Christmas Catch Up

 So we've taken down the decorations and recovered from celebrating the New Year; it seems like a goods time to look back on my Christmas culinary adventures for 2014.

 As regular readers would know, this year I made gingerbread trees to give out to friends/family/work colleagues/school teachers/comic book shop guys/the school crossing man. So I ended up making a LOT of gingerbread. Each batch made 64 Christmas tress, and I made 3 batches. That is a lot of mixing, rolling, cutting, baking, piping and bagging. Suffice to say, I don’t want to even think about gingerbread for a few months! Ironically I actually got to taste my first Christmas gingerbread at the weekend (the last two trees left over from Christmas day) and they still tasted good, almost two weeks after baking!

 One thing I did different this year was an attempt at Gluten Free (GF) gingerbread. With a friend who is coeliac and several gluten intolerant friends, I felt bad that they couldn't share in the spoils of my baking. Luckily, the only ingredient that contains gluten in my gingerbread recipe is plain flour (it uses bicarb soda as a raising agent), so I thought it was be a fairly easy substitution. I had some GF self-raising flour in the cupboard from a previous GF baking session which I usually wouldn’t substitute for plain flour. However, using my Science Brain, I remembered that it was the gluten in the flour that bound the baking together and helped it raise, so GF self raising flour was probably closer to non-GF plain flour than non-GF SR flour. All clear??

 And it worked quite well. I went more on Feel than exact measurements when adding the flour; GF flour has a rather different texture to non-GF so I probably had to add more to made the dough sticky enough to roll out. And I think the GF SR flour did make a difference, in that they were a bit more rounded, a bit softer, less crispy-biscuit like (next time I'll buy GF plain flour). But the main thing is they still tasted (and looked) like gingerbread, and my GF friends were very appreciative, even though I didn't get a chance to ice them.

(the darker ones were chocolate gingerbread)

 My next step is to try and make a refined-sugar free gingerbread (have I mentioned that a lot of my friends are very health/diet conscious with a lot of “…. Intolerant” kids???). I figure that I can substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar, and maple syrup for the golden syrup. This will probably affect the consistency and “stickiness” of the dough, so will probably mean a bit of fiddling with the (GF or not) flour. Next challenge will be going dairy free – should be a straight swap with nuttelex for butter which would hopefully cream up well with the sugar. I thought I had almost got everything sorted to finally make a batch for one of my friends (who is gluten, dairy, soy and refined sugar free), who then informed me that she doesn’t eat refined oils, which nuttelex is. *sigh*  My other option is then trying to cream coconut oil and coconut sugar together (and hope that it holds together), mix it with maple syrup and GF flour, and hopefully the addition of ginger will make it still taste vaguely like gingerbread.

 (Or maybe I can just resign myself to not making her gingerbread!)

 Regular readers will also know that I love a good theme, and Christmas is a great excuse to get Creative with Cooking. Last year it was my Rudolph pancakes, which this, year when I made them in early December, Son 2 proclaimed that he wasn't much of a fan of because he doesn't like bacon (Son 2 LOVES bacon, so he didn't see the issue). Nerdy Nummies Ro had made some Snowman pancakes (its the third 'treat') but that wasn't really suitable for an Australian Summer Christmas (but will be great if we go to the snow!). I then came across this awesome blog called The Joys of Boys (they had blog on making Star Wars snowflakes. So cool). They had Santa pancakes, which apart from having a HEAP of whipped cream (which I would think would be that nasty stuff from a can – what is it with Americans and a tonne of fake whipped cream?!?), they also had cherries for the hat. I have a girlfriend whose kids would adore this version (their dad was raised on a cherry farm and they are massive Fresh Fruit Fans), but mine, not so much. So what to use? Coincidentally at this time, one of my girlfriends (She with the French husband) was getting ready to go the Paris to celebrate Christmas with the Hubby’s family. For 5 weeks. And so was clearing out her freezer. As well as a packet of breadcrumbs (which my chickens loved) she also gave me a bag of 5 frozen eggs whites; which were leftover from an awesome chocolate Crème Brulee she had made the last time I went for dinner. Hmmmm – how fortuitous! So on Boxing day (as Christmas morning breakfast was taken up with the traditional croissants and fresh fruit breakfast), I made these Santa Pancakes...

