Tuesday 20 December 2011

In my (festive) kitchen - December 2011




Using the same format as Celia, of the fabulous Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, I'm going to show you just a little of what is happening in my kitchen this December. I'm probably more festive than you'd guess from my recent posts, it's just that I'm running out of time to blog all the things I've made!

Anyway, to start I'd like to introduce you to Rudolph. As a child I was so obsessed with fluffy animal toys - I saved all of my pocket money until I could buy a new one, and I loved to play with them. Christmas weakens my adult resolve to not buy these toys anymore, and suddenly I found that Rudolph had jumped into my shopping basket and I didn't have the heart to tell him that he belonged with his friends on the shop shelf rather than at home with me, so home he came.


In my kitchen is a big box of clementines - obviously these are only some of them. Christmas for me always means satsumas, tangerines and clementines. As a child I wasn't allowed oranges, but had a special one in my stocking each year. I loved feeling down to the bottom of my stocking and getting that rough skinned fruit out, along with a shiny pound coin, and of course, all the other bounty contained in the stocking!

The card is one made by my gorgeous mum, and I think she's very clever. I love the simplicity, and how it says Christmas, but in an understated way. Thank you J! The tealight holder is a recent acquisition - I think it'll make a lovely festive table decoration for this season, and a great place to put a Christmas scented tealight. 


This year's batch of mincemeat. Made to Delia Smith's classic recipe, but with a few little tweaks of my own. I ought to post this separately, but probably won't get round to it!


Well, this is my most festive baking tin. I can't decide whether it's a snowflake or some sort of exotic flower, or what, but I really like it. There should be an upcoming post making best use of this festive beauty soon.


I recently bought these rather lovely star shaped cutters, perfect for creating festive decorations. I used them to make the peppermint creams below, and have used them for another bake, to be posted soon. I particularly love the little storage tin they come in, which has the shapes cleverley and prettily printed on the base of the tin so that you can fit them back in again without crushing them or resorting to naughty words!



Peppermint creams. The first time I've tried these and they were delicious - well, how can icing sugar combined with condensed milk and peppermint extract not be delicious? But no recipe because I think I got the icing sugar/condensed milk proportions wrong - they crushed rather easily. It's such a shame that I'm going to have to keep making them until they're right....


Chocolate mendiants - so easy to make (although mine aren't with tempered chocolate - a skill I have yet to even attempt, let alone aquire!) and disproportionately well received. They look very impressive when packaged in a cellophane bag with a pretty ribbon. Easy to adapt - just pick your favourite chocolate and your favourite dried fruit and nuts!


Check out what is other people's kitchens at this festive time of the year by visiting Celia's lovely blog, Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, and looking to the panel on the right where there are links to other people's kitchens.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

C, I'm humming Christmas tunes just reading your post. Thanks for playing, and how gloriously festive everything is! I reckon Rudolph would have made it to my basket as well - how cute is he! Mendiants looks beautiful, as does the mincemeat - I didn't make it this year, although I had been hoping to. Maybe I need to try out a batch in the "off" season.. ;-)

Have a wonderful Chrissie! xxx

cocoa and coconut said...

Christmas kitchens are always that much more fun! Filled with special food and decorations, what's not like? I love it!

Maggie said...

Everything looks wonderful. I too make Delia's mincemeat. The snowflake tin, I now have baking tin envy. The chocolate mendiants look very impressive too. Happy Christmas and New Year C.

heidiannie said...

Love all the yummie goodies your kitchen hold!
Merry Christmas!

Anna's kitchen table said...

Merry Christmas! Everything looks so festive!

Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things said...

Oh, lovely! May I pop in for a cuppa please ( :

Joanna @ Zeb Bakes said...

Rudolph looks so happy in your kitchen, you definitely couldn't have left him behind. Here's wishing you a very Happy Christmas :)

Johanna GGG said...

love peeking around your kitchen - it does look very festive - I love the star cutters - I have one star and now I was lots of different stars!

Caroline said...

Celia - it's always fun to play! Glad it made you feel Christmassy! Mincemeat in the off season would be great - it always seems like a cold weather thing to me.

Brittany - thanks!

Maggie - Thank you. Delia's mincemeat is a good one isn't it.

Heidiannie - thank you!

Anna - thanks! Merry Christmas to you too!

Lizzy - Of course you may!

Joanna - I'm such a sucker for a cuddly toy there was no way I could leave him! Happy Christmas to you too.

Johanna - I loved all the different star shapes, just couldn't resist them!

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