Well Christmas has come and gone, after we celebrated it twice. Too much eat, drink and be merry and not enough sleep.

So my Christmas cooking started off with a pineapple boiled fruitcake.  This is my mothers favourite fruitcake, so I make it every year. It's also really easy to make. Most of the ingredients, pineapple, mixed fruit, walnuts, sugar, butter, bicarb and mixed spice are boiled for a few minutes, cooled, add some flour and eggs and cook. This is all done in one pot and one cake tin. So easy and tastes delish.

I also made dark chocolate tim tam balls and mint slice balls again because they are quick and easy to make and everyone loves them. My other contribution to Christmas lunch is a store bought Ray's plum pudding. My family has been eating these for Christmas for as long as I can remember and beyond. The plum pudding is the best thing about lunch as far as I'm concerned. So we ate ourselves into the usual food coma, rested up and came home.

Boxing day was a bit of rest, a bit of shopping (never again) and a bit more rest.

Saturday.  Our next Christmas Lunch.  This was at Lizzy Lou's place with her family and Number one son's father, father's  partner and family. Lizzy did the meal and I made dessert.
First off I pressed some biscuits to make caramel meringue tarts. I'm all about quick and easy to make things, and these fall into that category. Butternut snap bickies, can of caramel top and fill and a few egg whites and sugar whipped up into meringue.

I also cut up and cooked puff pastry to turn into what I call cream puffs. I fill these when its dessert time.

Next it was time to make trifle. I made the jelly last night so it was set and ready to go this morning. This is my easy peezy trifle, made with all store bought ingredients. Packet cake, packet jelly, tub of custard,can of fruit, some port because it has to have alcohol, and whipped cream, bananas and passion fruit pulp. Layer it all nicely in a bowl and refrigerate till ready. I don't put the banana and passionfruit on until I'm ready to serve though.

We ate lunch which was pork, ham, chicken, salads, baked potatoes and lots of garlic butter and sour cream. You cant beat a potato smothered in garlic butter with coleslaw and sour cream. Just don't come near me for the next week.
I then put together the cream puffs. I filled some with nutella, sliced strawberries and cream and some with raspberry jam and cream.Dust with icing sugar and serve. I finished off the trifle and served it too.

After eating, we went outside and played with the kids for a while. The others all went home but the man and I and the kids stayed on for tea.  Left overs.. We ate and left. And here I am, almost bedtime. The only thing I have left to show you is my toblerone ice cream which I made last week but wasn't set. Boy did it turn out. I wont be buying ice cream again that's for sure. I will be able to use the basic recipe and add just about anything.  Next time I reckon I'm making strawberry flavoured ice cream with strawberry pieces.

So that's me. See you next year.
Happy new year everyone.

EASY PEEZY TRIFLE (contains alcohol)

1 large swiss roll (prepackaged)
1/2 - 3/4 cup of port (or sherry)
1 port wine jelly (make night before)
1 large can peaches
1 container pauls extra thick vanilla custard
600 mls thickened cream, whipped
2 large bananas, sliced
can passionfruit pulp


use a large bowl.

make jelly, according to directions night before needed.

cut swiss roll into thinnish slices.
line bottom and 1 layer around side of bowl.

put the port into a squirt bottle and squirt half of it over all the cake in the bowl.

layer half the peaches then half the jelly then half the custard on top of the cake.

then place another layer of cake, squirt with the rest of the port, then layer the peaches, jelly and finish with the custard.

cover the custard with the whipped cream, sliced banana and passionfruit pulp.

serve.

NOTE..if not serving straight away, dont put the banana and passionfruit on till needed.

NUTELLA STRAWBERRY CREAM PUFFS


6 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 jar nutella
1 punnet stawberries
600 mils thickened cream, whipped
icing sugar


preheat oven to 200c.  line a baking tray with baking paper.

cut each sheet of pastry in to 8 pieces.

place on trays and cook till golden brown and puffed.

cool.

split each piece of pastry in half lengthways.

cut strawberries into slices.

spread bottom piece with nutella and place about 4 pieces of strawberry onto nutella.

spoon or pipe cream over top of strawberries.

place top piece of pastry on cream.

dust with icing sugar.

