Here is my Christmas Cake, all decorated for this Christmas, 2024. I was really looking forward to putting this together for you this year. I started planning it way back in September.
Decorating a Christmas Cake each year for Christmas is a very British tradition. The Christmas Cake will be the centerpiece of the holiday meal and takes up a prominent space in the home.
You can of course buy one already decorated (in the U.K. at any rate) but there is nothing so satisfying as baking and decorating your own.
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 2 large egg whites (6 TBS pasteurized egg whites from the carton)
- a scant 4 cups (500g) sifted icing sugar
- 1 tsp glycerin (can use corn syrup or coconut oil)
Instructions
- Put the egg whites into the bowl and beat for 60 seconds or so to break them up.
- Start adding the icing sugar, 1 dessert spoon at a time. Leave the mixer running the whole time. Continue until all of the icing sugar has been added and you have a mixture that holds its shape and forms soft peaks.
- Add the glycerin and beat for a further5 minutes which should give the icing a good shine.
- Spoon the icing over your cake, which you should have covered with marzipan. Spread it out to cover the sides and the top with a palette knife.
- Tapping the flat side of your knife on top of the cake here and there will give it the look of snow.
- Affix any decorations to the top of the cake before it hardens and sets.
Hello and welcome to my Meals of the Week! Every Sunday I like to share with you, my dear readers and subscribers, my meals of the week from the previous week. That is everything that I have cooked, eaten and enjoyed for my main meals over the past seven days. It is something I enjoy doing and something which you all also seem to enjoy.
A delicious recap of the week just passed.
As a Senior on a limited budget, and a person who lives on their own cooking can be somewhat of a challenge for me. It really does take an effort some days. I need to make myself cook and I need to make an effort to set myself a place and sit down at the table. With nobody here to share it with, the temptation is really there to just sit in front of the television and eat off a TV tray, or to not bother to cook and just eat frozen, take aways, or ready meals.
That kind of food is loaded with salt, sugar and fat however, so I do make an effort and each week I like to share what I have eaten with you for my main meals.
For breakfast most days I will have a protein shake. I enjoy those and I can sip at it all morning as I work, and putter. I will have my main meal in the early afternoon most days, unless I am eating out with friends or family. On those occasions I will eat later in the day. Also, if I am having company, my main meal will be later in the day.
Supper will usually be my lunch, and it is always very light. Fruit, or a salad, or both. Maybe a sandwich on occasion, and yes, sometimes I do have a bowl of cereal. I have always loved enjoying a bowl of cereal in the evening. I have fond memories of sitting in my brother's highchair and eating a bowl of cereal as I watched my mother scrub the floors after my sister and brother had been put to bed. My mother was a very hard worker.
Anyways, I do eat out from time to time. On Sundays, unless I am having the family here, I will have a family dinner over at my sister's. I have provided a like recipe and menu for you in that case. If I have eaten out for a meal I will also share a like recipe for whatever it is I have eaten in that case as well.
I have provided links to the recipes as well as menu suggestions. I do hope that you enjoy what I am sharing with you this week. I know I sure did!
Bon Appetit as Julia would say!
.JPG "Classic Pot Roast for two")
SUNDAY, December15th - Sunday Dinner at my sisters
Most Sundays, weather permitting, I go to my sister's place for a Sunday dinner. She always cooks a lovely meal for all of us. This Sunday was no different. She cooked a beautiful Pot Roast dinner. I made some Yorkshire puddings to enjoy with it as well.
I am sharing my recipe for a Classic Pot Roast or Two with you in it's place. I know, like me, many of you are empty nesters or singletons. I thought you would appreciate this smaller sized recipe which is just right for the smaller family.
MONDAY, December 16th - Sausages with Mustard and Apple
I had a couple of sausages in the freezer that needed using so I made a small batch of this delicious sausage recipe. It's simple enough. You end up with sausage glazed in a sweet and sticky grainy mustard, onion and apple gravy. Everything works beautifully together.
I always like to enjoy mashed potatoes with sausage. They are perfect partners. I had some frozen peas and corn on the side. This was a fabulously delicious meal.
TUESDAY, December 17th - Herbed Turkey Burgers
I am a person who has always enjoyed turkey burgers. I like them much more than beef burgers. These herbed burgers are a particular favorite of mine. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme are beautiful herb partners that go very well with turkey. In this case a slice of butter is secreted in the middle of the turkey patties to help ensure and deliciously moist finish.
