Happy New Year!

 

Just popped in to wish every one a happy new year. I know all those in Australia are already celebrating 2008, it is 2.45 pm here and I am just sitting here chilling. My plans for today are to finish cooking Nigella’s glazed gammon for tonight. The three of  us are having a games night, we are gonna play on singstar, buzz and scene it, so it should be good! I don’t really enjoy going out at New Year, I just don’t get it!! I prefer to be at home with the family in front of log fire.

We always have a huge New Years Day lunch, it’s kinda of traditional, my mum  used to cook it. Tommorow we are having Roast leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic, roasties, yorkshire puddings, sprouts, carrotts and red currant jelly!!! Then we will have a long walk with our lab!    Hope everyone has a good one!xxxxxxxxxx

Nigella’s Mustard Pork chops!

 

Just orgainsing next week’s menu plan and as I got Nigella’s book , Nigella Express for Christmas from my fab hubby, I thought that I would try Nigella’s pork chops for tea next week.  I like gnocchi, but I always wonder what to cook it with!!

Pork chops in cider and mustard sauce served with gnocchi
-2 pork chops boned-in, put in plastic bag, use rolling pin to pound the meat (apparently not for tenderizing purposes but just to make it thinner and thus easier to cook),

heat oil and pan-fry for 5 mins each side, remove from pan and put on plate

-to make the sauce: keep pork juice in pan, add 125ml of cider, 1 full tbsp grain mustard,  75 ml of double cream, stir well

when done pour some on top of the pork chops

-cook gnocchi in boiling water for 5 mins until they float on top of water, then put into pan to coat with remaining sauce and serve

Boxing Day Broth

 

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day yesterday?? 

 We had a quiet one, which is just the way we like it! Nigella’s glazed gammon was fab, a big hit with all and I shall be making that again!!

For Boxing Day Lunch,  I have just made a huge pot of Turkey Broth and it was lovely. It should feed us for two more days!

 Here is the recipe:  

Boil the turkey or meat carcass in a big pan, add 2 stock cubes, chop up all left over veg, including sprouts and I also added cut up sausauge meat.

After about one hour, remove Turkey and strip off meat, add the meat back into broth and season salt/pepper and garlic granuales!

Serve with freshly made home made bread in Denby lidded soup bowls! Perfection! ( or so my hubby commented) 

Merry Christmas

Just popped in quickly to wish everyone a very Happy and Merry Christmas!   

It’s 5 o’clock here and all the wrapping is done and the I have prepared Nigella’s glazed gammon for tonight’s supper with spiced  peaches. I have also prepared a Christmas Eve buffet, pork pies, sasauge rolls, quiche and red salmon and cucumber buns.

I am just waiting for hubby to arrive home from work, then the in laws will arrive, so that we can swap our pressies! I have cleaned out the fireplace and tidied around, so later we can light a big fire and sit and relax in front of it and wait for Santa to arrive!…   

Christmas MEME!!

 

Aprilwine has tagged me to take part in the Christmas meme, so here goes!!!

  1)  Link to the person that tagged you  aprilwine.  and post the rules on your blog.(These are the rules).

2) Share Christmas facts about yourself.

3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. (only got 6, don’t know anyone else that well)

4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here goes:

1. Wrapping or gift bags?  strictly gift bags or cellophane for my hampers

2. Real or artificial tree?  Its a 7 ft artificial one, that has lights built in 

3. When do you put up the tree? The first weekend in December

4. When do you take the tree down? just after New Years Day 

5. Do you like eggnog?  no yak!!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? my first bike

7. Do you have a nativity scene? No

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  a carpet sweeper

9. Mail or email Christmas cards?  both

10. Favorite Christmas movie? like april, it’s a wonderful life

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? sometimes, really early, but this year it was quite late

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwiches on Christmas Day evening

13. Clear lights or colored?  clear

14. Favorite Christmas song? George Michael— Last Christmas

15. Travel at Christmas or stay at home?  I am a total home bird, so it’s gotta be stay at home for me! 

16. Can you name all of Santas reindeer? no, only know Prancer, Dancer and Rudolph

17. Angel or star on the top of your tree? a star that ds2 made at nursery school 

18. Open your presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? As soon as we get up on Christmas Morning 

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? unorganised people

20. What do you leave for Santa? a mince pie 

21. Least favorite holiday song? The Pogues 

specific theme or color? pink and silver, this year, for baby grandaughters arrival and  for her first Christmas

23. Favorite ornament? star that ds2 made at nursery school 

Ok, now here are the people I have tagged for their Christmas meme!   chefpaz, tummyrumbles. getting-ahead. .picperfics.

wardandjune.  willowmoon.

