Stollen Recipe

Stollen Recipe


Ingredients

Serves: 15

• 2 teaspoons dried active baking yeast

• 175ml (6 fl oz) warm milk (45 C)

• 1 large egg

• 75g (3 oz) caster sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 75g (3 oz) unsalted butter, softened

• 350g (12 oz) bread flour

• 50g (2 oz) currants

• 50g (2 oz) sultanas

• 50g (2 oz) red glace cherries, quartered

• 175g (6 oz) diced mixed citrus peel

• 200g (7 oz) marzipan

• 1 heaped teaspoon icing sugar

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• toasted flaked almonds for sprinkling on top

Preparation method

Prep: 2 hours
Cook: 40 mins

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, caster sugar, salt, butter, and 3/4 of the bread flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition.

3. When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in the currants, sultanas, dried cherries and mixed peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes.

4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

5. Lightly grease a baking tray. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the centre of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it; pinch the seams together to seal.

6. Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking tray. Cover with a clean, damp tea-towel and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 150 C / Gas mark 2 and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

8. Allow loaf to cool on a wire cooling rack. Dust the cooled loaf with icing sugar, sprinkle with cinnamon and finish with toasted flaked almonds.

Christmas Preparations

10). Review Christmas budget, by doing this a long way in advance it allows you to set limits for presents, food and drinks. Make a list now of everything that needs doing and keep the list somewhere you know where it is… this saves the hunt the list later! Being able to cross things off the list once you have done them makes you feel you are accomplishing something even if you are adding more things than you are subtracting.


(9). Finish making homemade gifts – all home made gifts that don’t perish should be made as far in advance as you can. Food gifts like jams and chutneys will keep for 6 months at least. For gifts such as sweets and biscuits these are best made 2 days before Christmas and kept in a cold place.

(8). Update Christmas card list – dig out your Christmas card list and add any news names for this year to it. Make sure you have all the addresses you need and check last dates for postage to the UK and other countries if necessary.

(7). Make Christmas family and children’s cards – if you have children get them involved in this part of your preparations. Make sure you stick to any posting deadlines. If you hate writing lots of card in one go, keep your address book and cards in a bag by the side of the sofa so you can get a few written at a time over the next few weeks.

(6). Finish gift tags and wrapping paper – if you’re making your own tags and papers do this now, again it is something children can be involved with. If you’re not making them make sure you buy enough in now with spares for surprise last minute gifts.

(5). Christmas present list and shopping – make a list of everyone you buy for and add what gifts you intend to buy them to the list then you can ensure you stay within the budget you set yourself. Make a list also of what food you are going to buy, don’t forget to include nibbles and drinks if you are expecting people to call by. Make a list of who is coming for the day or staying over during the holidays, including details like vegetarian meals you might need to make. Also decide what you’re going to cook. Work from your Christmas dinner outwards because other meals can be lighter. If there is anything from your meal planner that can be made in advance, put a date by this of when you’re going to make and freeze it.


(4). Christmas Decorations – Get out all your Christmas decorations and lights and check they are working. Let the kids decorate your Christmas tree as they’ll be the ones nagging you for it! They can also help make some new decorations if you want from salt dough or from shaped biscuits.

If you order your meat, do this now. For an online food shop, get your order in now. You can update it over the next few weeks, but delivery slots will get booked up early

(3) Buy holiday drinks alcoholic and soft. Start posting your cards now. Start making some freezer meals now for easy meals and lunches for days when you don’t have the time to prepare anything. Make sure you label them clearly and date them.

(2) Buy treats and the Christmas meal items that won’t go off. Wrap presents, you could maybe plan it for a time when everyone will be out. Wrapping takes longer than you think and you don’t want to leave it until Christmas Eve.

(1). Do laundry so it’s not a chore over Christmas. Two days before, make soups and sauces that will keep in the fridge. Don’t leave your big food shop until Christmas Eve or your meal might be ruined by a key ingredient being out of stock. Give yourself time to find it elsewhere.

Christmas Eve – Pick up any last minute forgotten items. Deliver any close by presents you have left. Prepare all vegetables for tomorrow’s lunch and keep them in cold water to keep them fresh. Make any cold desserts. Set the table. Make sure you have a guide for when everything needs to be cooked tomorrow and stick this to somewhere easily seen.

Don’t forget to put out a carrot and water for Rudolf and a Mince pie and sherry for Santa!

Remember to give yourself breaks along the road to Christmas. If you get everything done early, you could, for instance, book a family night in with duvets and a good film. Who knows, it might calm down the children too!

Homemade Christmas Gift Tags

here is a lovely PDF for you to print off, showing you how to make some festive tags https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2N4DYZB7_H_VXAtbV9xWlNDMEk

Christmas Poem

A lovely poem for you to enjoy today.

