Wednesday, 30 October 2013

A beautiful blue sky and Christmas puddings!

What a lovely day we have had here today. Wall to wall sunshine and blue skies. At 7.30 there was a grass frost in places but that soon disappeared. The washing dried easily and I got some weeding done.

I also made some small Christmas puddings to give as gifts as I realised I still had two large puds in the cupboard from last year. I used half the recipe today which filled 2 x 1pt basins and one smaller one.
In case you don't have a pudding recipe of your own, this is the one I've been using for several years.
Sorry it's not metric but my brain is still imperial  and this recipe is very old, passed to me from the mother of my sister in laws husband! It is nicer than the recipe that I had before which my mum was given by an old lady on a bus. Isn't it funny where recipes come from.

Christmas Pudding
12oz white breadcrumbs
12oz suet
30z plain flour
9oz dark brown sugar
Mix well then add
1ib chopped raisons
12oz sultanas
8oz currants
6oz mixed peel
3 eating apples peeled and grated
4tbsp black treacle
3 large eggs
Juice and grated rind of a lemon
Cold tea to mix ( add a little at a time)

Mix everything together really well
Spoon into pudding basins, level surface, don't fill right to the top.
Cover each with greaseproof paper, then foil and tie around with string, making a lifting handle.
Steam for 3 to 6 hours depending on size
Check and add boiling water as required
Re heat by steaming for 1 to 2 hours depending on size.



3 small puddings made using half the recipe, pudding 3 is hiding at the back!
 I realise that this is a rather vague recipe and relies on things looking right which if you've not made a Christmas pudding before might be a bit daunting.
The full recipe makes 1 large pudding and one small one, but even that sounds a bit vague too!
Because I have the Rayburn alight I can steam these at no extra cost and as I don't own a pressure cooker I can't give you details about using one.

Him Outside went off with the trailer to pick up a load of wood- new wood this time- ready for building two sheds. One will be another toilet for the campsite, so we can keep gents and ladies separate.  I've found that men are much muckier in the loo than women! They don't wipe their feet, they never clean the loo when they've left it in a mess, they can't put a new loo roll on the loo roll holder, and they tend to be smellier! this is my experience after cleaning campsite loos for 17 years!
The other shed will be a new garden/potting shed as the one he built 19 years ago is all rotten at the bottom and has never been big enough and since we had the extension done, it is in completely the wrong place. The wood from the old shed will not be wasted as it will become kindling wood and firewood.
That's Wednesdays news, back tomorrow with My Review of the Month for October- I think over- spending will be the theme!

MOVED

The blog here has now finished please add my new blog to your list instead                               You will find it here at    ...