Cranberry and clementine sauce recipe
I finally found cranberries in the Cambridge Sainsbury’s store on Friday. I wanted to whoop with joy and run around the store waving them over my head. Instead I quickly grabbed two packs and quietly popped them into my basket. I’ve been looking for cranberries for weeks and was beginning to worry that we wouldn’t have homemade cranberry sauce with our Christmas goose this year. We have a great cranberry sauce recipe here. Reading the comments on that article prompted me to give our sauce a new twist this year. Why not...
read moreHappy Christmas cleaning
Christmas and Easter are flagged as reorganisation opportunities here in the cottage. No matter how frenetic our lives and projects are, we always take a few days off. Treasured days. On the run up to the holidays I politely explain to my client that they will not be seeing me for a couple of days before the festivities begin. This is when we Christmas clean or Easter clean the cottage. We seem to miss out on the traditional Spring clean. We discover how much wildlife is coexisting with us in the far outreaches of the cottage rooms. Woodlice,...
read moreFather Christmas
My sister’s bedroom door was ajar. She had just started school and was closeted with her new friend, May Ashmore. Two years younger, I was feeling the age gap. Sara was five and out in the world and I was stuck at home. I hated being excluded. When I quietly opened the door my sister spun round, “This is a private conversation.” The tone was sharp. And they looked complicit. I crept away but hovered in the corridor, intrigued by the whispers. May Ashmore had come to tea. At the table Sara’s new friend had announced that...
read moreGuest spot: Quick Banana Chutney recipe for Christmas and beyond by Kate(uk)
“Fiona, would you be interested in a recipe for banana chutney? It sounds odd, but I can assure you that it is the very, very best chutney with cold turkey and if made this week will be ready for use on boxing day. As long as it is kept secret or you will find family members standing with empty jar in one hand, dessert spoon in the other and a guilty look on their faces” “Yes please.” Just reading her email made me desperate to get my hands on the recipe. A superb chutney that only takes 10 days to mature. This would be...
read moreMistletoe
I always used to buy mistletoe at Christmas. I like the tradition stretching back over the centuries. When I think of mistletoe and holly I imagine great halls, a good mix of happiness and people. Visitors kicking the snow off their boots and warming their hands on a vast log fire. Everyone enjoying the party. From the hosts to the children and dogs weaving between their legs. Even when I lived alone I always arranged the mistletoe on the picture that hangs on thw wall behid the sofa. Secretly hoping that a white knight would drop by and see...
read moreGuest spot: The Mildred Mittens Manufactory recipe for Stollen
I love Stollen. When Mildred sent me her recipe I was delighted. This sounds so good I just had to put it on the blog. I will be making this with my mum when I have a few days off over Christmas. Mildred wrote “Have you ever made Stollen I wonder? The recipe in Andrew Whitley’s ‘Bread Matters’ book is superb! I tweaked it a bit and the resulting Stollen is wonderful! Andrew’s recipe has made a nice sized loaf and every step was explained very well. Everything I have made from this fantastic book has worked...
read moreChristmas presents
Danny and I have never been ones for lavishing the credit card on each other when it comes to Christmas. We decide the ceiling in November and work around that. “Does this ceiling include our stockings?” “Of course.” The limits are then raised by £10. A good £10 stocking can put the Main Present in the shade. The secret is to start looking early. Nothing beats a good stocking. It is the heart of Christmas for me. Like a secret kiss. An extended moment of indulgence without the formality of opening a present with a...
read moreTransform your pastry scraps into delicious cheesy biscuits
Optimistically, I always save my pastry scraps to make these melt in the mouth cheesy biscuits. They usually lurk in the back of the fridge and are forgotten. Danny eventually hoofs the bag of tired pastry scraps and I feel really bad. We have missed out on a superb delicacy. Today I was more galvanised and made the biscuits whilst I was waiting for a tart to bake. These biscuits are simple to make and everyone loves them. They are a delicious appetiser before a supper party. At other houses they have been served at the end of a meal in lieu...
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