In the Christmas Pantry
I love to cook. I love to bake, especially. I love to have friends around for dinner, and so every Christmas we have a party on Christmas Eve. I usually spend quite a bit of time deciding on the menu and then around 2 full days of cooking/baking etc, to produce 'the party'.This year the menu included:
'The Gammon' - Lemon and Lime marinade and topped with slices of fresh citrus fruits
Coconut and Lime Dal
Chicken and Chorizo Pizza
Prawn and Smoked Salmon Pizza
Potato Salad (made from home grown Pink Fir Apple Potatoes)
Vegetable Rice
Sage and Onion Stuffing balls, wrapped in streaky bacon
Nigella's Cranberry Mince Pies
Mango and Passion Fruit Trifle
Coconut Marshmallows
Rocky Road
Sausage Rolls
Cheeseboard with Home Made Chutneys ('Autumn Chutney', 'Plum and Squash Chutney', Roasted Beet and Tomato Relish', 'Pineapple Chutney' and 'Rhubarb and Ginger Chutney'
Game Pie
Caramelised Orange and Pork Pie
Mini Pork Pies
With the exception of the pies, everything else was handmade by myself; the Pizzas though were made by my husband, Richard. I also made home made gifts of Rocky Road, Butternut Squash Cake, Coconut Marshmallows and Chutneys.
The pleasure I gain from making these, I cannot tell you, what this means to me. This year has been a particularly difficult one - health wise, family and work matters - and my levels of baking and creativity in general rise and wane according to how I feel emotionally.
2011 - From about September onwards, I actively sought out recipes of all kinds, preserves, cakes, breads...you name it, I looked for it. It was this that led me to realise that in doing so, I was seeking to assuage work-based stress and to keep me going, and sane; quite literally...I baked and cooked and bottled and preserved non-stop!!!
In comparison, 2012 has been quite different. I've had inordinate stress levels, and some complex health issues arose, but rather than inspire me to be creative, these stresses stifled, nay, they crippled my creativity; not only that, but the stress crippled my soul to a large extent.
So, to say that I am pleased to have been able to be so creative this Christmas is something of a small miracle, as I have also had to contend with some quite serious health issues throughout this year.
So, here's hoping that 2013 will see a burgeoning of creativity in the pantry, and should you require any of my recipes, I'll be happy to supply you ... thank you for reading.
Jools
