Happy New Year

We hope you have a prosperous and happy 2013

Sweets

As New Year Treats, or as thank you gifts for hosts over the holiday season homemade sweets go down a treat (im sorry i couldnt resist)

here is a nice simple recipe

Snowflake Truffles
Serves: 16


Filling:

100g (3 ¼ oz) desiccated coconut

60g (2 ¼ oz) icing sugar

100g (3 ¼ oz) ricotta cheese

16 whole almonds

Ganache:

70g (2 ¾ oz) chopped white chocolate

3 tablespoons double cream

50g (2 oz) desiccated coconut, or enough to coat

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 1 hour

1.For the filing: In a medium bowl, mix together coconut, sugar and ricotta cheese to form a dough. Divide into 16 portions. 2.Roll each portion into a ball, pressing one almond each into the centre of each; cool in freezer for 20 minutes. 3.Place the white chocolate in a large stainless steel bowl and set over a saucepan of barely simmering water to melt. While the chocolate is melting, stir in the cream. Use a cocktail stick or fork to dip the truffles in the chocolate mixture. Arrange coated truffles on a platter. Sprinkle remaining coconut over the truffles while the chocolate is still melted. Cool in refrigerator until the chocolate coating hardens.  

New Years Eve Prep

After all the Christmas planning, meals and visits you can get to new year eve and want to just flop.

Here are some simple games and ideas to make it all a little easier.

The Night:

PLAN.
Whether throwing a party, being a guest or staying home, spend time sorting out a plan. who will you be with, will you need a taxi? will someone drive? what will you do to entertain the children.

THE ELDERLY.
Try to to forget elderly friends or parents, they may wish to be at home, but not everyone wants to get an early night. Offer to entertain or at least give them a call in the evening to make sure they have everything they need.

CHILDREN.
As keen as they may be to stay up getting them through to midnight can be hard. make sure everyone has an afternoon nap and have plenty of games to keep them occupied.

GAMES.
here are a few of our favourites

• STRIKE A LIGHT How To Play: Two party guests leave the room and together decide upon a word that the rest of the group will try to guess. They then return to the room and start a conversation together based around their chosen word, trying to give clues to what the word is - but without, of course, actually saying the word itself.

When a guest thinks they know what the secret word is, they must say, "I strike a light", then whisper their guess to one of the two original players. If they guess correctly, they can join in the conversation with the two players. If they're wrong, they must carry on until they guess correctly. The game ends when all the players have guessed what the word is.

• THE VICAR'S CAT How To Play: party guests form a circle and the first person begins by describing "the vicar's cat" with an adjective beginning with the letter "A". Each player then takes a turn finding a different adjective to describe "the vicar's cat" starting with "A".

Once everyone in the circle has had a turn, it starts again with the letter "B", and so on. Any player who fails to think of an adjective in ten seconds is out. The game continues through the alphabet until only one player - the winner - is left.

• FRUIT BOWL How To Play: You need an even number of people to play this game. Everyone gets into pairs, and each pair is given the name of a fruit. Someone at random calls out the name of a fruit, at which point the relevant pair must get up and swop places with each other. It starts off simply, but the idea is that as the game progresses, it becomes more complicated, with two or more fruit categories called out at the same time.

• LOOKABOUT How To Play: One person starts the game by showing everyone a small object in the room. Everyone then has to leave while that person hides the object somewhere in the room. When everyone is called back in, they have to search for the object. When they see it, they have to sit down quietly.

The game is more interesting if they don't sit down immediately but pretend to keep looking around for a few more seconds - otherwise it makes it obvious exactly where the object is. The last person to find the object becomes the next person to hide something.

• YOU'RE NEVER FULLY DRESSED WITHOUT A SMILE How To Play: One player is "It", and they're the only person allowed to smile during the game. They then have to try, any which way they can, to make everyone else in the group smile. This can get very silly. The game continues until only one person is left not smiling - and he or she is declared the winner.

• BLINDMAN'S BUFF How To Play: One person is blindfolded while all the other players spread out around the room. The blindfolded person then has to feel their way around the room until they manage to catch someone. They then have to guess who it is they have "caught". If they guess incorrectly, the person is freed and blindman has to keep going until they correctly guess the identity of a person caught.