...bacon for the hat, an egg-white omelette (badly) cut into shape for the beard and hat trimming, blueberry eyes and a strawberry nose. I got big smiles from both Sons who then carefully removed the fruit, swapped the bacon for egg and happily devoured them!

 My last piece of Christmas faffing was something that had been hovering around my Christmas Pintrest board for a while – the Christmas fruit tree. There are lots of really cool variations (when you have a spare 5 minutes, type “Christmas fruit tree” in the search engine and check them out). I did like the 3D version, but it didn't seem to be able to support a lot of fruit and as I was doing this for our family Christmas lunch of about 15 adults, I wanted to make sure there was bit available. Plus I knew I would be assembling it after I had hosted breakfast but before jumping in the car to drive to lunch. So it trying to keep things less stressed on Dec 25th, I settled for the 2D version. I had no grand plans as to how it would look (how very unlike me! I must have had my brain filled with other Christmas Organising), but ended up using cantaloupe (or rockmelon depending on where you were born) as “boughs”. Small bunches of grapes were great for greenery, strawberries and blueberries for a touch of colour and some watermelon star cutouts to make it look Christmassy.

 So I hope you all had a fun and festive Christmas with lots of yummy food (as I did) and I look forward to doing it all again in 11 months time

(but maybe not gingerbread this time…..)

Hot Chocolate

 I do love it when you work out a solution to a problem – especially when it doesn't involve paying someone/buying something/spending hours searching on the internet. It can be as simple as a system for taking washing off the line (Things that needs a hot iron off first so they are at the bottom of the basket and will be ironed last when the iron is the hottest), or for keeping you Tupperware drawer tidy (lids all in one spot people!). Thankfully this was a bit more of an interesting problem to solve – how to keep melted chocolate, well… melted.

 After my recent fondant fetish (click here and here and here!), I had started experimenting with melted chocolate as a decorating tool. It started with plans for Son 2’s Minecraft birthday party, which involved making black shapes for Creeper faces.

This is a Creeper. It explodes if you get too close. Just so you know

 While I was wandering the cake supplies shop, I noticed that black chocolate melts were much cheaper per kg than the black fondant. Interesting. PLUS chocolate could be piped in fine lines for smaller creeper faces (which I was planning to put on green rice krispie squares for taking to school) , where as it would be annoying to cut out very small slivers of fondant. AND it always looked so easy when my You Tube bloggers used it – what could possibly go wrong?

 Well.

 Melted chocolate assumes a liquid form. And the hotter it is, the more liquid it becomes, to the point of it oozing and not making pretty straight lines like you are supposed to. Not good when you are a perfectionist bordering on–OCD.

Not my finest work. They either look possessed, evil or stupid (still tasted yum though).

 Melted chocolate also has a tendency to set when it cools. And this doesn't always happen once it is piped out, it can also happen while it sits in your piping bag. Which leads to lumps of semi solid chocolate blocking up your piping nozzle, and it coming out unevenly. Which leads to much Fiddling and Fixing and Touch Ups and Swearing and Stress.

Like a Monet - good from a distance but a mess up close

 At first I thought it was just the colored chocolate, as it took quite a while to melt and didn't really mix together very well. But when I had the same problem using good ol’ Cadbury that I realised it was a Chocolate Issue.

My Groot Sundaes: more "messy" than "gnarled tree" appearance
(click here for what they were supposed to look like)

 So what to do?? I could use royal icing for all of my future decorating. It pipes nicely, colours well and you can keep it in the fridge between times.

(and a little goes a long way)

 But it doesn't taste as nice. And it’s not chocolate.

 So a solution had to be found. Especially with my plans to make gingerbread trees for my Christmas gifts this year.

