Now bring us some Figgy pudding

Merry Christmas to all!

Just a quick festive treat today, as it’s Christmas, Figgy pudding.

I had no idea what went into a Figgy pudding before I started and as it turns out it’s time, lots and lots of time. Mixing all the ingredients takes no time at all but the pudding needs to steam in a pot for two hours so make sure you allow for that. 

Ingredients

250g butter   

750g dried figs

150ml brandy

700g dried fruit (I added currants and cranberries)     

3 eating apples, peeled, cored and grated

175g golden caster sugar

175g dark brown sugar

200g breadcrumbs

200g self-raising flour

1 tbsp mixed nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger

200g cooked chestnuts

Method

Butter three 1-litre pudding bowls.

Blitz 500g of the dried figs with the butter in a blender and then add the brandy and blend more.

I used the blender to make the breadcrumbs and I added the whole chestnuts so they both came out in fine pieces.

Pour into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. 

Cut a small circle of baking paper to go at the bottom of each of the pudding dishes and then cut a large piece of paper to go over the top of each bowl, butter this and then fold a pleat down the centre (it will give the paper room to move as the pudding expands). Lay the paper on a piece of tin foil. 

 Pour the mixture into the bowls and smooth the top, then lay the paper over the top of the bowls and cover with foil. Tie the paper and foil around the top tightly with string. 

 

 

You will need to take your biggest saucepan or dish, place a folded piece of tin foil at the bottom and put one of the pudding bowls on top of it. Fill the saucepan with boiling water until it reaches the top third of the pudding bowl then leave to simmer for at least two hours, checking often on the water level and topping up when necessary. 

Time for Christmas eve drinks, food and games. 

Merry Christmas everyone.

Brooching the subject of Christmas

A couple of weeks ago while shopping for something for my great aunt for Christmas I came across a lovely brooch on ebay. I ummed and ahhed about it for a little while before deciding against it but it got me thinking about brooches. I have several lovely ones in my possession that used to belong to my grandmothers, but I never really wear them. I would love to wear them on my camel-coloured A line coat but I’m almost always travelling around London in it so am afraid, in the bustle, that it might be knocked off and lost.

This year I also had a dilemma with my Christmas tree. I’ve moved the living room around to make it more rabbit friendly and my usual tree spot has been taken up by Turner’s cage, so instead of a full sized tree I went for a small, table-top one. This however left me with full-sized baubles appropriate for a full-sized tree but none for the miniature tree that I had brought home. So I’ve had to improvise.

The two quandaries merged in my head and I found the answer to my ‘no small baubles’ problem in my ‘never get a chance to use my brooches’ problem. I made my grandparents’ brooches into temporary Christmas baubles.

I used some of the ribbon left over from last year’s presents, tied a slip knot at one end and a figure of eight at the other. Depending on the shape and set of the brooch I pinned it to the ribbon through the figure of eight knot and then used the slip knot end to tie it to a branch, finishing the knot off in a little bow, to make it look a little less like I had executed them.

I think the end result is quite pleasing.

So there you are, when in doubt, dig out the family heirlooms.

Belated and barmy christmas cards

It’s probably a little late to be sending out your Christmas cards (definitely a little late), but I thought I’d share some of the best and worst that I’ve found this year. 

Starting out with a few charming owl cards, keeping it simple and sweet. 

Pretty, wintery prints

Furry festive friends

This charming New York scene

And now for the not-so-charming

Ranging from the strange and confusingly inappropriate.

No, um…what?

To extreme, un-festive, judgementalism. Nothing says Christmas like slut-shaming eh.

But to end of a more charming note, be sure to look on the bright side. 

Coniferous Christmas

Christmas is so pricey and a lot of it is unnecessary, going against the point of the holiday. When I first moved out I get a little over-excited and went all out for Christmas, but over the years it has worn a bit thin. Getting home from work and balancing on a foot stool in a pencil skirt to put up a million lights is a little dangerous for someone as coordination-challenged as I am. These days I prefer to opt for more low-key decorations. This particular one I made using a hurricane lamp, some conifer branches I picked up on my walk home and some ribbon that I used to wrap last year’s presents with. Add a candle and it gives a nice seasonal glow.