Turkey may be the go-to festive meat, but who is to say that
you can’t experiment and introduce different flavours into your Christmas menu?
RoastLeg of Welsh Lamb with Gin and Cranberry
Christmas is the time of year to gather all of your loved
ones around the dinner table to share happy memories over a hearty meal … so make it a meal to remember!
ChristmasRack of Welsh Lamb
Whether served as a Christmas Eve indulgence or to celebrate
the New Year, this festive flavoured Welsh Lamb is guaranteed to be a real
crowd pleaser. Mint sauce may be synonymous with lamb, as cranberry sauce is
with turkey, but there’s an abundance of different flavours that can accompany
this meat beautifully.
Have you thought about complementing your lamb with cider,
ginger and cinnamon? Or perhaps with Christmas spices? They really work a
treat!
By
the time Boxing Day arrives, everyone is pretty much ‘roasted’ out, but there
is always room for more the next day! Why not place a spoonful of mango chutney
onto some naan breads with a folder slice of leftover Welsh Lamb? For an extra
special dish, add a little spoonful of coriander mayo.
So instead of serving cold, leftover turkey this year, present your guests with a succulent lamb platter? Delicious!
So instead of serving cold, leftover turkey this year, present your guests with a succulent lamb platter? Delicious!
As much as you may plan your Christmas meals, you will
almost undoubtedly have leftover meat. And what better way to use it up than to
create a mouth-watering fruity curry?
Welsh Lamb is just divine in a curry – give it a try this
year, and serve with fragrant pilau rice, poppadoms and garlic naans.
I don't know what it is about Christmas and Ginger, but the two just go together like peas and carrots! What would Christmas be without gingerbread men or a lovely ginger cake, especially when you are talking a ginger cake with full on ginger flavours like this one!
Are you a fan of Artichoke and Spinach Dip? I know I am! It's one of those moreish dips you see on buffet tables during the holidays that you just can't get enough of. Usually served with torn bits of crusty bread it can be quite addictive!
I know it's winter and not really salad days . . . but what's a girl to do . . . I was craving salad today, which isn't actually a bad thing to crave per se . . . salad is pretty healthy stuff. I was thinking of a delicious Chicken Salad that I used to be able to get at a Mexican Restaurant in downtown Fredericton when we lived there . . . I have long forgotten the name of the restaurant . . . but not the salad. That's the way it usually goes . . . some people remember other things. I have food memories. It has ever been so.
I do get sent the neatest things in the post. The other day I received this lovely Blueberry 1940's Sweet Box from Amazon.co.uk. I wasn't even born in the 1940's . . . but the Toddster was a child then and it brought back a lot of nostalgia for him.
I had heard of some of these things, like the Pontefract cakes and Mint Balls, but had never tasted them.
I love boiled sweets, and Rhubarb and Custard are my favourite flavour! Great choice! Loving the Keep Calm mug as well!
Don't get me started on Peanut Brittle! I can't stop once I start munching on that peanutty goodness!
I love black liquorice and these Catherine Wheels look quite scrumptious with those little non pareil coated liquorice jellies in the centre. (My favourite bits in the all sorts box!) And I do fancy a Hershey's bar every now and again, don't you?
I am a bit fan of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls too, but the Pontefract Cakes are something very new to me. I remember one of the Pratt sisters in Larkrise to Candleford went to be with a man in Pontefract and them talking about Pontefract cakes in the show. These sweets must have been around for a very long time.
It's a delightful little gift box and perfect for the sweet lover in your life! It absolutely filled with lots of goodies and nostalgia.
You can get all sorts of gifts like this from Amazon. I find their service to be quick and reliable, and they usually have the best prices on things. Just sayin'
What is a Bumbleberry? Ahhh . . . I think I might know the answer to that. A bumbleberry is a Burple and Binkel berry (amazing colours you know), one berry being sweet and the other tart. The two colours, when cooked together, creating a flavour that is fantastically gloriously delicious! (of course!)
When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's about the only fresh fruit that made a regular appearance in our house was apples and bananas. Fresh fruit really wasn't all that available in our small town . . . and I expect if it was, it was probably really expensive. We didn't mind that much though . . . my mother always made sure we had lots of tinned fruit.
Well, the big day is just two weeks away. Is everyone all ready? Are all your gifts bought and wrapped? Cards written and sent?? Food ordered, puddings, cakes and pies baked?