LOTS of gingerbread trees!  (this was batch 1 of 3)

 At first I tried microwaving the chocolate intermittently, which worked well. I found I could ice and decorate four trees before it needed a minute in the microwave. But I had to unscrew the metal piping tip and scrape out the solidified chocolate each time. Annoying. And stop piping. More annoying.

 I did think about some sort of hot water bath to put the piping bag in, but I have found the no matter how carefully you seal the bag up or pop it in several plastic bags, water still gets in and ruins your chocolate. Not helpful

 There are cool cups (as in Cold, rather than Clever and Awesome) that you can put in the freezer to keep your drinks cool over summer, I just needed a Hot version .

 So I made one myself! Pour boiling water in a large cup, place a smaller cup inside and voila!

 (I shall add a picture here when I take one at this weekend's piping session)

Pop your piping bag in it in between sprinkled sanding sugar or carefully placing cachoos and you are ready to for your next set of trees. So simple, so cheap, so effective, so clever (well, I think so).

Oh! Christmas tree (s)

 So I hope that this has helped you to keep your chocolate hot and your piping pretty.

In other Kitchen News, I received a kitchen blowtorch at the weekend, so look forward to a creme brulee post in the future (which will hopefully not be entitled “What can go wrong with a Kitchen Blowtorch" or "Effective Ways to put out a Kitchen Fire")

Happy Hoppy Christmas

 Like many Foodie-Crafty-Industrious type people, I love Christmas. Not only is it a fun family time with lots of food (and presents!!) but it gives us like-minded people a chance to shine and flex our collective creative muscles. From hand making presents, to new riffs on classic dishes, to clever effective decorations, there are so many way to get into the Spirit of the Season.

 However.

My December related shenanigans took a different turn this year, when, while trampolining wth Son 2 in November, I landed awkwardly and broke two bones in my left foot and well as "destroying" (the surgeon's words, not mine) the ligaments that run across the top of my foot. Which meant surgery to put it all back together again. Then a cast for two weeks. Then 4 weeks on crutches. Which did put a serious dent in what I was able to achieve for and in the run up to Christmas Day.

 But being the determined (or "stubborn and pig-headed" as Hubby would say) person that I am, I  knew that I would find a way to do at least SOMETHING festive around the home. As the pain in my foot (and my reliance on medication) decreased, I was able to get up and move about more. We also purchased a little stool on wheels which meant I could move around the kitchen fairly well. But, I was still trying to be aware of my limitations and not create too long a list of things to do. One thing I did have plenty of time for, was sitting on the couch and browsing the internet for ideas. Thank goodness for sites like Pintrest, where I could search things like "Christmas cookies" and "Christmas table" and find all sorts of ideas that I could adapt. It also (thankfully) helped stave off the boredom

 First up was the work Christmas present. Last Christmas was the Year of the New Icing Techniques and they got a batch of festively decorated cupcakes. Scaling it back for this year, I thought I could come at gingerbread: simple to make but very yummy. Add a batch of royal icing and I could still get creative with decorarting.

 So my lovely work colleagues, who had had to deal with me not being there for the month before Christmas, got a batch of "Kim-gerbread Men" - complete with cast.

 ... and their smiles were similar to the ones on their gingerbread men.

 I also found this cute idea for pancakes on Pintrest, which gave the Son 1 and 2 a nice pre-Christmas breakfast...

 ...  bacon for antlers, blueberries for eyes and a raspberry nose.

 Christmas Day posed its own list of challenges. In our family, we rotate who hosts lunch on Dec 25th and this was my year to host. There were quite a few discussions post foot-break as to whether that would still be a viable option. I knew I wouldn't have to slave away in the kitchen as everyone brings something along and really, the only specific job of the host is to provide the table/chairs/plates/glasses etc and the crackers (which I had already bought at last year's post-Christmas sales). So Hubby convinced me that we would be fine, and as he would be doing the majority of the "heavy-lifting" work wise, I took his word for it. And it probably made more sense as I was quite good at moving around our house  by this stage. But it did require a re-think of how to run tae day.
 First thing was to confirm the meal as Cold Meat and Salad. Much more sensible when Dec 25 can be a scorcher to have this rather than the full roast and trimmings. So we had ham, (cold) roast chicken and a roast pork, which was more because Hubby had become such a whizz with his pork and crackling that is seemed a shame not to share it with the family. I made a yummy (and healthy) quinoa salad that is made in layers and looked very festive with a  layer of baby spinach leaves and layer of chopped tomatoes. We did bow to tradition and have a Christmas pudding for dessert (as my aunt makes a fantastic one), but I also whipped up a Christmas ice cream (with nutmeg and brandy), and we had a fruit platter as well (not the Christmas tree ones I had seen online -maybe I'll do that next time...)

