Christmas Eve, a scarf and a soup tureen.

Here we are on Christmas Eve and it's a case of if it's not ready now it never will be!!!  The veggies to peel for tomorrow, a couple of desserts to make including the Pear, Raspberry and Almond Tart we had a few years, that I posted about here. Also making Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars, the recipe for that is here.

Thought I'd show off my scarf I finished it over the weekend, looks okay.  I see Michaels has similar type of yarn on sale so will maybe pick up a couple more balls, as they make great presents.

Jane how are you getting on with yours?

Wanted to show you my latest purchase from the charity shop.  Its a Bishop & Stonier tureen, minus the lid, I think?  Its in the dalrymple green pattern, here is a link to the blue pattern  I would love to know more, but I have come to a dead end?  I paid $15 for it.

The detail is wonderful.  There are a couple of chips and signs of wear, but I don't care.

The back mark on the pieces confirm who made it and dates it between 1891 - 1939

I have bids in on a number of other items over the next couple of weeks including a Shelly Cup and Saucer.

There will be a post tomorrow, but I do want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas to those of you who are popping by today.  Have a lovely time and a great meal.

Today's Christmas Song is lovely:

Cold wet Sunday

So cold and miserable on Sunday.  I have a goal in mind that I do not want to turn on the heating until November 1st.  We do have the wood fire on, so the house is not cold.  On a weekend we have cheaper hydro all day, so I decided to put the oven on and do some cooking.  That way I am using the oven when the hydro is cheaper and it heats more of the house up.

I took a cake mix and made some cupcakes.  Made them into fairy/butterfly buns.  Take a cupcake, cut part of the top off.  Put in teaspoon of jam, then top with some frosting.  Again this is bought butter cream frosting.  Cut the circle you cut off the top of the cupcake in half and pop on top of the frosting.  Sprinkle with icing/confectioners sugar through a sieve.

This is a close up of the completed butterfly bun.  I am making these next week, but they'll look slightly different.

I also decided to make my own sausage rolls.  I had a package of puff pastry that I defrosted.  I took a package of sausages, in my case Presidents Choice English Bangers.  I skinned the sausages, popped them in a bowl with two peeled and cored apples and an onion that I had chopped finely in the food processor.  I mixed in an egg to bind it.  Rolled out the pastry and put the meat mixture down the middle and folded the pastry over the meat mixture.

I used a pair of kitchen scissors to cut them into rolls.  Placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet and I washed them over with a little half and half.  Popped them in a 450 oF for around 25 minutes.

While I had the oven on I put 8 potatoes in the oven  to bake and cook at the same time as everything else in the oven.  When I bake my potatoes, I place the scrubbed potato on a piece of tin foil.  I drizzle a little olive oil over the top, and then season them with garlic/onion salt and pepper.

With some of the cupcake mixture I put a tin of peaches in the bottom of a dish, and then put some of the cupcake mixture on top of the peaches and baked it.  It didn't fully cook through, but it was still good and we had it with some Carnation Milk.

So there are enough sausage rolls left for another meal and a couple for dh's lunch.  There are enough potatoes for another meal and my lunch, yum, yum!!!  There is enough pudding also for another meal.

1 lb of pastry.........

With what I had in the fridge and what needed using up I decided to make up a pound of pastry on Sunday and make a quiche, egg custard tart and some jam tarts.

To make the pastry you need 1lb all purpose/plain flour, 4 ounces each of margarine and lard/vegetable shortening, pinch salt and some ice cold water.

Mix flour and salt together, rub in margarine and lard until it looks like breadcrumbs (?) add enough water to bind it together and then let it "rest" for half an hour or so.

Super simple and straight forward.

Here is the recipe for the Egg Custard Tart:

Ingredients:



6 oz/150g all purpose/plain flour


Pinch of salt


3 oz/ 80g butter or an equal mix of butter and lard, cubed


2 - 3 tbsp cold water


3 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten


2 oz (50 g) super fine /caster sugar


1 pint (570 ml) light / single cream


½ teaspoon vanilla extract


½ whole nutmeg, freshly grated


Preparation:


Heat the oven to 425°F/220°C/Gas 7






Make the Pastry


Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean bowl. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm. Add the water to the mixture and using a cold knife stir until the dough binds together, add more cold water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry. Wrap the dough in Saran wrap/Clingfilm and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes.

The Filling


Gently roll the pastry and line a 1½"/4 cm deep, x 7"/18 cm base tart tin. Be careful not to over stretch the pastry whilst rolling or the it may crack in the oven. Brush the pastry all over with a little of the beaten egg. This will help seal the pastry during cooking.


In a large bowl beat the eggs and egg yolks lightly with the sugar.


Warm the cream to a gentle simmer, then pour slowly over the beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Be careful not to overheat the cream or it will curdle the eggs. Add the vanilla extract.


Pour the egg and milk mixture through a sieve into the pastry case. Sprinkle over the grated nutmeg.


Place the tart onto a baking sheet and bake in the center of the preheated oven for 10 minutes to brown the pastry. Lower the temperature to 350°F/180°C/Gas 4 and continue cooking for a further 20 minutes or until the custard is set. 

Not sure what I did or didn't do, but I ended up with too much liquid, so I put the extra into two small bowls and set them in a dish and poured boiling water half way up the sides and cooked for 20 minutes.  So egg custards without the pastry.

To make sure I had the oven full I also baked some potatoes at the same time, to go with the quiche and salad we were having for supper.

Oh and I had enough pastry left to make dh's favourite jam tarts!!

I put bacon, onion, mushrooms and cheese in the quiche with four eggs and enough half and half to make around 3/4 pint/ 1 1/2 cups of liquid.

Everything was baked at the same time other than the custard cups.  I didn't have room in the oven for them originally, so had to cook them when all the rest of the things were done.