Christmas Cake Recipe

Ingredients


1 lb (450 g) currants


6 oz (175 g) sultanas


6 oz (175 g) raisins


2 oz (50 g) glacé cherries, rinsed, dried and finely chopped


2 oz (50 g) mixed candied peel, finely chopped


3 tablespoons brandy, plus extra for 'feeding'

8 oz (225 g) plain flour


½ level teaspoon salt


¼ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


½ level teaspoon ground mixed spice

8 oz (225 g) unsalted butter


8 oz (225 g) soft brown sugar


4 large eggs


2 oz (50 g) almonds, chopped (the skins can be left on)


1 level dessertspoon black treacle

grated zest 1 lemon


grated zest 1 orange


4 oz (110 g) whole blanched almonds (only if you don't intend to ice the cake




You will also need an 8 inch (20 cm) round cake tin or a 7 inch (18 cm) square tin, greased and lined with silicone paper (baking parchment). Tie a band of brown paper round the outside of the tin for extra protection.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas

Method

You need to begin this cake the night before you want to bake it. All you do is weigh out the dried fruit and mixed peel, place it in a mixing bowl and mix in the brandy as evenly and thoroughly as possible. Cover the bowl with a clean tea cloth and leave the fruit aside to absorb the brandy for 12 hours.

Next day pre-heat the oven to gas mark 1, 275°F (140°C). Then measure out all the rest of the ingredients, ticking them off to make quite sure they're all there. The treacle will be easier to measure if you remove the lid and place the tin in a small pan of barely simmering water. Now begin the cake by sifting the flour, salt and spices into a large mixing bowl, lifting the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing. Next, in a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together until it's light, pale and fluffy. Now beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add them to the creamed mixture a tablespoonful at a time; keep the whisk running until all the egg is incorporated. If you add the eggs slowly by degrees like this the mixture won't curdle. If it does, don't worry, any cake full of such beautiful things can't fail to taste good!

When all the egg has been added, fold in the flour and spices, using gentle, folding movements and not beating at all (this is to keep all that precious air in). Now fold in the fruit, peel, chopped nuts and treacle and finally the grated lemon and orange zests. Next, using a large kitchen spoon, transfer the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spread it out evenly with the back of a spoon and, if you don't intend to ice the cake, lightly drop the whole blanched almonds in circles or squares all over the surface. Finally cover the top of the cake with a double square of silicone paper with a 50p-size hole in the centre (this gives extra protection during the long slow cooking.

Bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 4½-4¾ hours. Sometimes it can take up to ½-¾ hour longer than this, but in any case don't look till at least 4 hours have passed. Cool the cake for 30 minutes in the tin, then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling. When it's cold 'feed' it – make small holes in the top and base of the cake with a cocktail stick or small skewer, then spoon over a few teaspoons of brandy, wrap it in double silicone paper secured with an elastic band and either wrap again in foil or store in an airtight container. You can now feed it at odd intervals until you need to ice or eat it.

Reducing Stress at Christmas

Christmas is supposed to be a happy time but with so much pressure to have a ‘perfect family’ or a ‘perfect day’ it can be a stressful time for many people. This may be especially stressful this year with the current financial difficulties that lots of people are finding themselves in.


Here are some ideas on how to reduce your stress levels.

1. Manage expectations - The build up to Christmas is exciting, especially for young children. However, this is also a time when financial stress can build and if the items on Father Christmas’ list aren’t feasible, it’s important that the surprise isn’t saved until Christmas morning. Be open with your children about the cost of presents and give them an idea of what is affordable. Also manage your own expectations. If you make a list of three things that are really important for you to happen on Christmas day (make sure at least one doesn’t cost anything) eg. Nice food, family, games etc then make sure you include those in the day and let some of the other aspects slide.

2. Queue jump - Avoid the last minute chaos of the high street and shopping by thinking ahead. Make a list of the items you need to get and delegate if necessary! Make use of home delivery and internet shopping. Stock up on the basics and only shop in person for the important ‘extras’. Many special offers and sales are available online if you just shop around. You could also use price comparison websites to make sure you are getting a good deal. Some companies offer saving schemes where you are able to pay monthly for your Christmas presents. Everything doesn’t have to come out of one month’s budget.


3. Cutback commitments - If the thought of a drinks party with the neighbours or mince pie with old friends adds to the festive headache, politely decline. Be sensible about the amount of time you can commit to entertaining and being entertained! If the Christmas break provides a welcome opportunity to relax then take it. Be aware of these additional costs to your budget too as hidden extras can cause stress later on.

4. Share - If the Christmas build up leaves you feeling overwhelmed, share your concerns with someone close. Confiding in someone else will help you to rationalise your worries. Plan to also share the responsibility for the day itself, so that its success does not rest on your shoulders and in your mind. People will be happy to contribute. Maybe ask different members of the family to be responsible for a different course of the meal or for the drinks, or chocolates, or for the washing up, or organising games. Make sure that you allow time to just enjoy the day rather than just cramming all your time with activities and jobs.