  Next up were the decorations. The last time I hosted, I had gotten very excited and done the full Christmas table set up, with decorations and bonbonierre for each guest.

 I think it took me about an hour to set that table, not including the baking and boxing up the cookies in the noodle boxes!
 This year I went for simplicity and a Serve Yourself mentality. Instead of the full table set-up, I had all the plates on a separate table, and I had bundled up a set of cutlery with a napkin and cracker and placed them on each table.: the theory being that each guest could grab their plate, fill it and sit anywhere at the table and go from there.

This year's more streamlined table

 But I still wanted something for my guests, as much to say "thankyou" for helping out and putting up with a more low-key Christmas. After the gingerbread was so well received at work, I though that could be the magical Simple-but-Effective again.  I was going to make individual gingerbread men for everyone, but realized that would mean about 2 batches to make and roll and cook and decorate. I did find a smaller gingerbread man cutter, but, as a few family members have 6 letters in their name, I knew it would be a tight squeeze. So I settled for my favorite shape (which is luckily still Christmas themed) - stars.

  This meant every guest that was coming to our house on Christmas Day had their own gingerbread star that they could eat whenever thy liked, or take home for a quiet Christmas night cuppa.

Christmas breakfast table

 So how did my one-legged Christmas Day go? Wonderfully well. Sons 1 and 2 were great little helpers, getting things out of cupboards and moving things into place. Hubby dutifully completed the list of tasks that seemed to keep extending as he neared the end. Family brought delicious food and helped out with serving and tidying up and it was a lovely relaxing fun day, just like I had hoped it would be.

 And it now gives me just under 1,100 days to plan and get creative for the next time I host Christmas!

The Way the Cookie (I mean, Biscuit) Crumbles

I have been brooding on biscuits lately; cogitating on cookies if you will. An article in Epicure this week was the inspiration for this blog (Big Bikkies), but they had been on my mind for a few different reasons (and stay with me because this will meander is a bit).

 While celebrating Independence Day (4th July) the other week, we had toasted marshmallows. They were toasted in our kitchen over a candle as it was blowing a gale outside, but at least we got into the spirit of things! One of my girlfriends who moved to America, then sent me a receipe for S'mores ("If you have success roasting marshmallows over a candle, you'll have to try this recipe! ... they're delish!"). They were something I had heard of (thanks, Buzz Lightyear) but hadn't ever found out what they were; and here's the link for anyone else waiting to be enlightened: Classic S'mores. Only in America would they think of adding melted chocolate to a toasted marshmallow!! I was quite excited to try these out the next time we had a campfire, but was stymied by the inclusion of "graham crackers". And since they were out of stock at USA Foods, I googled to find the Australian equivalent. The consensus was a Digestive biscuit (most commonly used in cheesecake bases) or a Marie biscuit; which ironically some Americans-in-Australia thought made their s'mores too sweet. I have decided to wait until I have the "proper" ingredients, but it did get me thinking (again) about the different foods we grow up with in different countries.

