DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE FRUIT CAKE If you are like me during the Christmas holidays there’s nothing better than sinking my teeth into a rich piece of Christmas Cake or mincemeat pie with a cuppa tea to finish the day off. My dad loves his Christmas cake also known as a fruit cake and it just so happens that my sister makes them for Christmas as well. Like me she does some baking on the side with December and January being the busiest time of year. You can make this recipe as frugal as you like it or make it as expensive depending on the quality and type of ingredients that you buy. Obviously with the addition of nuts and alcohol you can easily see a price difference in the cake had you of left those ingredients out. Christmas Cake What is a Christmas Cake? A Christmas Cake is a popular seasonal tradition made in Britain and Scotland. The Christmas cake can take on many forms such as a light or dark cake. The shape of the Christmas cake can be round, oblong and even rectangular and you can choose to add alcohol or leave it […]
5 Minute Hazelnut Chocolate Fudge
FUDGE-MAKING IS SO EASY If you’ve ever been in a pinch for a dessert because you have company coming over this easy hazelnut chocolate fudge recipe will blow you away. It literally takes no time at all to make and it won’t break the bank either. Growing up we never did eat fudge too often and it wasn’t until the wife and I went on a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake where I was introduced to some creamy Canadian fudge. The one candy shop we went in while in Niagara offered sample tastes of every variety of fudge they made and I was more than happy to sample them all. OK, I didn’t try them all but I did shovel down as much as I could without going into a sugar coma. I had my favourites like the maple fudge with all the tastes of Canada that you would expect, pure maple. Fudge Making I never gave much thought to making chocolate fudge before until I was watching a Christmas episode of my favourite Food Network program, The Pioneer Woman where Ree Drummond made her version of condensed milk chocolate fudge. She created a beautiful easy peppermint fudge perfect […]
Classic Scotch Eggs
ANOTHER WAY TO ENJOY EGGS! If there is something that I really crave this time of year it has to be classic British Scotch Eggs! Scotch Eggs were invented by the London department store Fortnum and Mason in 1738 way before my time but they are just as popular today as they were back then. I love to pair Scotch Eggs along with pork pies with a chunk of strong cheese and some pickled onions. Let’s not forget the homemade chutney and of course homemade bread! Oh yum. This meal is typically called a ploughmans’ where you have a variety of cheeses and pickles and bread typically found at the pub to drink with a nice dark ale. I’d often have this if we were out and about at a lunchtime. Today I am going to show you how easy is it to make Scotch Eggs but first lets talk about how to boil an egg. I really wanted to use smaller quails eggs for this recipe but there were none on the shelf at the grocery store so I am using large eggs. The reason for the quail egg was so I could serve them as appetizers for […]
Savoury Cheese Straws
CHEESY APPETIZER YOU CAN DIP Since the holidays are around the corner I’m sticking to easy on the wallet appetizers like my buttery, flakey, savoury cheese straws. All that rolled into one delicious snack food. These melt in your mouth cheese straws will be a hit at any party or even better if you want to enjoy them on your own. The best part is that you can make these cheese straws ahead of time so that you are not hunting last-minute when company shows up unexpectedly at your door. (we all know that happens over the holidays) I like to keep the homemade theme in my family as much as possible. Not only are you paying premium for convenience foods but you are missing out on creating traditions for your family. I find store-bought baked goods have so many ingredients that you don’t want or you can’t pronounce. I prefer to be able to tell everybody exactly what ingredients goes into my recipes and most times people say, “Is that all?”. Types of Cheese Straws There are many variations of these delicious cheese straws because you can flavour them up so many ways starting with different […]
