Change of Plans

Today was suppose to be finish clean up (wash the floors and clean the oven) but because of some instructions from above, the kitchen is rather cramped;
   So Plans of Change ;-) I have begun the Mincemeat Recipe from Mrs Beeton, with suitable amendments for the modern palate; leave out the 1 1/2 lb lean beef and 3 lbs of suet ;-) as well, for the citron, I tried substituted the zest of one lime and for the candied peel I substituted mixed peel; this was before we went out shopping for the raisins, and found the peel I was missing; I have cut the recipe in half, for expedience sake; it may not measure up to expectations; at the bottom you will find her recipe as found in Wikipedia's entry;

Amended Mince Meat Recipe as I made it this year; next year I will omit the lime zest and the candied peel ;-)
     

     2 1/2 lbs or 1/2 pottle of apples
     1 lb of raisins (mix of dark and light is good)
     2 lbs of currants in preserve
     1 lb of Dark Brown Sugar
     1 lime, the zest (put in before we went shopping ;-)
     2 oz candied citron peel
     2 oz candied orange peel
     2 oz candied lemon peel
     2 oz of mixed candied peel  (put in before we went shopping ;-)
     1/2 sm nutmeg
     1 lemon, the peel minced (chopped) (scraped the white pith)
     1 lemon, 1/2 the juice
     1/2 pint or 1 cup of brandy; I used the almond sherry

     For today, I began by weighing out 3 lbs of apples from which I was able, after paring and coring, to have 2 1/2 lbs of apples or 1/2 pottle; then I took a pastry cutter/blender and mashed the apple into manageable sizes; ie pea and slightly bigger; to this I added 1 cup (1/2 pint) of alcohol, in this case almond sherry; I was at first worried that the almond flavour would over power the rest, but it hasn't;
     then I added a jar of preserved black currants from NoFrills, they are an import from Poland; the contents weigh about 2 lbs, including the syrup, so I figure I am getting a minimum of 1 1/2 lbs of currants; I put in 2-3 oz of mixed candied peel, that I had left over from last year; and grated 1/2 of a small nutmeg; to which I added the 1 lb of dark brown sugar; I will go and grate the zest off of one lime and that will be as much as I can do for now, until I get out to pick up the raisins and lemon; then it will be done;
      I had the idea of adding imitation currants (the dried currants that are sold at bulk barn, are actually a small grape) and ground cranberry to substitute for the meat, but have decided to pass on that for this try;

       Some observations:
       I have found making this mincemeat to be rather a quicker one than the previous ones that I have done; perhaps it has to do with the quantity, as the peeling and coring takes a lot of the time, but then too, some of the other ingredients like the oranges, take a lot longer to process;
       the added benefit of putting in the liquor to the apples, is that they stop turning brown, remaining white;
        and the REAL black currants definitely add something to the smell and flavour of the mix; I think though, next time, I might crush 1/2 of them before adding;
         the candied peel does not make as big an impact as in modern recipes, which call for more, so I think the old peel may have had more flavour to it than present day peel
        Thomas says that the Citron is half way between a lemon and lime, so I am in the right territory with the lime zest;

This is the mincemeat before adding the raisins and lemon; click to enlarge; right click to download and view in a picture viewer; with the latter you can zoom in and get a better better idea of the sizes of the apple pieces ;-) the item at the side of the bowl is the pastry blender; when I get the raisins in, I'll take another picture;
   Well, I found the orange peel, lemon peel, AND the citron peel, at the Bulk Barn; I bought Thompson's Seedless Raisins, and Sultana Raisins; and added the lemon, which I scraped the white pith off; and chopped up the remaining peel and added the juice; it does taste a lot different than regular bought mincemeat now; more tangy; so now I have it in a plastic container with lid, and it works out to about 7-8 lbs; it appears wet, but think the raisins will soak up some of that; will see how it is in 3 weeks ;) think a pie is most appropriate at this point in time;

A 19th century recipe c. 1865, by Mrs Beeton

2 lbs raisins

3 lbs currants

1½ lbs lean beef

3 lbs beef suet

2 lbs moist sugar

2 oz citron

2 oz candied lemon peel

2 oz candied orange peel

1 small nutmeg

1 pottle of apples

the rind of two lemons, the juice of one

1/2 pint brandy

Stone and cut the raisins once or twice across, but do not chop them; wash, dry and pick the currants free from stalks and grit, and mince the beef and suet, taking care the latter is chopped very fine; slice the citron and candied peel, grate the nutmeg, and pare, core and mince the apples; mince the lemon peel, strain the juice and when all the ingredients are thus prepared, mix them well together, adding the brandy when the other things are well blended; press the whole into a jar, carefully exclude the air, and the mincemeat will be ready for use in a fortnight

