Christmas 2025

 

Christmas Eve: One of our favourite East Indian Cuisine Curry House's were open so we all settled in there for a scrumptious Christmas Eve dinner. Several delicious dishes were shared amongst us all as the snow fell fast and heavy outside. My husband's plate, pictured above, got to be the photo of honours. 

Christmas Day: The morning was quiet and bright from all the snow that fell the day before. As the temperatures dropped and the wind whistled outside, a humble slice of homemade pear sponge cake was enjoyed with a glass or two of champagne after seasonal greetings were shared. 

Christmas dinner was traditional. A seasoned herb roasted turkey with zesty oven roasted vegetables (parsnips, carrots, potatoes and Brussel sprouts) and a moist flavourful stuffing, were loaded with lashing of gravy. For dessert was pistachio Panettone and my baking served with a lovely spiced tea. 

Boxing Day: Was again quiet and more modest. With temperatures still holding well below the minus range, I made a hearty vegetable soup, which I will post about in the new year. Cheese and crackers, nuts, olives, nibbles and a selection of my baking held us throughout midday and early evening.   

Of course the Holidays... or Christmas wouldn't be without our Fortnum and Mason's order. Delightful culinary treats such as sauces, honey, jams, tea, coffee, biscuits, seasonings and condiments will be enjoyed throughout the year.  

Red Velvet White Creme Chip Cookies

A festive chocolate lovers delight... red velvet cookies are just as joyous as red velvet cupcakes and are divine dipped in a tall cool glass of milk or a warm mountainous mug of hot chocolate.     

Red Velvet White Creme Chip Cookies 

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makes 3 dozen 

2 cups (500ml) unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup ( 125ml) cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon (2ml) baking soda

1/2 teaspoon (2ml) salt

1 cup (250ml) softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup (177ml) white sugar

1/2 cup (125ml) packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla 

1 teaspoon (5ml) red gel food colour

1 package of CHIPITS white creme chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line a cookie tray with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and red gel food colour and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture, beating well. Stir in the package of white creme chips. Roll into tablespoon size balls and place on the prepared cookie tray. 

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Transfer to wire rack and cool slightly.  

 

Christmas 2019

Christmas Eve, after we had our usual nibbles an drinkies at our local pub and a walk to enjoy the festive lights; we settle for some homemade tomato soup, a dinner roll and a glass of Fortnum and Mason's Sparkling Tea beverage, to close the night.  

Christmas Morning, for brunch we had a round of homemade cranberry almond scones with Devonshire cream and fresh fruit to keep us going until an early Christmas dinner. 

Christmas Dinner, was Cornish hens, Brussels sprouts with blood orange vinegar and mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing with lashings of gravy.

... and we rounded out our dinner with a slice of Fortnum and Mason's Figgy pudding. Although lashing of custard may have been in order, a slice unadulterated was perfect! 

Boxing Day, was a quiet one spent with friends. We offered some of the usual... cheese and biscuits, olives, dried fruit and of course, my baking. However, I did make a savoury galette, cranberry cocktail sausages and coronation chicken cups. 

What Christmas of ours, would not be complete, without our Fortnum and Mason's order. A nice sampling to enjoy now and throughout the year. Loads of decadent things... honey, sauces, hot mustard, tea, jams, marmalades, puddings, glacé fruit, coffee, biscuits, chocolate, anniversary Heinz ketchup, and sparkling tea beverages.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday time. Whether sharing, enjoying or relaxing, we had a lovely one! - JD     

Mulled Wine

When it's cold outside this will certainly keep you warm and toasty. Fragrant mulled spices and wine simply embody the many shared celebrations throughout the holiday season. 

Mulled Wine

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In a large stock pot, bring 1/2 litre of water and spice bag to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. 

Add 1 litre of red wine, a 1/2 litre of orange juice, 1 oz of brandy and sugar to taste.

Gently heat to serving temperature. Stirring constantly. Do not boil. 

Notes: spice bag - place cinnamon sticks  orange peel, all spice and cloves in a muslin cloth. Tie with string. If you do not want to create your own then any ready made or prepared mulled spice bag will do.

Hope everyone is done with their Holiday planning and preparing. Wishing you the Merriest! - JD 

Wild Turkey

This cookbook seems very fitting seeing how turkey may be the choice meal around Christmas time. In Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge after coming to his senses new the importance of a large bird amongst other things. Some might see the turkey as the cumbersome edible table centre piece of Christmas past. While organic, meatless, and gluten - free become Christmas present and future. How ever you set the holiday table and which ever holiday feast you provide, one does not have to be visited by three ghosts to make one giddy as a school girl or boy to know that turkey is the essential Christmas dinner staple. 