I enjoyed on a toasted brioche bun with some lettuce and tomato, some cheese melted on top and some onions. I really couldn't eat anything else, but oven chips or potato chips go very well with these tasty burgers.
.JPG "Chicken Dinner Poutine")
WEDNESDAY, December 18th - Lunch out with Dad, Hazel and Cindy
Hazel was missing us, so we all agreed to meet together at the Big Scoop for lunch on Wednesday this week. Nobody likes driving at night and especially this time of year when the roads can often be a bit iffy. It would be our last chance to get together with each other before Christmas. It was really nice. Lunch served as my main meal of the day. Dad got his usual hot dog. Cindy got Fish and chips. Hazel got the grilled haddock, and I got the Turkey Dinner Poutine. I do love a good poutine.
Poutine is a uniquely Canadian dish, consisting of hot French fries, cheese curds and gravy. The hot turkey one has bits of turkey added and dressing/stuffing. It's fabulous. In its place I am sharing my recipe for the Chicken Dinner Poutine. Every bit as tasty. With gravy, chips, cheese curds, dressing, peas and chunks of chicken. This would also be a great meal to make after your Christmas turkey with the leftovers.
THURSDAY, December 29th - Herbed Garlic Butter Steak & Mushrooms
I have been craving a steak for a while now. I found one in my freezer and so I thawed it out to enjoy on Thursday. I nipped next door and picked up some fresh mushrooms to enjoy along with it. I love my steaks medium rare and this was done to perfection, with a beautiful sear, some tender mushrooms and a delicious, herbed garlic butter melting down over top. Oh my mouth is watering again just thinking about how delicious this was.
I enjoyed this simply with a baked potato and salad on the side. In truth I could not eat the whole potato, but I did really enjoy what I had. A well-cooked steak is a thing of beauty and deliciousness. What a treat this was!
FRIDAY, December 20th - Classic Tuna Melt
Fish for Friday with a Classic Tuna Melt Sandwich. I had a lot of running around to do on Friday. We were expecting some bad snow for Saturday and Sunday and on into next week, so I was not sure if I would be able to get out again. When I got home, I was too tired to cook much of anything, so I made myself a Classic Tuna Melt Sandwich. That is always a real treat for me! I do so love a Tuna Melt.
Delicious tuna filling, rich cheese, toasty buttery bread. What's not to love about a tuna melt? I was cheeky and just had some potato chips on the side. Any kind of salad would go well as would a hot bowl of soup. You cannot beat the combination of a soup and sandwich.
SATURDAY, December 21st - pasta with a Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce
I adore pasta and this is my absolute favorite pasta sauce. It is totally low maintenance. It basically cooks itself. All you need to do is to dump a few ingredients into a baking dish and then let the oven do all the work.
The only work basically that you will need to do is to cook the pasta and for this sauce I recommend something with long strands that the sauce can cling to. Bucatini, spaghetti, fettuccini, angel hair, any kind of long stranded pasta works beautiful.
There is only one word to describe this sauce and that is "heavenly." I enjoyed it with some spaghetti and some crusty bread. It was a meal made in heaven.
And there you have it! My meals of the week for this the last week prior to Christmas 2024. I hope that you found something of interest in amongst them and have been inspired to want to cook something tasty for yourselves!
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1/3 cup (37g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/3 cup +2 tsp (86g) butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup + 1/2 tsp (75g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup +1/2 tsp (75g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 18 Andes mints, unwrapped
Andes Mint Cookies (small batch)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1/3 cup (37g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/3 cup +2 tsp (86g) butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup + 1/2 tsp (75g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup +1/2 tsp (75g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 18 Andes mints, unwrapped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with some baking parchment and set aside.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder and soda together in a bowl. Stir in the salt. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and both sugars together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
- Stir in the flour mixture, mixing everything together just to combine, making sure there are no dry streaks.
- Shape into 18 equal sized balls and place 2-inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are set, but still soft in the center. Remove from the oven.
- Press a chocolate mint in the center of each hot cookie as soon as you take them from the oven. Leave to sit for 5 minutes so that the chocolate will melt.
- Using a butter knife, gently spread the chocolate to cover the top of the cooking, leaving a bit of an edge all around.
- Transfer to a wire rack and leave the cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Social Icons