PINEAPPLE BOILED FRUIT CAKE

1 cup sugar
450 gram tin crushed pineapple
375 gram packet mixed dried fruit
1 small packet chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1 teaspoon mixed spice
125 grams soft butter
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs, beaten

preheat oven to 160 c. grease and line bottom of 20 cm round cake tin.

place sugar, pineapple, mixed fruit, butter, walnuts, bicarb soda and mixed spice into a medium sized saucepan.

place over medium heat and bring to boil. simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

cool.

stir in flour and eggs.

pour into tin.

cook for 40 - 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

cool in tin for five minutes then tip out onto wire rack. cool completely.

  TOBLERONE ICE CREAM
     


2 x 600 mils thickened cream

2 cans condensed milk

400 grams toblerone chocolate

thick chocolate topping

strawberries


grease and line a large pudding steamer tin with 2 layers of cling wrap.

crush or blitz the toblerone chocolate (no big chunks, they will sink to bottom of tin).

with an electric mixer, beat the cream and condensed together until thickens.

stir in toblerone.

pour into tin and cover with lid.

pour remainder (if any) into another container.

freeze overnight  or until set.

tip ice cream out onto serving plate and pour topping over top and down sides.

decorate with strawberries.

NOTE..if ice cream wont come out of container, quickly run sides of container under hot water.

Saturday. Thank God you are over.  I am so tired, sitting here yawning my head off.  Too early a start to my day, couldn't sleep so up early.

 All things considered, I had a pretty easy day. Had the grandkids but they were good, had decided on a stir fry for tea so I didn't have to panic about that and number one son and the man were out so I didn't have to feed them. So I played with the kids, tidied up the yard, fed them some lunch and had the urge to make icecream.  The man went down the shop for me to get some toblerone chocolate while I got the bits and pieces together, basically cream and condensed milk. So I've tried to blitz,  cut, pounded and blitzed (again) the toblerone, apparently it was a bit too hard for the machine but the pounding did it. Then whipped and stirred and plonked in the freezer.  That's a leave and forget for the time being.

Last week I had frozen some pumpkin biscuit dough, which I thawed out today and cooked up. The last four dozen disappeared very quickly. The kids love them.

Anyway the rest of my arvo disappeared at a fast rate of knots and it was suddenly tea time.  We are having chicken and mushrooms in a white wine sauce.

Dunk the chicken in some seasoned flour, cook,  remove from pan, cook some mushrooms and garlic in same pan, add some white wine and stock, bit of thickening, add the chicken back, add some noodles and parmesan cheese and dinners served.

While we were eating,  miss Tash casually announced that I hadn't made dessert, number five almost fell off his chair.  Its ok, I'm making scones" says I.  "You're lucky" says he as he sits himself back down.   They all really only come for dessert.  So off to the kitchen to make the scones. My way. Flour, sugar, salt, butter, milk and egg. Most cooks would say no egg, but I like them with, turn out nice and light. Just don't over work the dough or they go tough and don't what ever you do, cut them with a glass, like my mum used to, (the old vegemite glass was used for that), sucks the air right out of the dough.. Cook in a hot oven and eat them hot with jam and cream, or nutella if you're miss Tash.

While they were eating I went to check on the icecream. Unfortunately it wasn't frozen yet, so the rest of that story will be here next time.

Must be the night for tired, all the kids are grumpy and crying at the drop of a hat, so by 9.15 everyone's gone home and I'm just left with the mess,


So short and sweet tonight, beds calling and tomorrow's another day of grandkids. Then of course it's almost Christmas and I have a heap of cooking for that. Even though we all go to my mums place, I get to take a pineapple boiled fruit cake (that's a given, every year) and what ever else I decide to make. Probably tim tam balls and mint slice balls and maybe some cupcakes, depends on my time frame. Then I have to do it all over again for a second Christmas lunch at Lizzy Lou's place next Saturday for the other side of the family.

So to each and all of You, Merry Christmas. Hope you have as much fun with your family as I will with mine.

......SHAZZIE'S SCONES................

4 cups self raising flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 slightly heaped tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg
2 cups milk

preheat oven to 200 c.  line a baking tray with baking paper.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt.

with two knives, cut butter through flour until you can no longer see the butter.

add egg to 1 cup of milk and beat well.

add milk and egg mix to flour, add more of the milk as needed until mix just comes together. (if you add too much milk, just mix in more flour).

tip onto a  floured board, knead lightly . DO NOT OVER KNEAD  or scones will be tough.

using hand  lightly flatten into a round shape about 2 cm thick.   cut into rounds with a scone/biscuit cutter (not a glass).

place rounds on tray and brush with left over milk.

cook until nicely brown. about  12 - 15 minutes.

serve with jam and whipped cream.