Gluten-Free Mince Pies

With Christmas just a few days away, I’m off home back to Yorkshire. But I couldn’t arrive empty-handed. My dad can’t eat wheat- he’s one of those genuine coeliacs, rather than the hipster type you see nowadays. That said, hipster trends have opened up the gluten-free market no end. You can actually go in a shop any buy something gluten-free by mistake because it actually resembles real food.

Peppermint Bark

I’m not ashamed to admit that we still have one of our Christmas trees up. Yes, it might have just been Burns Night but it seems ridiculous that we’re supposed to be satisfied looking forward to and celebrating what is essentially just one week of festivities. We make Christmas last as long as humanly possible in our house because who wouldn’t want to feel snug and secure for a few more weeks? Our freezer is still stocked with Christmas-related foodstuffs; yesterday we made a curry with a turkey leg, today a broth out of the bones. This recipe is a quickie for anyone who has candy canes left over. I’d actually never heard of peppermint bark until someone gave Amy a bar of it as a gift two years ago; it was from America so the chocolate element was pretty naff but given my family’s penchant for chocolate mints it only seemed right to pick up a bottle of peppermint essence whilst out Christmas shopping in anticipation of making my own.

Merry Christmas (Eve)!!

 

I get WAY more excited about our Christmas Eve buffet than any other meal on the calendar. It’s my special day; once we’ve picked up the turkey then BOOM, it’s time to get prepping. Here’s what we had this time round; white crabmeat and cress cocktails, lobster with samphire, coconut prawns, crudités with our blue cheese dip, Parma ham, fig and goat’s cheese bundles, pigs in blankets and of course, cheese and pineapples! With some tiramisu macarons and spice pear Bellini’s thrown in for good measure. My, god the acid reflux… HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Xxx

Christmas is Gyoza Season

Gyoza dumplings are some of my favourite nibbly things out there. They cost a bomb to eat in restaurants and let’s face it, the North is hardly blessed with places to eat them, unless you fancy braving Yo!Sushi and its rotating belt of dubiously warm plates. However, they cost next to nothing to make at home; all you need is to source the wrappers from a Chinese supermarket and you’re set. I made these for our traditional Christmas Eve buffet, which is a little nibbly things dream, peppered with dozens of amuses bouches that I spent all day happily preparing.

Christmas Eve Buffet!

It’s finally here! A day well spent in the kitchen preparing my favourite meal of the year. Tonight’s selection includes homemade prawn gyoza, parma ham, goat’s cheese and fig bundles, ham cooked in coca-cola with a treacle and brown sugar glaze, balsamic vinaigrette salad, crudités, potato salad and many more! Happy Christmas!

Christmas Message!

It’s Christmas at last! And for your viewing pleasure, here is a photo of me with my hand up the turkey. Woohoo! I’m stuffing it with lemon and orange herb-infused butter. Yes.

Leeds Christmas Market: the Christkindelmarkt.

Having been invited to a Christmas ugly jumper party by Constantine House (the home of mad American archaeologists and medievalists), I managed to persuade Roger on the day of the event to make the trip to Leeds to hunt out a jumper. But before we left the flat that morning, the doorbell rang and the postman held out a giant parcel- for me! I had no idea what it was, with a London postmark, but eagerly unwrapped it to find A FOX ONESIE! Alright, so I may have been reluctant to join the animal onesie craze but being given something is different from actually buying the thing. Turns out I won a Christmas competition that Yo!Sushi had posted on their Facebook page! Feeling a little bad that I’d slammed them in a review, we nonetheless had at least half an hour of excitement trying it on. Cosy.