 Of couse you can't get much more Australian than Tim Tams, which was always the "special treat" biscuit in my house growing up (though with 11 in the packet (and five in our family) there was always a fight over the last one). Family folklore has it that my Dad would eat Tim Tams for breakfast (with warm milk of course); a delicacy he introduced to my delighted cousin one sleepover. They have stayed high on my list, though I have moved to the Double Coat Tim Tams in the last few years (better chocolate to biscuit ratio), and have been quietly impressed with the new flavours that have come out recently (Turkish Delight is divine!!). This is a love I have passed on to my children, who are allowed a Tim Tam as dessert; only after eating all their dinner (and a tub of yoghurt). Son 2 has a "Tim Tam Phone" where he takes off the top biscuit and then proceeds to talk to people ("Hello, Hello! I'm on a Tim Tam Phone!!); Son 1 just eats them.

  Growing up, we also had chocolate Teddy Bear biscuits and Mint Slices, though the latter did seem to infuse all the biscuits in the tin with a minty flavour. And on super special occasions (translation: when mum was away for the weekend) we were treated to the delicacy that is an Iced Vo Vo (has anyone ever seen an un-iced Vo Vo? I can imagine it would be very depressing). Like most kids of my era, I learned to tell the time with Tic Toc biscuits (pink not yellow!) and I have vivid memories of my friend in grade one having a Shortbread Cream (wrapped carefully in waxed paper)  every day for play-lunch. I obviously didn't have anything nearly as exciting as I can't remember what I had! And then there was the joy of the Arnotts Assorted packs - Family assorted, with the Scotch Fingers and Teddy Bear Biscuits, and Assorted Cream if you were really fancy. My go-to was always the Monte Carlo (I loved the weird white and red centre), until someone put me on to Kingston biscuits. Already being a fan of Butternut Snaps, it was natural I would fall in love with these mini versions with a chocolate centre (even if the ad for them was ridiculous).

Then there are the home- made biscuits and family recipes. I have yet to find a better Yo-Yo biscuit than my gradnmother makes; but that may have to do with everywhere trying to make them so large! If you can't fit one in your mouth in one go, it's too big. 
 Being Australian, Anzacs were made every April, and I always found it funny that my Aunt's were the thin and crispy version while my dad's were the thicker "cookie" style. Both delicious for different reasons. My dad also introduced me to the perenially American Tollhouse Cookies, the recipe for which he found on the side of the choc bits package. They were nice, but I prefer a chunkier style; probably because the first "cookie" I was introduced to was  Mrs Fields Semi Sweet Macademia Nut (still my No.1 when I feel the urge). Which brings me to my own biscuit making adventures.

 It has well documented that I am always on the lookout for The Best Biscuit recipe (Baked Goods). I was very excited when I found the Neiman Marcus cookie receipe, figuring that if Americans didn't have the best cookie* receipe, then what hope was there for the rest of us?? It does make a delicious cookie, but is a bit fiddly in its preparation and so has fallen away to be replaced by a much simpler double-choc recipe (from Delicious 'Baking'), where there are two types of chocolate (plus or minus macadamia nuts); versus the other double choc receipe which is a chocolate mix with white chocolate chunks. The most recent addition to my cookie repertoire are Hot Chocolate Cookies, which were part of a Latin America special in Delicious magazine. They were a chocolate mix with chocolate chips, and a touch of chilli and cayenne pepper to give it a kick. Divine.
 And of course being a mother, I have an extensive collection of cookie cutters for making gingerbread shapes, decorated with smarties of course! Such a great activity to get the kids to help make the dough (taking turns adding the ingredients), then choosing their shapes (dinosaur or aeroplane? Crocodile or rocket?) and then waiting for them to cook. I'm not sure whether its the Making or the prospect of Eating that enthuses my boys about cooking, but I don't mind either way. I had them assisting me with making madeleines (for Bastille Day) at the weekend, which I'm still not sure if they are a biscuit or a small cake but they were declious and we ate almost the whole batch!

 So whether you whip up a batch of snickerdoodles to put in the cookie jar, have a Tim Tam Slam or steal the last Delta Cream from the bikkie barrel, enjoy your biscuits any way you can.


