To All Daughters ... & Sons ...

Yep, one day it will be your turn to make Christmas Dinner. [Can't wait] So take a few tips from me in readiness for Next Year's celebrations :

Always have a spare table - there's often a couple of waifs or strays popularising themsleves just before Christmas with the dropped in comments ... 'Oh I don't mind being on my own' ... 'My parents have gone on a cruise for three weeks' ... 'I've split up with my boyfriend/girlfriend'... obviously these desperados are in great need of company ... joining you for lunch / dinner will be great comfort to them ... well done you ! Just make sure they do their fair share of washing up !

Don't make too many vegetables ~ it gets confusing ~ you'll need lots of large dishes ~ and they just take up too much space.

Always allow extra time for meat to cook.

Make a welcome drink ~ saves time serving an assortment.

Hey ~ and don't forget the napkins ~ so trending atm.

Cranberry Surprise:
save a couple of wine bottles and lids for storing this yummy welcome drink.

Med pack Dried Cranberries
3 Squeezed Oranges
3/4 Box Cranberry Juice
1/4 bottle Cointreau
1 Bottle Champagne or Cava

[Alter quantities if you want more of a kick - or weaken it to pace yourselves]

Pour all ingredients into large bowl [but NOT Champagne/Cava/Bubbly stuff]
and put into sterilised bottles.
[to sterilise - place bottles in med heated oven 20 mins then cool or use straight from dishwasher - also when glass has cooled].
Store bottles of cranberry drink for 3 days in a dark place.
Chill
Shake and serve - drop a few cranberries into the bottom of each glass
Top up with Champagne, Cava or something bubbly.

*The cranberries soften in the juice and alcohol during the dark period in the cupboard and not only look impressive when served, glowing at the bottom of the glass but can be easily drunk in with the champagne, so ~ no ugly poking about in the glass to tease out the odd pieces of fruit lazing below the surface.

You've even got time to make it for New Year ???

Enjoy it !

Jill

Memory Loss ...

Pardon me for being forgetful ~ but couldn't remember where the term 'BLOG' came from. I must have spent a collective half-hour last night ~ whilst clearing up after Christmas festivities, working it's origin out. So ~ I'd either had too much port [oops - showing my age] or just becoming far too forgetful [oops - acting my age].

Anyway, this is it ... Web Log = WeB LOG = BLOG ... of course !

We all knew that.

Happy Boxing Day everyone,

Jill ... and still my font won't change colour ... ?

Happy Christmas Everyone ...

Christmas Eve and Home Alone ... !!!


Can't really complain because this pristine picture postcard image is where I was last week.
So, clearly I've recovered and managed to ski some ... Keeping up with the teenagers on the snow and the apres ski too !!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE ~ and Thank You for reading my blogs.

More to come in the new year - pics, stories, recipes, maybe a few tales about my travels - and I might even finish that novel.

Just hope I can make this post change colour - what's with the grey???

Jill

Napkin Rings back on the Table ...

Apparently, napkin rings are now a must for dining.

M & S and John Lewis have reported an increase in sales of napkin rings. As the trend for formal dining continues, increase in sales has been recorded at approx 30% up.

Also in the must-have dining table accessory race: Tablecloths, Placemats.

*The original concept for the napkin ring, thought to be created by the French during the 18th Century, was to 'privatise' the napkin, enabling it to be reused over a number of days ! Hmm ?

And so, the latest home dining fashion - black slate napkin rings ... chalk your guest's name on the top - was most probably someone else's new idea.

Enjoy your Christmas Dinner ~ with or without napkin rings.

Jill

Surprise Parcel : Lonely as a Platform Bench

Just opened the post and in a white padded envelope, it seemed like a book had arrived ... my deductions were correct yet I hadn't ordered anything from Amazon. It wasn't the Delicious Mag I wait for, mouth watering every month. It wasn't even an enforced Natural Remedy mag the result of once ordering some Acai Berry ... It was this :~

POETRY RIVALS COLLECTION 2010 THE RHYTHM OF LIFE

and ... on ... page 150 ... this :~

Lonely as a Platform Bench

Lonely as a platform bench
she butts her fag end into
grey ash mountains, waiting
for the past to disappear,
her mobile burrs, spews
whispers in her ear,
soggy as a wet newspaper.

A star point flashes
on the neck of a green glass bottle,
she drinks to its signal
ten maybe more, fall to the floor,
the present grows painless
and the world withdraws.

Drums roll inside her head, in her bed,
waves break in measured thunder,
castles toss across the sky and turn,
all lies un-leaving
as the sun comes up
honeyed on the window sill,
the lonesomeness begins.

Gillian Hesketh

That feels good. Now for the collection ....

Jill

Question ~ How long can I store my Christmas Cake for?

