My Christmas Pudding Recipe (Wheat & Dairy Free)

One plus of all this snowy weather is more time to do lots of Christmas baking!

Yesterday afternoon I got my Christmas pudding made. I had planned on making it two weeks earlier, on 'Stir-Up Sunday' when you are traditionally supposed to make your pudding, but we just had too much other stuff on. The fruits will have benefited from those extra two weeks soaking in the alcohol anyway!

This recipe is a bit of a mish-mash of a couple of other recipes I have tried in the past. Last year was the first time I had tried making a wheat-free version (shown in the photo below) and I was delighted with how it turned out. There was no difference at all in taste or texture from a wheat-flour version.

I think it really is worth the effort of making your own pud (not that there is much effort or skill required at all). It's bigger than most shop-bought ones for a start, tastier and you can bask in the Domestic Godess-ey glow of satisfaction when you see it flaming on the Christmas table.

You will need:

250g mixed dried fruit

50g dried cranberries

150g prunes, chopped

200ml brandy, or alcohol of your choice (I used whisky this year and last, but brandy is more traditional)

100g Doves Farm Wheat-Free Self Raising Flour*

125g wheat-free breadcrumbs (about 4/5 slices of bread, blitzed in a blender)

150g suet

150g brown sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

1/2tsp ground cloves

1 tsp baking powder

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

1 cooking apple, peeled and grated

3 beaten eggs

*If you are making this with wheat flour then use plain not SR

~Put the dried fruit, cranberries and prunes in a bowl, pour over your chosen alcohol, mix well, cover and leave to soak overnight (or a couple of weeks as I did!)

~Put the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon before adding your soaked fruits and any leftover liquid, then mix well again.

~Traditionally every member of the family is supposed to take a turn mixing the pudding, and according to Nigella you were supposed to mix from East to West in honour of the Wise Men!

~Once everything is well mixed, which really doesn't take long at all, tip the mixture into a greased 3 pint bowl or plastic pudding basin.

~Cover with greaseproof paper with a crease in it to let the mixture expand, tied with string. Or the lid if you have a proper pudding basin!

I've just realised that you can't see the crease here! It's just a fold in the middle really.

~Put the pudding in the top of a steamer and steam away gently for 5 hours (yes, really). I tend to make mine just before dinner and then let it simmer away until later in the evening.

~Let the pudding cool and then keep it somewhere safe until Christmas.

~On Christmas day it will need steamed again for 3 hours. To save on hob space I usually cook my potatoes in the bottom of the steamer for part of that time.

~Run a knife around the edge of the bowl before putting a plate over the bowl and turning it upside down and gently shake the pudding out.

~Heat a ladle full of brandy over the gas hob (or in a pan) and then light when it is warm enough.

~Quickly pour it over the pudding and take it to the table while everyone 'Ooohs' in wonder.

The flame is really hard to photograph but you get the idea!

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Cancelled trains, champion icicles & Christmas decorations

Well, firstly, the cancelled trains. 

There have been no trains running on our local train line for over a week now as a result of the weather. I take the boys in to school on the train but since school was off anyway this was no big deal. However, on Friday morning we heard that ALL trains from the central belt of Scotland and northwards were cancelled. This included my beloved's train home! He investigated a couple of other options but nothing was available and so we spent the weekend without daddy and he spent it in a lonely flat.

I had been leaving the digging the car out of the snow for him to do when he came back, so instead I did it myself on Saturday morning so that we could get some food (my brother's wife had managed to get their car out before then and had called round with some welcome supplies for us on Friday). 

When we were home from the supermarket my brother came round and helped me clear a bit more of the snow because I had only done the bear minimum - phew, it was hard work! Tea was joking in the comments below that we must have 8 feet of snow and it certainly felt like that when I was shovelling it! 

While my brother was here the boys and their cousins were throwing snowballs at the icicles on the house to try and knock them down. They didn't want to knock this one down though because it's our champion one.

Some people in our street put up those Christmas lights outside their house that look like icicles. I don't think they need to bother this year - this is the view from Calum & David's bedroom.

After all that hard work shovelling snow on Saturday, there had been no snow for about 48 hours, until this morning, when it began falling again and another 8 inches or so fell. 

I was trying to summon up the energy to go out again and shovel while it was still soft when I saw one of my nice neighbours doing it for me!

Since the boys were a bit disappointed at not seeing daddy this weekend, I decided we would put our Christmas tree up, slightly earlier than we normally do.

These are a few of my favourite decorations.

The boys made these Bible verse scrolls last Christmas. Just to the right of it you can see a little Thomas the Tank Engine peeking out. I bought a set of them back when I only had two boys (a toddler & a baby) and they have been popular every year since!

David made this big star last year at Sunday School.

And of course no self respecting tree in this house would be complete without a LEGO decoration! There are three of these snowmen dotted around the tree.

Under the tree are these little cuties.