* I feel I must clarify my position here on what is a Cookie and what is a Biscuit. In the article, it had Hugh Jackman correcting Oprah Winfrey that a Time Tam is a "biscuit" and I would heartily agree with him. In my expereince, a "cookie" only applies to the American style chewy biscuits, usually with chocolate and nuts. Anything else sweet is a biscuit. (not sure where a "cracker" falls into this categorisation; probably leans towards is being a savoury biscuits, like a rice cracker or water cracker). But really, who cares. As long as they are yum and satisfy that afternoon energy slump.

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 An epilogue to my biscuit adventures occurred at the weekend, where it was my first time cooking medicinal biscuits. Now before you get excited, these are not the cookies or brownies that are illegal in Australia (but soon to be legal in Colorado); these were Lactation Cookies; or as my new-mum friend so eloquently called them; Boobie Bikkies! Somehow I managed to get through breastfeeding two of my own children without realising these things existed. They are biscuits designed to sustain or increase your breast milk supplies, with the special ingredients being linseed (or flaxseed) meal and brewers yeast. According to the many recipes I found online, it doesn’t really matter what other ingredients the biscuits have, and it’s actually more beneficial to eat the dough raw. Being the non-breastfeeding-baking-friend, I chose to bake them (much easier to transport)!

 Having tracked down the essential ingredients (a health food store will sort you out) I proceeded to mix up a batch for two of my friends who had given birth within the same week. I decided on adding white chocolate and cranberries as I though the cranberries would give an extra boost to their immune systems (if they’re medicinal, I want to make them as beneficial as possible!). However, the next batch I make will be more chocolatey (and even double choc)! Having never cooked with brewers yeast before, I didn’t realise the delightful smell and aftertaste it added to the cookies. Its kind of like off vegemite, but not as sweet.; mmmmm. The recipe called for “heaped tablespoons” and knowing this was an Important Ingredient I was probably a bit heavy handed, and the sourness of the cranberries  didn’t really help to offset or disguise the taste. But the New Mums ate them enthusiastically and were very grateful (and I was the favourite guest of one of the hospital midwives; which is always helpful when you arrive just at the end of visiting hours!).

 So making Batch No.2 tonight with lots of Cadbury chocolate chunks; and I think this will be a helpful addition to my Visiting the New Baby care package (which currently includes a small bottle of champagne and some sort of soft cheese). Yum!

Yule Have a Great Time!

 Growing up in Australia, Christmas was always a slightly confusing time for a young child. Sure, the presents and school holidays were great, but why were we singing about sleigh bells and Frosty the Snowman while it was baking hot and bushfires outside? And a strange man delivering presents to your house in the middle of the night was weird enough without wondering why he was wearing a fur-lined red suit on a Total Fire Ban day. And then sitting down on December 25 to a roast with all the trimmings followed by plum pudding and custard when all I wanted was any icy pole and to jump in the pool again.
 So it was a revelation when I worked out that the early Christians had tagged the celebration of Christmas onto the long-standing Pagan celebrations of the Winter Solstice. Suddenly it made sense; we, in the land Down Under, were having Christmas at the wrong time of the year! So it also makes sense that celebrating the Shortest Day, or as a Southern hemispheric pagan would call it; Yule, has become a good excuse for getting together with friends for a feast.

 Looking back, I held my first Yule dinner about 10 years ago and have tried to celebrate it in some way every since. Some years it has been the large dinner party with all the bells and whistles, sometimes it is just a nice meal with the family. But when I have time, I do prefer the former, which I did on this past Saturday night.
 Having done a few of these dinners over the years, I have a few constants: there is always a roast of some sort. Mulled wine or cider, or mead is also on the menu, and we finish with some sort of pudding. Lots of red and green and candles for table decorations as well as oranges and lemons and gifts for the guests. But there are always a few new recipes that I end up trying out.

 The first new addition this year was baked camembert, which Hubby spotted while watching the TV series Cheese Slices. A wheel of camembert (preferably from Normandy) is doused with red wine, herbs and garlic and baked in the oven in the wooden box it comes in, and then dipped into like a pseudo-fondue. To me it initially seemed like a waste of good camembert, but it looked so mouth-wateringly good (and so suited to a cold night) that I had to try it.

