Christmas Morning Muffins - MS Word document for downloading

This is a “Nigella recipe” I came across some years ago, which tastes and smells so wonderfully Christmassy. It’s those spices! As we have the Mincemeat Loaf on Christmas morning (see previous posting), I make these Christmas Morning Muffins on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. They make a special start to the day for so little effort. This recipe works well with cranberries or mixed dried fruit. If this mixture is too heavily fruited for your taste, halve the quantity of fruit.

Nigella suggests you measure out the fruit, flour, baking powder, bicarb and sugar the night before, so all you have to do in the morning is melt the butter, and mix together with the orange juice, milk and eggs in the morning. This works well. On the other hand, you can measure everything out in the morning in the time it takes for the oven to heat up.

Makes 12

Preparation time: 15 minutes, if measuring and making all in one go.

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes at 200°C - Gas Mark 6.

You will need a bun/muffin tray and 12 muffin cases.

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Cauliflower/Macaroni Cheese - MS Word document for downloading

Cauliflowers were on “special offer” today - very fresh and good quality, so I bought two - one for a very tasty soup which will go into the freezer (recipe shortly!) and another for supper tonight. We haven’t had Cauliflower Cheese for a long time. I like the variations possible with this dish, not only with the different cheeses you can use, but also by adding chopped fried crispy bacon, mushroom and onion to the sauce, (as shown in the photograph) or a well-drained can of salmon. A mixture of cauliflower and broccoli florets makes a colourful and even more attractive dish.

You can use the same sauce recipe with macaroni. Depending on the size of the appetite, allow between 50-100g (2-4oz) of macaroni per person. Cook according to the instructions on the packet.

Not into sauce making? I’ll give you an alternative recipe, based on crème fraiche which you could use with the cauliflower, macaroni or mixed vegetables - preparation time then would be 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

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Family Mushroom Soup - MS Word document for downloading

In “The Complete Book of Home Freezing”, Audrey Ellis has some wonderful recipes, which I have used for years. (Yes, it is a very old book and she was writing long before the advent of “Ready Meals”!) I adopted quite a bit of her theory “My experience has always been that multiplying the basic amount to serve your family by three, produces a quantity that is practical to cook, (unless you have a very large family). This gives you a meal to serve and two to store…” Over a period of time, you can build up quite a selection in the freezer - so you can have evenings “off” where you are simply reheating previously made dishes. This is a bonus if you are very busy or tired (as at the end of term!) or ill. On a more cheerful note, it also means you can treat unexpected visitors to your home cooking.

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Iced Christmas Puddings - MS Word document for downloading

I first came across Iced Christmas puddings in Australia. A friend served a delicious one, which was ever so simple and made in the bought ice cream container:

1. Soak about 100g (4oz) mixed dried fruit overnight in 4 fl oz (125ml) brandy.
2. Then stir into a pint of double cream.
3. Scoop out about half a carton of vanilla ice-cream, returning this scooped out ice-cream to the freezer
4. Add the brandy mixture to the ice cream in the container, smoothing out as a layer.
5. Freeze until firm.
6. Top up the container with as much of the reserved ice cream as possible.
7. Freeze until required.

To serve: to turn out, dip the container into very hot water for about 5 seconds. Loosen the pudding by twisting a fork in the centre, before turning upside down over the serving plate. Serve immediately.

The photograph is for Iced Christmas Pudding (from BBC “Good Living” with
Jane Asher), ready to go in the freezer. Read more »