We also have quite a few advent calendars too!

Firstly is the Playmobil one (which we also bought way back when there were only two boys).

Each day they get a different piece of Playmobil.....

..........and add it to the festive scene.

This one is Calum and Alasdair's, because they can't eat chocolate we put a little treat that they can have in each pouch for them.

David and James have the standard chocolate ones.

And our final one, but the most important, is our Jesse Tree Calendar.

Each window has a Bible verse behind it and a short devotion in the book connected to the verse.

You tear the window off the calendar as it has a picture on it relating to the Scripture and hang it on your Jesse tree. The devotions point from the Old Testament through to the birth of Jesus, pointing out all the prophesies and promises throughout.

Gaelic word of the day:

craobh nollaig (criv nollag) - Christmas tree

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Thursday things

Normally Thursday is Recipe of the Week day but my little man has been a bit under the weather today with a wheezy cough and a bit of a temperature, so I didn't get my Thursday baking done. He would sit on my knee for the best part of the day any day if he could, but today even more so. There is something quite nice about snuggling up on the sofa with a blanket while the snow falls outside (yes, it's still falling!) The older boys are desperate to make our first batch of Christmas biscuits though, so maybe tomorrow.

After yesterday's futile visit to the local shop, my neighbour called round this morning to say that she and her husband were heading off to trek to the nearest supermarket (maybe about 2 miles away) to see if it was better stocked. They returned from their expedition with some milk and eggs for me, although the first supermarket they tried was in the same state as our local shop, so they had walked on to the next store, which is about 10 minutes further on.

Snuggling up with a sleeping baby all day has given me a good chance to crack on with some crochet today too, although not my TOP SECRET ones with the boys around obviously!

Gaelic word of the day:

fuar (foo-ar) - cold

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W.I.P. Wednesday

The boys, and their friends in the street, have finished their igloo now. Yesterday afternoon James took my phone out and made a little video showing off the igloo, so that is this week's WIP.

There are two clips because when he went into the smaller igloo, which they call the 'council' because they have their meetings there, the lantern wasn't on and it was too dark to see anything so he made a second clip.

I can't believe that the snow is still falling. Last winter was the worst we have had here for many years, but the snow then didn't fall this deep this quickly or this early. Every night I look out and think, it can't get much deeper, and then the next morning it is!

School is cancelled until Monday now as well.

Our car! Look at the little car across from us, just to the right though - it has almost disappeared!

The boys and I took a walk to our local shop this afternoon. It is only a mile away but was quite a trek through such deep snow. Here it is almost up to Calum's waist.

When we got to the shop there was absolutely no fresh produce. No eggs, milk, cheese, meat, veg, fruit. Thankfully our freezer is well stocked. I  just wanted some cheese and eggs but I have enough eggs for a couple of days and we can survive without cheese!

The main road.

The back garden now.

And at the risk of information overload, I took this wee clip as we went to the shop today because I thought a   video would show the depth better. I had to share it though because the sound effects at the start are so funny. I was carrying Alasdair in the baby sling (yes, he is getting quite heavy for it now) and so you can hear his sweet little babbles. There is also some more Scottish accents for my American friends.

Oh, yes, and I was also on the Gaelic radio earlier today, talking a bit about the work the charity my husband works for is doing with the homeless through the winter. I know the large majority of readers won't understand a word of it, but the link is here and I am at 3.55mins and 12.35mins, just in case you want to hear some Gaelic being spoken!

Now I really have gone for information overload!

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St Andrew's Day

Today is St Andrew's day, and if you worked for local government then you had the day off work yesterday to mark the occasion. Thanks to the snow a whole lot more people had the day off too!

We had our little St Andrew's day dinner on Saturday, since my beloved is away working through the week.

We all put our kilts on, I happen to think that there is nothing more handsome than a man in his kilt, and had haggis , neeps and tatties for dinner.

Here are a few snaps of our evening:

This was Alasdair's first time wearing his kilt. 

See his little kilt socks? They are something of a family heirloom now! When we got married my youngest brother, also Alasdair, was the same age our Alasdair is now. These socks were knitted for him to wear to our wedding!

'Come on, cut them open!'

Yum, yum, yum.

See also my new wine glasses in this photo and the one above. I picked them up in a charity shop on Saturday, £3 for 7. They are so pretty.

Alasdair wasn't too keen to stand still for this one!

Handsome. x5.

My kilt is Macleod tartan (my mother's maiden name), my husband's is Murray (our name). 

To get a child's kilt made up in your own tartan is quite expensive and only the more common names are available 'off the peg' which is why the boys have different tartans. I have tried to get them ones in a similar greenish colour.

James' is Pride of Scotland (or something like that), Calum's is MacKenzie and David & Alasdair's are just some tartan from a fabric shop that I bought and made into kilts when James & Calum were their ages.

