Holiday Almanac December 10: Shopping & Answer Cake

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

this is (part of) the christmas section at the shop around the corner from our flat. things i don't understand on this shelf include: all of the things.

Today's Almanac has me going to the shops 'early in the afternoon to avoid crowds' and stocking up on all the necessary groceries I'll need for the rest of the baking that this month still has in store (someone help me). It's a work day, so I made a quick pit stop at the supermarket on my lunch break to pick up a few needed things, but if I'm being honest, it was more because the Almanac told me I had to than because I actually needed any of the groceries. Shopping in a city where you don't own a car is always a bit different than shopping with a car, because you can't buy as many things and you have to go to the grocery a lot more often, but I make it work... and when we need a big batch of heavy staples like flour, sugar, olive oil and wine, Judson just goes instead.

And although I hate going to the grocery store when it's crowded, there's something exciting about going to a British supermarket this time of year. I've lived in Scotland long enough to know all the 'new-to-me' things that the shop has to offer year-round, but this is only my third Christmas here, and every year I find another strange new Christmas food I'm dying to try (this year's is brandy butter and pourable custard. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THEM??). Our first Christmas here I discovered how Scots associate Stilton with Christmas and it is still odd to me. Like, this time of year in the average supermarket, you can buy a dinner-plate-sized wheel of Stilton for £3, which, although I love cheese, still seems a bit excessive. When I asked a friend about this recently, her response was 'I don't know why it's so much more popular now. I mean, I personally don't feel the need to swap out my cheeses based on the season, as I love all cheeses no matter the season, but maybe for some people it's important?' So there you go. If I can find a use for brandy butter, I'll let you know!

The other instructions for the day were to make an 'Answer Cake,' some kind of cake that involved a cake mix, frosting, and the pan all in one box. Obviously I couldn't find one of those, so I whipped up a quick half-recipe of  this cake and it wasn't half-bad.

File christmas puds under the list of british Christmas foods i don't understand, they look like this, but this is not a real christmas pud, just an ornament made to look like one hanging on our tree.

So consider this one done. I got the things I needed for tomorrow's treat (one I'm pretty excited about, if I do say so!), and even if I still have to hit the grocery store twice more before the end of the weekend, it still helped get things a little bit more done today.

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. I hate going to the grocery at Christmas time because it's always so crowded and busy, but doing it early in the day really does help... if only my work schedule allowed that more often! And as for the 'Answer Cake,' it really wasn't too shabby, either. 

Holiday Almanac December 9: Decorating & Appetiser Puffs

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

In Eleanor's family, the Christmas tree was never decorated until Christmas Eve, after the kids went to bed, and it was a silver aluminum tree with a coloured wheel underneath that spun to turn the tree different colours.

But when I was a little kid, we lived a few hours away from both sets of my grandparents, and so we always spent Christmas in St. Pete with them. Because of this, my parents would celebrate Christmas early with us as a family before we traveled, so every year a few days before Christmas we would bake a 'Happy Birthday, Jesus!' cake, open all of our gifts to each other, and then drive late at night to Eleanor's house, where we would stay for the duration of the Christmas holidays. Consequently, we always put our tree up a lot earlier than Eleanor, but never before December 1, as my parents always thought that was tacky.

Judson and I have largely stuck with the 'after December 1' rule for our tree trimming (and I'm proud to say we've had a real live tree every year that we've been married except for our first year in Scotland, when we had no money and no ornaments to put on one), but this year we broke the rule and put the tree up two days after Thanksgiving... oops.

Anyway, decorating is one of my favourite Christmas traditions with Judson-- we light a bunch of wintry candles, put on old-timey Christmas music, and then hang ornaments (and make fun of the ugly ones we each treasure) and put out our wee Christmas village... and afterward we drink mulled wine and watch Christmas Vacation for the millionth time. It's always fun and it's rapidly becoming my favourite part of December.

2010.

2015.

So since today's directions have me 'replacing broken [ornaments] and checking tree lights,' here are some photos of this year's decorations... and since the Almanac asked me to make 'Appetiser Puffs' but did not include directions on how to do so, here are some photos of something we'll just call Appetiser Puffs (mushroom filling wrapped in puff pastry dough) which I made over the weekend for our party. My dad devised the original recipe for these, and this is the umpteen millionth time I've made these mushroom turnovers-- ahem, Appetiser Puffs-- and they always turn out delicious. In fact, I even have a photo of Judson brushing egg wash over a batch of these to take to a holiday party on Christmas in 2010, ages before we got engaged back when neither of us had any idea how to cook and we were just such babies.

However, I can't find my dad's recipe anywhere, so I used  this recipe with the following modifications: shallots instead of onions, olive oil instead of butter, a splash of vermouth, fresh thyme instead of dried, 4 sliced garlic cloves, and a lot less sour cream. They were great! 

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. I love decorating for Christmas, and these mushroom turnovers are one of my favourite parts of Christmas. Make yourself some mushroom turnovers and get those Christmas ornaments out!

Holiday Almanac December 8: Snowflake Cookies

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

I don’t own a snowflake cookie cutter.*

And I couldn’t find one before making these cookies, and even if I could, the recipe is called Snowflake Cookies, but the instructions demand that you cut them with a star-shaped cookie cutter anyway, so here we are.

For those of you counting at home, this is the second batch of star-shaped sandwich cookies I’ve made this week, the first batch being from the box, but not from the Holiday Almanac (and thus you won’t see the recipe until January, sorry!). I generally am not a fan of making star-shaped anything, since the points cook faster than the middle and it’s practically impossible to get them to brown evenly, but they are so adorable I figured I’d make an exception for these, and it was definitely worth it.

I cut the recipe in half because I didn’t want 4 dozen cookies (we’re only 8 days into December and I’ve already baked more than I usually bake in a month). It's easier to just make a full batch, though, so I've listed the full quantities below, which should give you around 4 dozen cookies, or around 2 dozen finished sandwich cookies.

These are adorable cookies and if you have a cookie exchange, bake sale, or similar event this December, they’re pretty perfect… and pretty easy to boot!

*This may not seem like a big deal, but if it doesn’t, it’s because you’ve never seen my cookie cutter collection, which is comprised of both holiday and everyday cookie cutters, and a whole lot of each.

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. They're easy and delicious sugar cookies, the recipe scales up and down easily, and even though the whole 'shaped like a snowflake' thing might be a little iffy, they're still twice as adorable as any other Christmas sugar cookies I've ever made.

The recipe:

Snowflake Cookies

The directions:
Cookies:

Mix thoroughly shortening, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
Sift together dry ingredients and stir in until mix is smooth.
Chill in freezer 30 minutes or fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Roll dough out very thin, then cut out with star cutter.
Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake 5 minutes, watching carefully.
Make glaze while cookies cool.

Glaze:

Mix all ingredients until smooth and glossy, then assemble cookies by placing a dot of glaze in the center of one cookie and laying another cookie on top, pressing gently to adhere.
Pour another spoonful of glaze in the centre of the top cookie and allow to drip into crevices of 'snowflake.'
Allow glaze to set before serving or storing.

The ingredients:
The cookies:

1/3 c shortening
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c sifted flour (I forgot to sift mine and it was fine)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

the glaze:

1 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp corn syrup or golden syrup
1 tbsp hot water
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla