigolds and cosmos.

Here I am with my Anniversary Class entry.  This one has 4 items, a vase of homegrown flowers (more sunflowers) a pot plant, handicraft (knitted socks) and a cake (cupcakes)

Phew!  I did enjoy that!  Time to start thinking about planting some bulbs for the spring show!