Christmas Day is rapidly approaching, and it’s around this
time of year that many people choose to upgrade their cooker in preparation for
the big day. After all, you don’t want to feed Auntie Mabel a turkey that’s
flavoured with years’ worth of oven grime, or find that the plates on the hob
have broken just as you need to do the vegetables, do you? Getting a modern,
up-to-date cooker will ensure that Christmas dinner goes smoothly – or it will,
as long as you ensure your new cooker is equipped with certain crucial
features:
Energy Efficiency
With so much cooking to do for so many people, your oven’s likely to be in use pretty much constantly from lunchtime on Christmas Eve onwards – which might lead to a nasty surprise when the energy bill comes through the letterbox at the end of the month. Luckily, these days affordable energy-efficient cookers and ovens are available from most kitchen appliance retailers. A cooker in a good energy class (look out for those in class A, A+, A++ or A-20%) that’s able to reach the desired temperature as quickly as possible and burns gas efficiently could pay for itself in terms on monthly savings on your bill.
With so much cooking to do for so many people, your oven’s likely to be in use pretty much constantly from lunchtime on Christmas Eve onwards – which might lead to a nasty surprise when the energy bill comes through the letterbox at the end of the month. Luckily, these days affordable energy-efficient cookers and ovens are available from most kitchen appliance retailers. A cooker in a good energy class (look out for those in class A, A+, A++ or A-20%) that’s able to reach the desired temperature as quickly as possible and burns gas efficiently could pay for itself in terms on monthly savings on your bill.
High Capacity
Nobody wants to get up on Christmas morning to put on the turkey to find it won’t fit in the oven. Go for an oven with a high capacity and, no matter the size of your bird, you can rest assured it’ll fit nicely.
Nobody wants to get up on Christmas morning to put on the turkey to find it won’t fit in the oven. Go for an oven with a high capacity and, no matter the size of your bird, you can rest assured it’ll fit nicely.
ProCook Baking Trays
We’ve all been there – spending hours slaving away to prepare the best roast potatoes that’ve ever been served with Christmas dinner, telling all of the guests how fantastic they’ll be, waiting on tenterhooks for the end result…only to find half of your spuds stuck to the baking tray. Go for an oven that comes with ProCook baking trays, which are covered in hexagonal divots, and you never need worry about unevenly-cooked food becoming stuck to the tray again.
We’ve all been there – spending hours slaving away to prepare the best roast potatoes that’ve ever been served with Christmas dinner, telling all of the guests how fantastic they’ll be, waiting on tenterhooks for the end result…only to find half of your spuds stuck to the baking tray. Go for an oven that comes with ProCook baking trays, which are covered in hexagonal divots, and you never need worry about unevenly-cooked food becoming stuck to the tray again.
Safety Features
Nothing spoils Christmas like the chef going up in flames – so make sure your new cooker is equipped with safety features such as auto ignition, which prevents avoidable gas leakage when turning on the hob, and flame failure safety valves, which stop the gas supply if the flame is cut off. A glass cover will protect your hob during the brief periods that it’s not in use over Christmas, ensuring it’s in prime condition to cook as many tasty dishes as possible.
Nothing spoils Christmas like the chef going up in flames – so make sure your new cooker is equipped with safety features such as auto ignition, which prevents avoidable gas leakage when turning on the hob, and flame failure safety valves, which stop the gas supply if the flame is cut off. A glass cover will protect your hob during the brief periods that it’s not in use over Christmas, ensuring it’s in prime condition to cook as many tasty dishes as possible.
If you’re getting an upgrade on your cooker ready for
Christmas dinner, be sure it’s one with all the features needed to give your
family and friends the festive Yuletide feast they deserve. For a cooker that
has all of the useful features listed above and a host of other time- and
energy-saving innovations, look for a kitchen appliance manufacturer such as Amica, whose range of stylish,
modern and energy-efficient ovens and cookers are available at appliance
retailers across the UK.
Well, the Holidays are upon us and we are all on the precipace of one of the busiest times of the year. There are cards to write, presents to buy and wrap, houses to decorate and parties and get-togethers to plan! And let's not forget that gorgeous Christmas lunch we are all planning on cooking! I look so forward to my Christmas Dinner each year and more often than not, by the time I sit down to enjoy it . . . I'm too tired or stressed to enjoy it. I know you know what I am talking about. I'm often totally pooped by then!
Never fear however, once again the people at Bright House have put together their popular Christmas Kitchen, which is a virtual goldmine of hints, tips and advice to help get your Christmas Kitchen organized and your dinner plans running smoothly so that you will actually be able to manage and enjoy it all with less stress and more pleasure! There are tips to help you organize and get the most out of your refrigerator, advice on telly viewing, hints, tips and schedules to help you create the perfect Christmas lunch, fabulous recipes, clean up tips, cooking tips . . . and much much more. In short, pretty much everything you will need to make the day run well. Do hop on over and check it out. I was pleased to contribute some of my own tips, hints and recipes as well! As they say . . . every little helps!
I wanted to share a recipe with you today that is somewhat of a Christmas Tradition in our family. Its called War Cake and it just would not be Christmas in our house without it making an annual appearance in my holiday larder!
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