When things don't go to plan . . .

Friday 23 December 2022

Mince Pies 





Every have one of those days?  One of those days when all that you turn your hand to ends up as dust?  I had one of those days yesterday.  I have a day like that every now and then. I just don't tell you about them.

Days where I forget to put water in the bread machine and come home from church to find that I have a lovely bread pan of toasty buttery flour, but nothing else.



Mince Pies 





Or days when I try out a new recipe only to discover that the recipe is a dud.  The cake has fallen. The cookies have burnt.  The casserole tastes blah . . . 


We all have them.  Days where all of our brilliant plans turn into dust. When things just don't go to plan . . .



easy christmas pudding cookies 





Like these Easy Christmas Pudding Cookies. I saw online where someone had used Tunnocks Tea Cakes to make these cute little Christmas Puddings.  

I didn't have any Tunnocks Tea Cakes, but I had Chocolate Mallows,  so I thought I would try out the idea. My thinking was the grandsons would really enjoy them.

What I got was Mallows with a decidedly grey looking glaze on top.  For some reason the dark chocolate of the cookies bled through the glaze. There was no white brandy cream on top!

And not only that, but as the glaze spread so did the decorations. Never mind, the boys will eat them anyways, but they are not picture perfect by any stretch and were a huge disappointment to me! 



Mince Pies 




Likewise, my Mince Pies.  They look picture perfect eh?  The pastry turned out beautiful as well.  I always use my Butter and Lard pastry. It is impeccable. 

It always turns out light and flaky, perfection in and of itself. I could just sit and eat the pastry all on its own and in fact often do.



Mince Pies 





All of the leftover scraps get pulled together and rerolled, spread with butter folded, cut into squares and baked. In my family we have always enjoyed this treat.  So flaky and buttery. We eat it spread with more butter, or better yet, butter and peanut butter! (I know! Yikes!)


Sometimes I will spread the rerolled scraps with butter and cinnamon sugar, rolling them up and slicing them to make Pets de Soeur, a French delicacy from my father's heritage, which translated in English is not a very nice name and used to make us giggle a lot when we were children. (Nun's farts.)



Mince Pies 





The problem with my mince pies yesterday was not the pastry, nor even the filling, but my lack of filling.  I was so concerned that I would have blowouts that I don't think I put enough mincemeat into them.

They still taste good, but there is very little of that burst of mincemeat spice and sticky fruity sweetness to feed your Christmas senses.



Easy Christmas Puddings 





So, after the spectacular failure of my Christmas pudding cookies and then the disappointment of my Mince Pies, I decided to hang up my pinny for the day.


Hence, no new recipe to share today . . . and I really had such great plans for the holidays. All these recipes that I was going to cook and bake that never came to fruition.



Mince Pies 





I'm tired now and lacking in inspiration. I still have to bake my whipped shortbreads and make my mother's Feather Squares before my family arrives.


I sure hope that they turn out. 


I also want to clean out my fridge for all of the holiday goodies that I still have to pick up!  Yikes!  And they are calling for some very nasty weather on top of it all! 



Mince Pies 



I am doing a Beef Tenderloin Roast on Christmas Eve and I haven't been able to find Brussels Sprouts anywhere to cook as a side.  The few that I saw were the size of small baseballs.  Why not call them cabbages and be done with it!

I think sometimes we put far too many expectations on ourselves, and into our holiday celebrations, don't you?

We want everything to be picture perfect and, indeed, the internet is filled with images of other people's picture-perfect lives and creations.



Mince Pies 




What we fail to see is the chaos going on just outside the camera's eye.  I have always tried to be pretty honest with you.  Sometimes you get some really good photos, some of the time not so great photos, but always food that tastes good and that is easy to prepare.


I share my chaos and will continue to . . .  with Christmas Pudding cookies that are dismal and Mince Pies that fall short of what I wanted them to be.




Mince Pies 




That is just to say that I am only human, and I don't live a perfect life, or even always cook perfect food.  But what I do choose to share,  is always very good.  I share in the hopes that you will enjoy it.


I am done for Christmas 2022.  Next up is New Years and then we have a whole new year of delicious Cooking Adventures to explore together. I, for one, am looking forward to it all!

In the meantime, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  May all your Mince Pies be flaky and filled with flavor. May your Christmas Puddings have the wow factor and may all your dreams come true.

Be happy, be blessed and be content.  I will catch you on the flip side!  I'll just be here with my family eating not so perfect mince pies and Christmas pudding cookies, and hopefully some shortbread, feather squares, and a darn fine roast!


Happy Holidays!


Mince Pies

 


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13 comments

  1. Marie, we all have them. Today I was supposed to spend the whole day making Christmas cookies and packing them in pretty boxes with big satin bows to hand out to my neighbors and friends tomorrow night. Instead my dishwasher broke, my kitchen is a disaster with the dishwasher uninstalled, parts all over the kitchen and husband trying to fix it (yes, at 2:30am!!). I'm desperately trying to figure out a 'plan B"! Have a lovely Christmas and stay warm and cozy.

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    1. Oh my. I hope you were able to get it fixed before Christmas! Otherwise that's a lot of handwashing! A very Merry Christmas to you. You stay warm and cozy also! xoxo

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  2. Your blog is wonderful and I look forward to seeing all your posts daily! We all have days such as the one you just had, and all we can do is chuckle and carry on. I wanted to wish you and yours the Merriest Christmas and a very Happy New Year, and tell you I'm looking forward to reading all your posts next year!

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    1. Thanks so much Carien! A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you also! Can't wait to see what it brings to the table! xoxo

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  3. Merry Christmas Marie, I too, over think Christmas, but I am a lot better than I used to be. I am cooking a beef topside joint and praying it roasts beautifully! We'll see!
    Look forward to more delicious recipes in 2023 and hope you have a very love filled time.

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    1. Merry Christmas Faye! It sounds lovely. I hope it turns out beautifully also! All the best in 2023! xo

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  4. Just tell the boys they are Harry Potter cookies. They'll love them no matter what color they are. I had quite a time with my spritz cookies. A little too much flour. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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    1. Great idea Raine! All the joy is in the making anyways, right! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! xoxo

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  5. At our church lately, we've been talking a lot about "Plan B". We just found out the hosts for our Christmas family gathering have Covid in the house, so we're having to rethink the plans...

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  6. Can’t wait to see the next recipe you share with us all Marie. Your knowledge is a beautiful gift, and the sharing of your life long work in food craft is priceless. Wish you a great new year, cheerio from afar, Australia.

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    1. Thank you so much! That is very kind of you to say. It's nice to be appreciated! xo

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  7. I've had too many of those days lately! I need to catch up with you, noticing you made several posts I'm interested in but haven't had time to visit yet! Earlier this month I did a post on keeping it real, so I thank you for this. It's nice to know I'm not the only one sidelined at times by bad recipe moments or other things. (By the way, your iced lemon gingerbread bars are a hit and I linked to you in my current post.) I've hardly touched the computer in over a week so Merry Winter Holidays and In-Between Week to you! I hope your Christmas was a good one.

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