Time Passes Quickly

when last I posted I was walking 7 K a day, but on November 4th I twisted my Left Knee and have been out of circulation for a month; but I'm back and Christmas is now 22 days away;
update: we bought a 28 lb turkey and then found out that our roast pan would not hold the bird; we now have a Tin foil roaster that will hold the offending bird ;-) however Paul, has offered to do a bird for Christmas; ok, well, scratch one job LOL
Mark has offered to help with the funding of the Christmas treats, ie the cakes and cookies; so now we have it split 3 ways we are in a better position to do the baking;
I have come up with 6 cookies for Christmas that 4 that are traditional around here, and 2 that aren't; Ginger Bread, Short Bread, Unbaked Chocolate Cookies, Mint Chocolate Chip / mixed peel cookies (aka Heroine Cookies), and the two that aren't, Almond Cookies, and Peanut Butter Cookies; if anyone wants other's we will discuss it;
The plan is to do one batch each and set out a platter with 12 cookies from each batch; see how long 72 cookies last around here; the idea to start the cooking around the 12th of the month, or 12 days before Christmas Eve; with an average of 50 cookies per batch that's 300 cookies ;-)
2 weeks ago I boiled the Ginger for the Ginger Beer, and today I took the liquid and reboiled it, 11.5 L, and added 5 cups of sugar; I bottled 2 gallons, or 9 L and the remainder (about 1.5 and .75 {2.25})I put in a 1 gallon jug, and topped it off with apple juice, about 2 l; this latter is an experiment; I put air locks on 2 and a cap that will pop under pressure on the other, and will leave them for 3 weeks; Thomas says they will ferment on their own;
we were given 20 lbs of potatoes yesterday, after buying 10 lbs the day before, and have 5 lbs left from a previous bag; so I have proposed making a batch of potato flour, for latkas ;-) there was a time when Thomas made them every Christmas, so we will try to restart this tradition; will try to get some pictures of the process;
I have found a web site for Mrs Beeton's Housekeeping Management and Cookery book c. 1865, www.mrsbeeton.com and found that the recipes, while old and often with obscure ingredients, are not all that difficult to follow; a recipe for Mincemeat caught my eye, and I am eager to have a try at it, with some adjustments to modern eating habits, ie discard the 1 1/2 lbs of lean beef, and 3 lbs of suet ;) and substitute something a little more politically correct for our time;

 

OK this is the first actual Christmas Tree that I have had since 2005; so it is a mile stone for me; to get I had to re arrange my room, after I had done some work on raising the bed about 1 foot higher to get "stuff" under it; the results are below, before I decorated the tree; feel more like I have a room to live in rather than a room to crash; there is an arm chair to the right in the picture below that is just out of the picture. which is actually useful now and quite comfortable; so Christmas and Thanksgiving have arrived together this year ;-) as always, click on the picture to enlarge; 

That's about as much as I can think of; will update more later; Cheers, 

The Gun Has Sounded

and we are off to the races ;)
Cathy's Mom, at age 75, has given up the idea that she is 30 and can still put on the Family Holiday Dinners; it happened on October 24th, when Cathy asked her about Christmas, and she said, she couldn't keep doing it, perhaps we could all go out to a nice restaurant, and not have the preparation or clean up; that went over like a lead balloon;
So now it is here at the house; Cathy is in charge of the meal, though we will do our 31 lb Turkey, and and perhaps some other bird ;) as well as Christmas Eve, Christmas Breakfast, and Christmas Dinners Desserts ;-) English Traditions; which we were told, not everyone likes, so while we will try to accommodate, Cathy will buy whatever other's want ;)
Thomas is still in Halloween Mode, so hard to get him to talk recipes, and menus; but I am hopeful that we will have a sit down the first week of November; in the meantime, I'll make lists here, and see what happens when the lists meet reality ;)

Christmas 2011

ok!! lets get this kicked off right; have blogged about the weight, now how about the feast as the end ;) yup, there will be a Christmas feast; The Cratchets should be so lucky to have such bounty!! LOL
Well, perhaps not, it will be heavily improvised this year; aside from the Mincemeat (I made a single batch for this year) the cake, and two puddings are hold overs from 2009 so very well cured ;-) At the end of last year, I put aside some of the ingredients for cookies and such, so that we would have a start for this year; as it turns out, it was a good idea; we have mint chocolate chips, and Black Currant preserve; red and green cherries, almond paste, spices, and sliced almonds, custard powder and jellos for the Tryfle ; the cake, puddings and the Mincemeat will be "seasoned" tomorrow, for the last time, it makes up 4 Litres, more than adequate for the family; all that needs purchasing, can be done between now and the beginning of December; we have a Christmas Turkey (31 lbs) and if money permits we may have a Goose and Ham for those who desire it; no guarantees ;)
now to make a list of things we would need/like for cooking:

Small Tarts shells from Almost Perfect
Butter
Candied Peel
Flour for baking 10 kg
Molasses
Sugar, white and brown

How to lose 72 pounds in a year!!