Bailey’s chocolate truffles

 

 Did not make into work today! Ds2  (11 years) took poorly after his Christingle service yesterday, he has the most horrendous cold and yes, you’ve guessed it, I also have it,  Yak. I really hate being ill and I am the worst patient ever.  I am a trained Nurse and always give advice to my patients who are  not feeling well, but as soon as I am ill, I can’t seem to figure out, how I should treat myself!!!! doh!  I have taken reluctantly taken some tablets, as I was feeling absolutely horrid, they have numbed the headache a little, but still feel yuk!!  (sorry moan over  )

On a brighter note, I have been surfing for some truffle recipes and this one looks great :)  

  

Baileys Chocolate Truffles

1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 tbsp butter
12oz semisweet chocolate pieces
2 egg yolks

1/4 cup creamMelt chocolate pieces, Bailey’s and  heat.

Whisk in yolks, one at a time, mixture will thicken.

Whisk in butter. Refrigerate several hours, overnight until firm. Make small balls with a teaspoon.

Roll in powdered sugar or cocoa or chocolate 1oo and 1000’s

Christingle Christmas ice cream

 

Feeling all Christmassy today, I have been to the local church where my son’s school held their Christingle  service. This year it was his last one, as in next year he will move up to senior school. The service was magical, the small church was packed to the brim and thankfully I managed to get a pew, as I went early!  We sang my favourite hymns, ‘Come and join the  celebration’ and ‘Away in a Manger’. There is such a sense of peace in that small church, I really enjoyed the service. At the end, after the children had sang lots of Christmas carols, the vicar dimmed the lights and they all held a orange with a lit candle and sang ‘ Away in a Manger’. As usual there wasn’t a dry eye in the church!!!        

I only have one  and half days left at work, before I am on my holidays for two weeks,Yay!! So I am on countdown now. I have just found this Ice cream recipe: 

 

Christmas Ice Cream140g (5oz) raisins
100g (4oz) sultanas
225g (8oz) glace cherries roughly chopped
4 tablespoons brandy (I used sherry- no brandy)
100g (4oz)whole blanched almonds roughly chopped
1×200g packet marshmallows
250ml (1/2 pint) semi skimmed milk
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
500ml (1 pint) double cream1. Mix all the fruit together in a large bowl, pour over the brandy and soak for 2-3 hours, mix in the almonds.2. Melt the marshallows, milk, cocoa powder and instant coffee granules over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally, leave to cool.3. Pour the cooled mixture over the mixed fruit and stir thoroughly. Freeze for about 2 hours until it begins to harden around the edges, then whisk well.4. Whip the double cream with an electric or hand whisk and fold into the semi-frozen mixture. Pour the mixture into a 1.75 litre (3 pint) bowl and freeze overnight until hard.5. To serve, remove from the freezer and dip the bowl into a basin of hot water, making sure that the ice cream does not melt too much. Turn out onto a serving plate, then decorate with glace cherries and holly dusted with icing sugar.ENJOY ! Serves at least 10

Home made smoked mackerel pate

 

 

I love mackerel and lately, I have been buying this in a tub from Tesco’s. Mackerel is full of omega 3 and really good for you. Over Christmas I am going to try and make my own, it looks easy. I love this with wholewheat or garlic pitta bread cut up into strips and dipped in, it goes really well with red wine :)    

Smoked Mackerel Pâté 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: Serves 4
250g ready to use smoked mackerel
150ml sour cream
2 teaspoons of fresh chopped coriander
2 teaspoons of fresh parsley
Half a hot green pepper finely chopped (without seeds)
1 large garlic clove finely chopped
Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste
1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

Cooking Instructions:

1. Simply flake the Mackerel into small pieces in a mixing bowl with a fork or your hands.

2. Mix with the remaining ingredients, the mixture will be soft but will firm up if kept somewhere cool for a short while.

3. Serve with bread, toast or crisp bread

Christmas White chocolate fudge

 

I have been up with the larks this morning, hubby had to take his car into the garage for 9 am, his brake pads need replacing!!! I had to defrost my car and collect him, ds2 (11 years) woke up full of cold and has spent the morning in his pj’s in front of the xbox360 playing on test drive!!

I have caught up with all the household chores and I have the drier on out back, so I can iron tommorow. I have just made some curried parsnip soup and some sweetcorn chowder, its still very cold here and we need warming foods!

I have been flicking through the Radio Times, Christmas edition and I have noticed that my favourite film, ‘It’s a wonderfull life’ isn’t on this year :(  so quite disappointed about that. I really like James Stewart and I love old black and white movies like that one.

Karen has requested a easy recipe for white chocolate fudge, this one looks really simple and no fuss to make:

    

Christmas White Chocolate Fudge Bars

Degree of difficulty: Medium

You need:

WHITE CHOCOLATE FUDGE BARS
370 gm white chocolate buttons
400 gm condensed milk
1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
 

Method:

1. Place white chocolate buttons and condensed milk in a heatproof basin and stir over simmering water until chocolate has melted

2. Remove from heat

3. Stir in icing sugar through mixture

4. Grease small loaf tin and line it with baking paper

5. Place mixture in tin

6. Refrigerate overnight

7. Remove from tin, peel back paper and cut into 1 cm - thick slices

Serving Suggestion: Wrap each slice in clear cellophane, twist cellophane at each end and tie with ribbon