Leaf, I just had a thought - you might like to search for diabetic Christmas cakes. I know I used to have a recipe for diabetic Christmas cake and it didn't have any sugar in it.
Thanks, Huia. My extended family believe it is a grave character flaw not to like Christmas cake. I don't like Christmas cake.
However, your post reminded me that I have made date-pistachio slices. You cook down dates with a bit of water until it's a paste, let it cool, add tahini and cardamom, form a roll and roll in toasted chopped pistachios. Slice the roll, boom done. I made these for a trail run snack six weeks ago or so, and still have dates and pistachios. It's also vegan.
No sugar here yet. It's utterly Soviet in the desolation of empty shelves at my local grocery store. Yesterday, in a six-foot section, there were only a few packages of Sweet'n'Low and a single bottle of agave syrup, where masses of bags of sugar ought to be.
I don't use sugar very much, don't even have a regular sugar bowl anymore, but dammit there ought to be some for Christmas baking!
As promised in the Thanksgiving Menu thread, here (belatedly) is a recipe for Southern (American) baked macaroni and cheese. Bear in mind that mac and cheese is one of those foods that can be done a little differently in every family; this is how my mother made it, and how I make it.
Ingredients:
2 cups/8 oz. uncooked macaroni
¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1½ cup milk
2½ cup grated sharp cheese (or more, if you want more)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F/177° C.
Cook and drain macaroni.
Mix eggs, milk and butter/margarine.
In baking dish, layer half of the cooked macaroni, then pour half of the egg mixture over it. Top with half of the grated cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. If desired, sprinkle a little paprika on top.
Bake for one hour or until done.
If I’m wanting to kick it up a bit, I replace the middle layer of grated cheese with a good layer of pimento cheese—good pimento cheese, not “pimento spread”—but I know that may not be available everywhere.
We had a hummingbird feeder in Fredericton, and even saw the occasional little visitor, but we had to take it down when it sprang a leak and proved irresistible to the local ant population.
I’ve added egg nog to my morning latte at Christmas before. Hard to get cartons of it here in the UK though (and I admit to having occasionally used custard instead!).
I must make some proper egg nog sometime.
I was going to buy horseradish sauce but was appalled at the price. Simple - I'll make my own! If ever you do this, you need to employ something like bomb disposal techniques, believe me. The result is very satisfying, but the bare horseradish root should come with a government health warning, and possibly also require a licence for handling it. I took a small taste after blending it with vinegar but before adding milk and mayonnaise - a mistake that felt like I was blowing the sinuses out through the top of my head, while seeing stars. I did save a considerable amount of money, though.
We grew our own horseradish, be careful if you do it spreads like wildfire. Contain it. Hubby would wear goggles and gloves to grate it. Very powerful.
Rejoice with me, Shipmates, for I've bought sugar! From a grocery store, and not the black market! And just in time.
I feel you about powerful horseradish. I once had homegrown, homemade vinegar-based horseradish given to me. It ought to have come with nuclear warning labels.
Having friends and family for Christmas Brunch tomorrow. Egg, sausage bake, fresh fruit salad, and home-baked yogurt bread. Oh no, I just remembered one guest cannot have dairy. As I no longer drive no quick trip to the store, plan B. Want to fix everything today, so making beer bread, but no beer. Will hard cherry cider do? I have a can left from Thanksgiving. No bread pan, have no idea where they might be stored. Using a cake pan. Stay tuned the bread is in the oven.
I was going to buy horseradish sauce but was appalled at the price. Simple - I'll make my own! If ever you do this, you need to employ something like bomb disposal techniques, believe me. The result is very satisfying, but the bare horseradish root should come with a government health warning, and possibly also require a licence for handling it. I took a small taste after blending it with vinegar but before adding milk and mayonnaise - a mistake that felt like I was blowing the sinuses out through the top of my head, while seeing stars. I did save a considerable amount of money, though.
My parents' Jack Russell would have agreed with you on that. I was digging out a dirty great feral horseradish and he was determined to "help". Without thinking, I threw him a bit of root to play with and keep him out of my way long enough that I didn't accidentally stick the fork in him...
My very kind niece gave me the carcass of the Christmas turkey, which I have turned into several cartons of stock.
They are now taking up most of the space in my disappointingly small freezer, and will add a certain je ne sais quoi to soups, risottos and paellas for a wee while.
I turned our turkey carcass into stock and made 13 pints of vegetable broth from it. (And 4 pints based on a vegetable stock for my vegetarian wife.) I find if I don’t soup it all straight away then, we being a mostly vegetarian household, it ends up still in the freezer next Christmas! This way our three departing offspring can take some of it away with them in frozen form.
Thanks so much, it was delicious! The 2023 food and recipes thread is now closed; a new thread has just come out of the oven, so take your food-related discussion and recipes to the new thread.
Comments
Thanks, Huia. My extended family believe it is a grave character flaw not to like Christmas cake. I don't like Christmas cake.
However, your post reminded me that I have made date-pistachio slices. You cook down dates with a bit of water until it's a paste, let it cool, add tahini and cardamom, form a roll and roll in toasted chopped pistachios. Slice the roll, boom done. I made these for a trail run snack six weeks ago or so, and still have dates and pistachios. It's also vegan.
No sugar here yet. It's utterly Soviet in the desolation of empty shelves at my local grocery store. Yesterday, in a six-foot section, there were only a few packages of Sweet'n'Low and a single bottle of agave syrup, where masses of bags of sugar ought to be.
I don't use sugar very much, don't even have a regular sugar bowl anymore, but dammit there ought to be some for Christmas baking!
Many thanks, NT. Will try it this week.
Thanks, questioning. I will follow up.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sugar-strike-hummingbird-nectar-1.7054310
We had a hummingbird feeder in Fredericton, and even saw the occasional little visitor, but we had to take it down when it sprang a leak and proved irresistible to the local ant population.
I must make some proper egg nog sometime.
I feel you about powerful horseradish. I once had homegrown, homemade vinegar-based horseradish given to me. It ought to have come with nuclear warning labels.
My parents' Jack Russell would have agreed with you on that. I was digging out a dirty great feral horseradish and he was determined to "help". Without thinking, I threw him a bit of root to play with and keep him out of my way long enough that I didn't accidentally stick the fork in him...
They are now taking up most of the space in my disappointingly small freezer, and will add a certain je ne sais quoi to soups, risottos and paellas for a wee while.
Easier to strain ......