Oct 26th 2011
it is now almost a year later, and I have NOT lost 72 lbs; not even close; there have been several mitigating circumstances; primary is that income remained variable, and the leg is still not working as well as I had hoped; I am now "permanently" using a cane when out walking; the knee has a habit of locking up when least expected, making for an unstable centre of gravity, that if I hadn't the cane, I would possibly pitch over on my face ;(
on the bright side, I have been slowly working since February on an exercise machine, that I am hopeful will be finished before Christmas, which will help strengthen the thigh muscle in the damaged leg; it having atrophied over the past 2 years;
as well I have been walking with weights since January 2011; I bought myself a set of ice cleats for my boots, and they do work; not perfect in high winds, but adequate with caution; I have been able to walk up to the doctor's office, about 4 miles, in both winter and late spring; and a daily set routine of 7 kl (in 1 1/4 hour) with weights varying from 18 to 25 lbs; this to improve endurance and heart strength; not to loose weight or improve the leg, though it appears to have worked on the knee, increasing muscle around the surgery area;
so now for the interesting part: I will be going on the fast again until Christmas; without looking at the scales or charts; just cut back on the intake of food and increase the water or tea (btw coffee is out now; found it was causing leg swelling this past two months) the food should be easy, as the price of groceries has skyrocketed, and I am now finding I am living more out of the freezer and making my own bread, etc to compensate; so with this blog post, as the start, Tomorrow is the day one ;)
Starting weight I will post tomorrow, and again November 25th (or there about) and again on December 20th; goal, to be below 200 lbs by Christmas, by however much I can manage;
***********************************************************
November 8th 2010
Hi, this is a semi humourous post; semi because this time last year I weighed about 195 lbs, and had weighed that for several years, while trying to lose 25 lbs; then last Christmas when we were trying to have a traditional Christmas, I gained about 20-25 lbs; what with cooking early to make sure of technique and quantity. The Christmas Chocolate Chip cookies, called affectionately Heroin Cookies, because a batch of 48 could go in a night amongst 5 people, were a real problem; not to forget the Broken Hill Pudding of which I was eating a whole one myself, sliced like thick bread, per day until I had the method down pat, but by then it was too late!!
So this year, I have fought the battle of the bulge and lost 6 lbs of that weight gained, at least 12 times, probably more; so for arguments sake, we will say I lost 72 lbs this year; yesterday I went out with my friend AJ, to A&W, and had an Uncle Burger, Fries and Rootbeer; but before I went out, I thought I would get into some jeans that I hadn't put on for over a year; well, one pair barely done up and there were parts of my anatomy that were in danger of being strangled ;-), the others were a dead lose, couldn't squeeze into them no matter what I did; and no I didn't lay on the ground and try to get into them ;)
That is the humourous part; what is not so humourous, is that my cardiologist (yeah I have one) told me last spring that I had to lose at least 40 lbs, and a test I did online to see how long I would live given my general health and habits, I took twice; once as I am now, and the second with changes in habit, diet and weight; the difference was about 10 years; and that is with present medical technology;
I just went upstairs, and Adam is making pancakes for his daughter, and he made more than enough for the family ;) of course the smell is wafting down the stairs into my room; but I have to start a fast to lose at LEAST 10 lbs in the next 20 days; there is a chart below that I will be filling out, plus I will be keeping track of my food intake on a 11 1/2 by 8 inch sheet, food diary, attached to the Fridge door to keep me honest; it has been toooooo easy to get up in the middle of the night or during the day and eating at irregular times, to graze at the food ;-)
With all the variety of food that there is to choose from to cook and bake for Christmas, (and I will be posting the recipe collection soon) perhaps this is a family tradition after all ;-) I will be posting progress reports from the front (and the rear) as the battle wages;
Just to be clear, this is not a religious or complete fast, but a cutting out of the extras and cutting down on what is above my output level; I know exercise is important, and if your dieting or about to, then you have to increase that as you decrease your intake; common sense, no! but right now I am limited to what I can do, and will be for a while, so will work out something here in the basement as I set up the workshop and other improvements; while the blogs and other computer related work is important, there are other areas of life that are as well; so somewhere I have to find a balance; this too I will get back to you on '-)
Cheers