5. Healthy mind - Exercise will help clear the mind and often, remove you from the immediate and often chaotic environment of home and its a free way to spend part of the day. Children often welcome the chance to run around and release all the pent up excitement too. If this isn’t possible on Christmas Day itself why not plan to do it Boxing Day afternoon? You can wear that new Christmas jumper or socks then too!

6. Keep perspective - Remember who and what is important at times of intense stress. The moment will pass and you’ll find comfort in letting it do so without the build up of emotion. Taking some deep breaths and imagining a calm place can help too. Saying something positive to yourself either silently or out loud may help too. If it is too much then offer to help with something in a different room or go get some air etc. removing yourself from the situation can help.


7. Relax - Don’t give yourself a hard time about making Christmas perfect. The responsibility doesn’t rest with one person and it’s worth always remembering that for most, it’s just one day of the year. Try some of the relaxation tips from the BBC on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/emotional_health/mental_health/coping_relaxation.shtml

Carers Week

This week is National Carers Week (18th – 24 June 2012), it is a UK-wide event aimed at celebrating and recognising the UK’s six million unpaid carers. Carers make immeasurable differences to the lives of the people they take care of whether it is a partner, relative or friend who are too ill or disabled to look after themselves. They also save the NHS and social services approximately £119 billion each year.


Carers Week is a consortium of eight national charities, they are: Age UK, Carers Trust, Carers UK, Independent Age, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care, MS Society and Parkinson’s UK. http://carersweek.org/

Here are some facts about carers from the 2001 Census:

• 10 per cent of the total population are carers which is nearly six million people in the UK.

• There are 1.9 million people caring for more than 20 hours per week and 1.25 million care for more than 50 hours per week.

• Women are more likely to be carers than men. There are 3.4 million female carers (58 per cent of carers) and nearly 2.5 million male carers (42 per cent).

• Most carers (5.7 million) are aged over 18 and the peak age for caring is 50 to 59.

• More than one in five people aged 50-59 (1.5 million across the UK) are providing some unpaid care.

• There are 174,995 young people under the age of 18 who provide care, 13,029 of these provide care for 50 hours or more per week.

• There are three million people combine work with caring responsibilities for a disabled, ill or frail relative or friend. This is roughly one in eight workers in the UK.

As part of Carers Week a survey was sent out to 3,400 carers and this survey shows that being a Carer places huge strains on a person’s own health and wellbeing with two in five unpaid carers sacrificing their own health by putting off medical treatment to fulfil their caring duties. The survey also showed a negative impact on 83 per cent of carers’ physical health with 8 in 10 saying their responsibilities had caused them health problems, including everything from back pain to insomnia. A further 87 per cent said caring for a family member or friend has had a negative impact on their mental health. 64 per cent carers blamed their poor health on a lack of practical support and 50 per cent on not enough financial support.

These figures show that carers are being badly let down by the level of support they are getting. Social care and the NHS just aren’t meeting their needs. The numbers of elderly and younger adults getting help from councils has fallen in recent years and it is these unpaid carers that are left picking up the slack. Carers Week manager Helen Clarke said: "It's a scandal that carers can't get the time or support they need to look after themselves which could be jeopardising their health as a result. "Carers are feeling the strain of a woefully underfunded system and still we're seeing more cuts. "Unpaid carers save the Government a fortune - £119 billion a year - yet they're let down in return. It is time for urgent action to tackle the crisis in social care." Sarah Pickup, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: "It could not be clearer that there is a desperate need for politicians from all parties to quickly find an answer to how we, as a nation, are going to adequately fund social care services in the future."

There are some agencies that offer help to carers these include carers groups, local organisations and charities. The Carers Week partners also offer a range of services for carers including carers’ centres, online discussion forums and advice and information service. For more information see; http://carersweek.org/about-us/national-partners

For practical support to help with caring whether this is equipment, short term respite, or a more substantial break in residential care a person needs a Carers assessment. Carer’s assessments are a way of identifying the carer’s needs. They look at their role as a carer: how being a carer affects them, how much caring they can realistically do (while still allowing them to be involved in other activities outside caring), and any help they need. To find out about a Carer’s assessment you can go through the local council or carer organisation or try: http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/guide/assessments/Pages/Carersassessments.aspx


For Help in finding out what financial help the carer or the person being looked after is entited to then you can either go through a charity such as Carers UK and Age UK who can give you a ‘benefits check’ or you can go to http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/index.htm


Looking at the statistics it is clear that at some point in our lives most of us will be affected by the issues surrounding being a carer and social care. We can only hope that the government place enough emphasis on this area so that they instigate sweeping reforms on the way in which this area is funded.

This might then allow carers to recieve the support they need to stay healthy and capable of continuing this vital role.