This is the only cookbook I have completely dedicated to turkey. Which is fine. It offers 10 chapters and the one chapter that will be most useful come December 26th will be Chapter 9 - Leftovers and Surprises. Of course there are the usual recipes that have been turkeyfied... Turkey Sloppy Joes, Turkey a la King, Turkey Chili, Turkey Goulash, Turkey Gumbo, Teriyaki Turkey and even Turkey Tacos. 

All those recipes aside the recipe I wanted to share with you... well the two recipes I wanted to share with you are the Turkey Walnut Stew and the Cranberry Orange Relish. 

Turkey Walnut Stew

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1 breast of turkey

1 medium onion, minced

1/4 cup butter

3 cups chicken or turkey stock (or water with bouillon cubes)

2 cups English walnuts

juice of 3 lemons

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Nuts are an excellent thickener. However feel free to use other nuts. Hickory nuts would be great. 

Grind the walnuts in the meat grinder or mortar and pestle. Cut the turkey breast into bite-size chunks. Sprinkle these with salt and pepper. Heat the butter in a skillet, and sauté the turkey pieces on both sides until lightly browned, then drain. Sauté the chopped onion for 3-4 minutes, then stir in the ground walnuts. Add the chicken or turkey stock, lemon juice, cinnamon, and a little salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring as you go. Reduce the heat, simmer, and stir for 10 minutes. Add the turkey pieces to the skillet of contents, cover, and simmer on very low heat for 40 minutes, stirring from time to time. Serve hot over fluffy rice. 

Cranberry Orange Sauce

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16 ounces fresh or fresh-frozen cranberries

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup blanched almonds, slivered

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons grated orange rind

Using a fine mesh, grate 2 teaspoons of orange peel from the outside, avoiding the inner white pith, which is bitter. Mix all the ingredients except the almonds in a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the cranberries pop open. Remove from heat and skim the scum off the surface with a spoon. Stir in the almonds, pour into a serving container, and refrigerate until time to eat.

I am going to add a third recipe to share from the Wild Turkey cookbook and it is a basting  sauce in case you are looking for something different this holiday season.

Lemon Butter Basting Sauce 

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1/2 cup butter

juice of 4 lemons

1 tablespoon Liquid Smoke*

1 tablespoon white-wine Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tablespoon salt

* Liquid Smoke is sold in a bottle at most grocery shops in the spice/baking aisle.

Melt butter in a sauce pan, and stir in the other ingredients.

Mix well but do not boil. Use to baste broiled or grilled turkey breast meat. 

Hope everyone is doing well. My finger is much better and I managed to get more Christmas baking done. Today, I will be jetting around E-town spreading holiday cheer as I share my holiday baking. - JW 

What Did I Bake?

Seems like I got a little distracted in the kitchen and made mincemeat tarts instead.

Enjoy your weekend everyone! - JW  

Aromatic Chai Tea Cake

Yesterday I made this cake in the afternoon. On a cold day with the oven working and the smell of warm comforting spices this hit the spot. I found the recipe to be fairly easy. The texture was spongy but light tasting. This would be a nice change to pumpkin pie. If you are looking for a dessert to serve this Thanksgiving or Christmas this is one. To make this you will need the following: 

1 1/2 cups of milk
10 Chai Tea bags

3 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
5 eggs 
2 teaspoons Pure vanilla extract

First preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 8 inch round pans. Believe it or not I don't have two round pans instead I used one bundt/tube pan. Place that aside.

In a sauce pan, heat milk over medium heat, add the tea bags, remove from heat and let steep for about 15 minutes. I used a loose Spicy Chai tea, bought at a local tea shop, Cally's Teas. Placing about 20-30 grams worth into two Blackthorn Garden D.I.Y. tea bags, I brought back from England. Remove the tea bags and set milk aside and let it cool completely. 

In a bowl, blend together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Using a standing electric mixer or a hand held electric mixer blend brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Approximately 3 minutes. Reducing the speed to low and alternating the cooled milk and flour mixture, blending until smooth. Having one of those standing mixers makes things go so much more easier. Divide the batter evenly among the pans or in my case spread the batter evenly in the tube the pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 30 minutes for two 8 inch pans or 45 minutes for one bundt/tube pan until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans or pan for 10 minutes then remove the cake from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely. 

This is how I served it. Homemade caramel sauce and pears. You can try custard, whipping cream, creme fraiche and or an apple pear compote. If you make the two 8 inch cakes you can layer with a cream cheese icing for more of a traditional look.