NaBloPoMo 2019

The end of the month has arrived.  I didn’t quite manage to post every day during November, but 28 days out of 30 isn’t bad.  I missed a couple of days, largely due to the fact that Mr Candytuft had major surgery on 19th November, so I’ve been doing a lot of driving to hospital appointments, in addition to working and going to physio myself (twice a week), after I aggravated a previously bad back.

I’m completely exhausted but, for some strange reason, I had already signed up to participate in The Writers’ HQ Writing Advent, which starts tomorrow!  Oh well, if I can’t manage to keep up with this, at least I’ll still have the emails to refer to after Christmas.

Not Exactly Gardening Weather

As the song goes, ‘The weather outside is frightful...’ Well, it certainly is this afternoon.  The day started with freezing rain and winds strong enough that it was difficult to remain on my feet.  We now have sleet and the forecast is for snow squalls, so I’m not venturing out again today.  

I have the December issue of BBC Gardeners’ World magazine, which arrived in the post, and a cup of tea in my Christmas robin mug.  I can enjoy gardening without going anywhere. 

On Days Like These

There are some days when only chocolate will do...I’ve been having a lot of them recently.

Lace Gloves

One of my knitting challenges this year was to learn how to knit gloves.  I’ve done lots of complicated garment patterns, but I’d never attempted gloves.

This vintage pattern made gloves on straight needles, so they have a seams along one edge of the hand part and each of the fingers.  I had started them six months earlier, then abandoned them because I couldn’t find time to sit down and concentrate on the pattern.  By the time I went back to them, I had no idea where I was in the pattern, so I had to unpick them completely and start again.  They were definitely worth the effort, as the results are so pretty and I love this Baa Ram Ewe Titus yarn in a colour called Rose Window.

Thought For The Day - Part IV

‘An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.’

Henry David Thoreau

And sometimes, I get to feed the red squirrels - they are very partial to almonds.

Stir-Up Sunday

Today is Stir-Up Sunday, so it’s time to make my Christmas puddings.  I prepared the dried fruit last night and soaked it in brandy.  

Flour, sugar, spices and vegetable suet were mixed before adding the liquid, which consisted of eggs, milk and alcohol.

In a break from tradition, I used a different pudding recipe this year, loosely based on Emma Bridgewater’s recipe, which you can find here.  I tweaked it a bit, changing some of the fruit and my choice of alcohol.

The reason for the change is mostly because of the disappointing results that I had last year when using currants.  It doesn’t seem to make any difference where I buy them, as they are all gritty and full of stalks.  I’ve tried picking through the fruit in advance of using it, but it has been impossible to get rid of every bit and so I’ve opted for a change.  

This last photo is of one of the smaller puddings after it cooked for two hours.  Emma’s recipe is more than generous and made two small and one medium-sized pudding.  Good news, as I have some spare for a pre-Christmas tasting.

Mince Pies

As we have been having such cold weather, it feels more like late December, so I decided that it was time for some mince pies.  I bought a jar of mincemeat this morning and I remembered to buy an orange, as the pastry recipe I use contains freshly squeezed orange juice.

This is definitely slow baking.  First the fat and flour mixture is chilled in the freezer for 20 minutes and the orange juice is chilled in the fridge.  Then, once the pastry is formed, it is returned to the fridge for a further 20 minutes.

The anticipation was mounting as the aroma of Christmas spices filled the kitchen.  Once out of the oven and slightly cooled, they were dusted with icing sugar and enjoyed whilst still slightly warm.

There’s nothing better than a freshly-baked mince pie with a cup of Yorkshire Gold tea.