All those yards of wool don't do much for a girl's waistline, but I do love my kilt! It reaches almost to the floor and so I wear it with some killer heels. 

 

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Snowed in 1!

Yesterday morning I was thinking how Saturday's snowfall seemed so tiny compared to what had fallen Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Then this morning THAT snowfall paled into insignificance compared to what fell last night/this morning. And it's STILL falling!

We currently have about 2 feet of snow. It is over the top of my husband's wellies anyway.

Church was called off yesterday morning, as the snow was still falling thickly and the roads hadn't been treated, although it was back on for the evening service. The roads were not great by then either though. 

School was off today, and again tomorrow. Our road was completely impassable for cars today so nobody was at work. It really felt like Christmas!

On top of all the fun the boys have had was the bonus that daddy couldn't leave for his job up north until this evening, so they had an extra day playing with him (although he had to spent the morning shovelling snow with the neighbours!)

I've put together this wee slide-show of the snowy fun for today and yesterday. I put it in a separate post because it was making the text of this post spread too far wide! I haven't included photos of the igloo the boys built with daddy yet, but will  share them later on because the igloo is so impressive.

Although it is not unknown for us to have snow in November, it is unusual for us to have this much, so quickly, so early. 

Scroll down to the next post for the photos!

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Snowed in 2!

"Winter begins, Nov 2010"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

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Winter has arrived!

We had the first snowfall of the season last night.

The boys leapt out of their beds and were outside playing before we were even dressed!

When Alasdair saw out of the window he just kept gasping, saying 'Wow' and pointing at it.

The snow gave a very festive feel to the Christmas Fair at the boys' school this morning. We bought some lovely crafts that the boys had made at school as well as some children's books and a few wee toys.

Once we were out in the playground Alasdair had his first ever chance to walk in the snow. He absolutely loved it!

 

Gaelic word of the day:

sneachd (shn-achg) - snow

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Recipe of the Week - Cinnamon & Clementine Cake

I think it's time now to start on the festive recipes :0)

 The inspiration for this cake came from one I remembered my mum making when we were younger. It was a Cinnamon cake, only one layer, with no icing in the middle, but it did have the cinnamony sugar on top. 

Last Christmas I wanted to recreate something similar, but I also wanted to add some orange to it too, to keep it moist. Since it was clementine season I tried using them instead and was delighted with the result. One really soft, subtly spiced yummy cake!

For the cake you will need:

6oz dairy free margarine

6oz sugar

6oz Dave's Farm Wheat Free SR Flour

3 eggs

2 clementines

1tsp ground cinnamon

For the icing:

3oz dairy free margarine

8oz icing sugar

1-2tsp clementine juice

For the sugar topping:

2tbsp sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

~Put the margarine, sugar, flour and eggs into a free standing mixer and beat well until smooth and creamy.

~Add the zest of both clementines, the juice of one of them and the cinnamon then beat again until all incorporated.

~Share between two greased and base lined 7inch sandwich tins and bake at 180C for around 20 minutes, or until nice and golden.

~Transfer to a cooling rack once they are cool enough to handle.

~Meanwhile, beat the icing sugar and margarine together then add about 1-2tsp of clementine juice, from your second clementine. You don't want to add too much or your icing will be too thin.

~In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

~Once the cakes have cooled, sandwich them together with the icing and shake the golden coloured sugar over the top of the cake.

~Serve with some warm, citrusy tea whilst listening to carols in the candlelight by the fire.

~Alternatively, feed it to your boys at supper time and watch it disappear at an astonishing rate - even the baby's!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating it!

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Now, given previous posts, and what I am about to show, I realise that I may be at risk of a reputation as something of a Star Wars geek.
Can I just confirm, that I wouldn't actually choose to watch these movies! Growing up, I really disliked them in fact. It's just that, in providence I have been blessed with four boys, and, well, they happen to love Star Wars. And since I happen to love my boys, and wouldn't change a thing about them, then I am happy to embrace a little bit of life with the Force.
Right, glad we cleared that up.
I must add too, that this current WIP is a surprise for my boys for Christmas. I can only work on it when they are in bed. I will need to watch too that I don't scroll down on the blog when they are in the room in case they see this TOP SECRET photo I'm about to share!
So, here we go.

Cute, he is.

I have the patterns to make 10 little Star Wars figures. I'm not sure if I'll get them all made in time, with all the other projects I have on the go, so I'm starting with their favourites. We can always add the others after.

Technically, my Christmas cake counts as a WIP, since I will be giving it a twice weekly 'feed' of whisky for the next three or so weeks, before icing it.

Here is my littlest chef helping me out with it.

Mixing it......

.....spreading it in the pan........

.....and cooked. The smaller cake on the left is for my parents-in-law.

The house smells wonderfully warm and festive tonight after baking these.

And after the success of last week's Owl hat for Alasdair, I am nearly finished a similar one for David. I shall share that one next week!

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