Making the Christmas cake is my idea of celebrating my November birthday. My daughter Sam helps me. It’s a tradition we began years ago and we love to do it. The kitchen smells of Christmas as we chop and mix together.
If you would like the recipe, you’ll find it by scrolling back to my post from last November with the title, “Christmas Cake, Leaves and Landscaping”. It’s not too late to make it. Personally I find cakes baked months ahead taste stale and unappetising. Perhaps that’s why some people think they don’t like Christmas cake. The cake should taste fresh, fruity and boozy. Have a go at making your own if you haven’t tried it. You’ll be amazed at the difference.
Time to think about other Christmas food too. For a few years Allan and I have enjoyed a vegetarian dinner on Christmas Day. We do have meat on other days but my Festive Flan is so delicious that it’s become a must-have. I serve it with homemade cranberry sauce, roast potatoes and parsnips and my parsnip wine.
You might think this is a lacklustre Christmas dinner if you enjoy a traditional meal but honestly it’s truly delicious and we look forward to it every year. Button sprouts, leeks, carrots and apple with a creamy cashew sauce in a pastry case. In case you’d like to try it for Christmas Day or any other celebration meal, here’s my recipe.
Festive Flan Shortcrust pastry to line a flan dish. Make the pastry and line the greased flan dish and prick pastry all over. Rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 190C/170C for a fan oven. Bake the pastry for 10minutes, no longer. Prepare the rest of the ingredients while the pastry is baking. 50g Cashew Nuts 2 Carrots, peeled and sliced 1 medium Leek, chopped A few Baby sprouts, trimmed small bunch of Parsley, finely chopped 1 large Cox Apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks. 1 Vegetable Stock Cube ( I use Kallo organic) Salt and Pepper Grind the cashews in a food processor and put aside. In a large deep frying pan, saute leeks gently, then add carrots. Add a little water, crumbled stock cube and the chopped parsley. Simmer for about 8 minutes. Add sprouts and apple chunks. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the ground cashews and stir well. You may need to add a little more water to make a creamy sauce. Put all this mixture into the pastry case. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve with roast potatoes and parsnips, and cranberry sauce.
My recipe for cranberry sauce and also rum sauce to serve with Christmas pudding are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook.
I need to have sprouts, carrots and parsnips available in the garden for maximum flavour and freshness. I hope to have a few carrots ready although the crops are dwindling now. The parsnips and sprouts should be at their best by Christmas. A bit of frost will improve them. I want small tight sprouts to include in the flan and they will be sweet and tasty.
Although the flowers have almost gone the vegetable garden is ongoing. In the polytunnels I have carrots, parsnips and celeriac to use now, while Spring cabbages, cauliflowers and garlic are ticking along slowly for May harvests. These will be adequately protected from the ravages of Winter in the tunnels.
Outdoors I have sprouts and kale to use soon, onions to grow over Winter and I’ve planted out the broad beans I grew from seed. I’ve grown a variety called “The Sutton”. Not used them before but the seeds germinated well and produced sturdy little plants. I covered them with wire netting because pigeons pecked at last year’s leaves.
The deciduous trees are shedding leaves rapidly in the wind and the ground is blanketed. The few still clinging are colourful and lovely to see. Berries are hanging on and glowing on the naked branches.
A lone Cosmos plant has been producing plenty of pure white flowers. Frost is forecast so they won’t last long. I took a snapshot of them to save the pleasure. The Fuchsias are also hanging on with their pretty, blousey blooms.
In the neighbouring trees two large crows were calling to each other and flapping about in the branches. They caught my eye as I listened to their caws. I had my camera and zoomed in to try to capture them.
Squirrels are visiting, looking for handouts and attempting to break into the bird feeders. I enjoy watching their antics.
Back indoors I decided it was time to bottle my parsnip wine. It’s been maturing under the stairs for a year and looks perfect. It’s a very easy wine to make and is full of flavour and the satisfying warmth which is so pleasant in Winter. Its wonderful golden colour just glows.
If you keep everything clean and allow the wine to mature, there’s no need to add anything to this wine to produce a perfectly crystal-clear result. It’s a natural process and it doesn’t require chemical interference. Cheap, delicious, beautiful, satisfyingly alcoholic and fun to make. My recipe with detailed instructions and tips are in my Earthy Homemaker’s Cookbook, available with Amazon if you follow this link.
If you don’t want to buy from Amazon, please contact me.
Christmas isn’t very far away now. Must think of something for a family Christmas card. Busy fingers. I usually make one but I might plump for one of my photographs this year instead of a hand-painted design. Here’s an old one I painted a few years ago.
I hope your own preparations are going to plan. Stay warm, stay well and enjoy the season. With you again in a couple of weeks. Bye for now.
Living a contented creative life. 