Once they manage this, someone else is chosen to be blindfolded. It's probably best for you to move any fragile or delicate items out of the way

TV.
there is always some nice New Years Eve TV so whether its a low key event or a party using a TV show that counts down can keep everyone entertained.

Above all have fun!

Winter Walks

After all the eating and talking, its great to get out and get some fresh air.

here are some great winter walks for all the family.

Chestnut Chocolate Refrigerator Cake

this is an office favourite... very yummy

75g prunes, roughly chopped


75g raisins

3 tbsp brandy

150g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

100g unsalted butter, cubed

150g gingernut biscuits, roughly crushed

150g cooked and peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped



Combine the dried fruit and brandy, and soak for at least two hours (or up to six). Line a 20cm square tin, or a 20cm-diameter round tin, with clingfilm. Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave to melt. Combine with the fruit and brandy, the biscuits and chestnuts. Pour into the tin, pressing down into an even layer. Leave until cool, then refrigerate until solid. Use the clingfilm to lift it out of the tin, and cut into squares or wedges.   its really great for when you have guests... or to sit in a corner and eat it all yourself :)

Images of Christmas

it may be all a blur now, so lets spend a few minutes just remembering

Any Leftovers?

Hope you all had a great day yesterday.
So we have eaten till we are full, but their is still food left.
What to do?

Make a meal from them,

Turkey Casserole

2 onions , finely chopped


1 eating apple , cored and chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried sage , or 5 sage leaves, chopped

2 tbsp plain flour

300ml vegetable or chicken stock

2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

2 tbsp runny honey

400g-500g leftover turkey , shredded

about 350g leftover roasted vegetables like roast potatoes, parsnips, celeriacs and carrots , chunkily diced

  1.Fry the onion and apple in the oil until softened in a casserole or deep pan. Stir in the sage for 1 min, then stir in the flour. Gradually stir in the stock followed by the mustard and honey.

2.Bring up to a simmer and stir in the turkey and roast veg. Cover and gently simmer for 15 mins until turkey is piping hot. Season and eat with mash or jacket potatoes.


Bubble and Squeak   •4 tbsp butter

•½ cup onion, finely chopped

•Leftover mashed potato

•Any leftover vegetables, cabbage, swede, carrots, peas, Brussels Sprouts, finely chopped

•Salt and freshly ground black pepper

•Fried bacon pieces (optional)


•In a large frying pan melt the butter, add the chopped onion and fry gently for 3 mins or until soft.


•Turn the heat up slightly and add the mashed potato and vegetables. Fry for 10 mins turning over in the melted butter two or three times ensuring the potato and vegetables are thoroughly reheated plus you are aiming to brown the outside edges but not to burn the bubble and squeak.

•Press the potato mixture on to the base of the pan with a spatula and leave to cook for 1 min. Flip over and repeat.

•Serve.

lets not forget the leftover desserts

another Jamie Recipe
• 200g leftover Christmas pudding


• 6 tablespoons cranberry sauce

red wine or mulled wine

Optional: 2 teaspoons sugar, to taste

• 1 x 500ml tub good-quality vanilla ice cream

• a large handful of flaked almonds, toasted

• 1 x 100g bar good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

What I’m giving you here is really more of a suggestion because the amount of Christmas pudding you’ll have leftover will really depend on how greedy your guests were on Christmas day. But personally, I love Christmas pudding and I think it’s almost worth having another pudding stashed away so you can make this as an after-Christmas treat.

Put a pan over a medium heat and crumble in your Christmas pudding. Squash it down a bit with a wooden spoon to help it heat up and get a bit crispy. Fry for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring every so often so it doesn’t catch. In another small pan on a low heat, add your cranberry sauce with a splash of red or mulled wine. Stir in and cook for a few minutes until warmed through. If your sauce is too tart for your liking, add a teaspoon or two of sugar. If you’ve made up a batch of my spiced sugar, then use that because it will be delicious with the cranberry.

Once your pudding is warm and slightly crispy and the sauce has heated up, divide half of your pudding between your four glasses or bowls. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the pudding, drizzle over your hot cranberry sauce, and a good sprinkling of toasted flaked almonds. Divide the remaining Christmas pud between your glasses and layer again with ice cream, cranberry sauce and flaked almonds. Finish the sundae off by grating over a bit of nice dark chocolate and dig in before the ice cream melts.

ENJOY!