What are Christmas Traditions

I have been thinking this past couple of days about "Why am I hitting my head against the lack of Enthusiasm for Christmas traditions amongst my family and others??" only a few people are involved in Christmas, and other's are either expecting the Old Folks to Make Christmas, or are doing the commercial thing, of buying ready made products; to busy to be involved in the Real Spirit of Christmas

Some of it can be laid at the feet of Parents who have done everything, and not involved the kids; for others it is our fast paste lives, spread out from Family and Friends; while still more likely is the lack of any desire to get into a Seasonal Spirit of Past Traditions Handed Down, it's too much work and takes time, so not the quick fix that the Fast Food / Instant Gratification Society wants life to be;

My generation may be the last one to have grown up with and done for themselves the Christmas Traditions, at least as far as I know in my own immediate family; only one Daughter has any inclination to Make Christmas, and she married a man who is into that as well; regardless of his other faults, he is still someone that I am glad is in the family ;-)

This year we will have our first Christmas Dinner here at the house, with a Pot Luck, overly organized but still a start; then on New Years Day, we are planning another dinner Pot Luck, we will have more of the traditions of the family, with additions from my daughter's husband, mixing in; it will be a Made Celebration, not bought; home made beer, mead, punch, wines; puddings, cakes, and year old mincemeat I started last January; 4-5 traditional cookies, cinnamon buns, Christmas Tryfle and Jul log rolls; the nuts, cold cuts, cheeses, with home made sausage rolls, buns and breads; and of course The Real Music and Movies of Christmas !!

But Christmas Traditions are more than just food and partying; they are just a way of sharing and caring amongst the family; each one bringing what they do best, and making up the Celebration; for the religious or spiritual amongst us, it is a concrete way of sharing the Gift of the Messiah with the family and friends; by going amongst the houses and visiting, sharing a drink, cookies or cold lunches, along with chat and hugs, that is building relationships that epitomize the Spirit of the Season; whatever religion we belong to it is universal to people at this time of transition in the yearly calendar;

What to me are important traditions, won't be important to others, and while I won't do all their traditions, I will realize they are important to them and respect their doing and sharing; in the end we all grow and develop as people and friends; if I had not met the Wagners and other Northern and Eastern Europeans, I would not have the joy and pleasure of those traditions in my Christmas, added to my own families traditions; it is an evolving organic celebration that can and will change with each generation, but the core is always there; as my son said in November, Christmas to him now, would not be Christmas without the Weihnachten Lieder or German Christmas Songs to those who don't know the term;

Prettige Kerstdagen en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Noflike Krystdagen en in Lokkich Nijjier
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår
God Jul og Godt Nyttår
God jul och gott nytt år
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo
Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou
Veselé Vánoce a Šastný Nový Rok!
Hyvää Joulua Ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Wesolych swiat i szczesliwego nowego roku

More on Mulled Cider Recipes

Mulled Cider Recipes

First a definition - what is Mulled Cider or Wines, what does it mean;

Mull: 

To warm or heat up (perhaps that is why it is also used for reflective thinking ;)

Mulled:

Warmed up (a beverage, esp. wine, beer, or cider) and added spices and sweetening to a beverage

a tankard of mulled ale

shall we mull some apple (juice) cider with cranberries and cinnamon 

             So mulled cider seems to have been a drink that was a common man’s beverage; it was made from whatever was available to hand, similar to his versions of wine and mead; in this case a base of apple juice, with a cover of herbs and other flavours, which range from various other fruits to spices; it would have been an experiment carried over many years and perhaps generations, as recipes were refined and quality was improved; the Gingerbeer recipes of the later 17^th to 19^th century would have been just one that became a staple of commercial and home brewing life;

      Below are a few that I have found on the web, and some that I have worked out myself; I’ll leave it up to you to decide which is which LOL

         Dave

 

HOT MULLED CRANBERRY CIDER   

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,hot_mulled_cider,FF.html       

1 (32 oz.) bottle cranberry juice cocktail (4 c.)

1 (32 oz.) bottle apple juice (4 c.)

6 cinnamon-apple herbal tea bags

6 (8 inch long) cinnamon sticks

 

1. In 3 quart saucepan over high heat, heat cranberry juice and apple juice to boiling. Remove from heat. Add tea bags. Cover and brew 5 minutes.

 

2. Remove tea bags. Serve in glass mugs and use cinnamon sticks as swizzle sticks.

 

This is a drink to sip by a warm fire on a cold autumn day.