Today I have finished the candied oranges dipped in
chocolate that have been in the making for the past week – chocolate stage
which was messy but satisfying, made fudge, finally used the star/tree cutters
I was given last year (mine are small tree’s but I’m pleased with the results,
and also couldn’t imagine eating a biscuit as big as the biggest star in the
set). We also tried what has now become the week before Christmas cake.
It’s a cake that my father (winner as you may remember of ‘Best
Fruit Cake Baked By A Gentleman’ at the Walls agricultural show) can be proud
of – he’s clearly passed on the fruit cake baking gene, he also reminded me that my
mother makes a darned good cake as well which I guess is where the gentleman
bit comes into the equation (she does too). Either way it tasted good and come the New Year I’m
definitely getting ‘Short and Sweet’ I think Dan Lepard may be the way forward.
All this kitchen activity combined with a heavy week at work
has meant not much reading but there is a book post coming soon...
I am so impressed Hayley. I seem to have run out of steam rather - for blogging about what I'm doing at least, and a bit in terms of what I'm doing too :(
ReplyDeleteVerity, I was at the end of my tether last week but everything felt like it turned round on friday evening and I'm back in control now (sort of) at work which means I'm happier at home and more inclined to do things...
ReplyDeleteI love the look of your candied oranges in chocolate. Actually, when I first saw then I was looking to one side of my glasses, they were slightly out of focus, and I thought I was looking at Persephone endpapers. So if they ever run out of fabrics ...
ReplyDeleteFleur Fisher, slightly embarrassing history to the oranges now. This is the 4th Christmas I've made them and I'd come to consider them my thing. This year I realised I'd been using glycerine rather than liquid glucose - they taste even better done right.
ReplyDelete"finally used the star/tree cutters I was given last year (mine are small tree’s but I’m pleased with the results, and also couldn’t imagine eating a biscuit as big as the biggest star in the set)."
ReplyDeleteI have a set of those that I've been meaning to use, and I'm determined that this year will be the year. Last year, we made cookie mixes in jars, which went really well, the year before, we tried to make gingerbread houses and ended up with a pile of gingerbread bricks. We always have a go at something new each Christmas, and if it goes well, it usually becomes part of our traditional Christmas cooking. We used to buy all our Christmas chocolates, then we decided to have a go at making our own as well.
For us, Christmas starts in the kitchen. :)