Ready to Go - garlic slivers inserted, topped with thyme and rosemary and a good red wine

 And boy was I glad I did. The result was a deliciously oozy cheesy mess that was happily dipped into with bread and pear slices; divine.

 This was served with mugs of Mulled Cider. For some reason I have always been a fan of "mulling" - its sounds so cool and ye Olde English. I stumbled across a packet of "mulling spices" in a country shop one year which was my first foray into mulling and I have tried different versions each year. I think as long as you have oranges and lemons and cinnamon & cloves, the rest is variable. Just be sure not to let is sit for too long as it can become a bit sour with the spices: I learnt this from a pub in Salamanca (Tasmania) where they had a crock-pot of mulled wine on the bar; the first mug was delicious but a later glass which was near the end of the pot wasn't nearly as good.
 This year's mulled cider recipe had cardamon pods, as well as whiskey and cointreau added so it packed a punch and definitely helped warm us up!

 Main course was Roast Turkey, being that I had made roast pork the last time we had our guests over and one of them is not a fan of roast lamb. And instead of my triple-roasted potatoes, I made Tartiflette, which is a French Style cheese and potato bake (it's so helpful having a friend who's French so I can make these dishes!). Slices of par-boiled potato were mixed with a sauce consisting of fried bacon and eschalot with sour cream and chopped parsley. The whole thing was put in a casserole dish and a wheel of camembert (or reblochon, if you were making it in France) was chopped up and place on top before being baked in the oven. Not for the faint of heart or those with high cholesterol! But as you can imagine it was delicious. And to offset that, blanched carrots and broccoli to make it slightly healthier!

 Dessert took a bit of deliberation this year. Previously I have favoured sticky date pudding with caramel sauce; I make individual puddings in a muffin tin, slice them in half and serve with a scoop of ice cream in the middle. Then I was leaning towards chocolate, with a Heston Blumenthal Liquid Centre chocolate pudding, but it got passed over due to the fiddly factor. I toyed with the idea of a chocolate hazelnut cake as that seemed seasonal, but it didn't have the ooey-gooey pudding factor. So I settled on Walnut and Honey pudding, which I had made for a Mother's day dinner so I knew for a fact that my dessert-avoiding Hubby liked it!

 So that was the menu, but another big part of Yule celebrations for me is the Table. I am a big fan of a Well-Set table; a chance to get out the Good Crockery and the butter dishes and matching serviettes, so this is always a chance to go all out. And to give the Christmas decorations a mid-year airing!

This was my Yule table from 2011...

... candles, oranges and lemons, some ivy from my garden and plates of gingerbread and shortbread biscuits. Plus 'noodle boxes' filled with cranberry and pistachio sable biscuits as a bonbonierre gift for my guests to take home. Most of these found a place at this years' table, but had a new 'gift' idea for my guests.

 I had spotted Gingerbread Boxes in the Coles Christmas magazine, and they seemed so simple but effective that I had to give them a try.
 You start with making the normal gingerbread recipe, but cutting it out into squares.

It's hip to be square

 If I make these again, I will be a lot more precise in measuring and cutting the pieces as it did make for a few interesting shaped boxes!

 Next the sides are joined together with piped melted white chocolate. I had to work quickly as it was so cold in my kitchen that the chocolate was re-solidifying in the piping bag!

 Once they had set, the seams were covered with royal icing and cachoos to make it look pretty. I had made a few stars with the last bit of the gingerbread dough so they were stuck in the 'lids".

"Edible ball bearings - genius!"

 Pop in a few caramel Lindor balls and voila! A delicious and edible table decoration.

Too pretty to eat (well almost)

 And to top off The Table, a mini Christmas tree plus a string of lights (rather than candles; the lights literally fell out of the Christmas cupboard!), holly gravy boat (which I found in a  $2 Shop one year - brilliant!) and a few sprigs of ivy.

  And the finishing touch was a plate of "Winter Spiced Madeleine's" brought by one of my guests (Madame Clochette herself), which meant that yes, we all had a great time on the longest night of the year.