Wherever I look at the moment, on personal and commercial blogs, twitter and facebook, as well as on TV adverts and when I bump into people I know, everyone seems to be sharing gift ideas and discussing how advanced their Christmas shopping is. But everyone seems to be focusing on the presents. What about the food side of things ?
I can remember my dear old nan baking her Christmas cake and stirring up her Christmas pudding months before Christmas. The weeks leading up to the big day were a bakefest of mince pies, cinnamon cookies and peppermint creams. I 've been trying to keep this tradition going with the Madhouse Mini-testers, showing them that mince pies, fairy cakes and chocolate truffles (amongst other things) don't just come in packets from the supermarket shelves, you can also bake your own. We sometimes get adventurous and try out a Gingerbread House kit, which is always a lot of fun and usually has very impressive results. I'll be putting my Baking Mad win to good use knocking up all manner of Christmas cookies - I can't wait to use the ready-to-use icing, pink chocolate buttons, silver balls and - squeals - pink icing sugar ! If you need some recipe inspiration, there are some lovely Christmas baking ideas here. The Figgy Truffles and Pear & Blackberry Christmas Stollen are lovely twists on old classics that really appeal to me.
Now, I'm a total traditionalist when it comes to Christmas dinner - it has to be roast turkey with all the trimmings, as far as I'm concerned, followed by a (small !) portion of Christmas pudding topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (which I find helps make it easier to digest than custard or brandy butter). But the Christmases that we spend in France always throw up new festive meal ideas that actually make a nice change too. Venison with pears and cranberries, whole salmon en croûte and - believe it or not - ostrich meat are all things that I would never have thought of cooking myself but that we've enjoyed at the in laws'. If you want to be a bit more adventurous, there are some Christmas dinner ideas here. Gammon with Winter Chutney, Apricots & Cranberries or Lamb Guard of Honour with a Pesto and Pine Nut Crust both sound gorgeous to me.
This year, it's Christmas Day in France at my sister-in-law's so I have no idea what we'll be eating on the big day. What about you ? Are you getting ready for a traditional turkey dinner or trying something a bit different this year ? We've been making Christmas decorations out of toast here at The Madhouse this week but I have lots more baking projects on the cards between now and Christmas, so feel free to share any ideas you have that you think the Madhouse Mini-testers might enjoy too !
Disclosure : This is a sponsored post but I hope you found it entertaining nevertheless !
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im just getting the bits in for the main christmas dinner and a bit of booze, last year we had a lot of waste and i decided this year i would not bother
ReplyDeleteI too have to have a traditional turkey dinner, with loads of brussel sprouts, yum! I have stocked the cupboards with tins of sweets, xmas pudding and biscuits.
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