Congratulations to Daughter in Distress who's obviously made a Christmas Cake ! I wish I could send you a prize. Suppose there's no real reason why I couldn't - but for the fact that I don't have your postcode to hand, I've no wrapping paper, the post office is closed, it's icy out there ~ and I've not finished my Christmas shopping yet!

Brilliant news on the baking front though! Really Well Done!

Christmas cakes are best left for at least a month after baking, probably more [obv wrapped up].

Don't keep cakes in the fridge.

Pierce holes in the cake with ie. cocktail stick or fine knitting needle for moisturising.

Feed the cake every couple of weeks with ie. Brandy.

You can keep the cake wrapped in foil and maybe a tin for some months ... the cake may dry out so will need more ie Brandy!

Marzipan tip - if you like old-fashioned rich grainy marzipan ~ substitute some of the icing sugar for castor sugar. Add extra egg yolk. Add ie Brandy. Yum Enjoy.

Try this recipe with a hint of orange and maybe a drop of ie Brandy ~ I would exchange some of the listed 175g of icing sugar for castor sugar too.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4827/zesty-orange-marzipan

If you're sending me a piece, cut the icing off, thanks.

Jill

Brussels Sprouts ... The ONLY point to Christmas ??

Must we have Brussels sprouts ?

It might be rude not to. I mean, we don't want to offend Belgium's capital, Brussels. Yet, fore-runners of Brussels Sprouts are claimed to have been cultivated in Ancient Rome! And, while we're at it, shouldn't it be Brussels' sprouts? or would that mean the sprouts belong to Brussels and not us, once we've pre-paid and Tesco has delivered them in the alloted £3.50 two hour window, to our door. Plus, as sprout is the name of an item and therefore, not only a noun but also connected to the capital city, Brussels, should sprout have a capital letter? Sprout? Or should we just call it by it's real name, Brassica Oleracea?

Either way, BBC Good Food have found 20 recipes for cooking sprouts:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do?keywords=Brussels%20sprouts&searchType=recipes

Steam sprouts and add lots of pepper and butter ~ keep it simple, that's what I suggest.

Save complications for the cocktails !

More worryingly, why am I wasting time on sprouts when I could be stressing about making home-made stuffing ... or writing 'that' novel ...

Especially if all the sprouts have already been frozen solid !!!

So if all the sprouts in the world aren't frozen and you get chance to eat some over Christmas ... made especially from one of the 20 recipes ... They're full of Vitamins A and C, Folic Acid and of course, Fibre ...

Jill

Font colours ...

Just Testing

For some reason the font colour won't change when I ask it to.

I did ask nicely.

Said please.

Must I say pretty please?

Okay ... pretty please ....

Jill

Snow, Ice and The Red Carpet ...

Mother in distress reporting in ...

Well, I've just waved off 3 precious packages to the M6 and onwards to the South, hoping that the wonderful northern sunny day follows them along their journey.

Take a coat, here's some food, don't drive too fast, be careful of the ice, change drivers if you get the least bit sleepy, its petrol, not diesel ... the list goes on ... and on ... and on ...

Their destination: the Premiere of Disney's Tron movie at Leicester Square ...

Have a shave [the son, not the daughter], wear shoes not trainers for the red carpet, make sure you put a shirt on [the son, not the daughter - besides the usual attire course] preferably a shirt with buttons, keep your chin up, look happy ... ie smile all the time even if you don't want to, don't say 'er' if someone asks you something, don't try skidding along the red carpet, don't forget to say hi mum ...

Chin towards the camera, eyes wide open, say cheese ....

Not only am I living the journey but I'll be looking out on the news extra programmes for a shot of them ... on the red carpet of course.

Live premiere webcam:

http://www.markboardman.moonfruit.com/#/live-premiere-web-cam/4545500624

Jill

Wow - I've just won a prize ...

Must share this with you all ...

I've just won a prize !! Not the lottery or anything like that ... much better ... a whole package of bare Minerals ...

i.d. bare Minerals foundations, concealer and Face Fashion ... Urban Vibe ...

So, I'm going to take a long bath, get ready for a night out, apply all the products and let you know the results ....

Lucky me....

Jill

Hello Everyone ...

I suppose I should include a picture of my garden, covered in snow ... impossible just now as I live in probably the only part of the country which hasn't had any yet !!

However ... it is scarily icy ... so for all you young ladies out there ... [yes, I know I sound like your mum] Please put some sensible Boots on your Feet - and Wear a Coat !!

Even if you're going to a city centre bar or night-club - take an old coat or jacket ~ that way, if you lose it - or forget where you left it - it won't be too painful on the pocket.

Okay, lecture over ....

Enjoy the party season. Keep your mobiles with you at al times. Make sure you have credit. Share a cab. Don't take sweets off a stranger ... You know the rest ...

Jill