merry christmas to you!

oh no! my blog disappeared! it was turned off by blogger.com due to "suspicous activity"! i only discovered this yesterday. I received no mail from them about this. poor deal!! I still do not know what happened. but at least we're back! did anyone else have this problem?

I am totally overwhelmed with work and family. but for both I am thankful. :o)

Merry Christmas to you and yours. Keep your family close and be thankful for all your blessings. No matter how small, they are blessings. poka! katrin.

ps - christmas cookies spend a moment in your mouth but months on your hips! :o)

advent baking time again

i can't believe it's christmas already - the christmas markets are going up and officially while we're celebrating thanksgiving with friends, outside people will be drinking glühwein and eating stollen just around the corner - when did the two holidays suddenly merge?? i feel really sad for those people who will be working this thanksgiving - it is a tragic way to remember those people crushed in last year's stampedes by opening even more stores ... Sears I am truly disappointed! well. What would Mum have said? This is the 7th year she will be missed during the holidays - but I have her butter tart recipe!

Hubby likes dripping chocolate over them, and the girls like them with some jam - but I like them just as I remember mum made them. I still can't get the pastry just like she did it. here's to you Mum! and here's to all of you my friends - probably my last blog before Christmas unless Nikolaus brings me some more hours to the day on the 6th. :o) poka! katrin

Butter Tarts
50 gram walnuts
75 gram golden raisins
50 gram corn syrup
100 gram brown sugar
100 gram melted butter
1 egg
splash of vailla
pinch salt
1 tsp brown vinegar

mix ingredients together and add to tart shells until 2/3 full.
170 C for 20 minutes or until golden brown

pastry shell - I will leave this up to your own family tradition.
That's the most important part about christmas. your family.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Just about to leave work ... still to shop, and go to the market for a last few gifts, then to the train station to collect family ... it will be a lovely German christmas on the 24th - baking cookies and roasting duck with all the trimmings ... then traditional christmas for me on the 25th with turkey and the tree and presents and mince pies ... then off to Brest, Belaruß for New Years and Russian Christmas ... happy new year everyone! be nice to the young and the old and the less fortunate. I know we try to every day of the year, but often we forget.

:O) katrin

Recipes: Mum's Christmas Fruit Cake

i keep one christmas cake for the following thanksgiving ... slowly steeping in its' fruit and alcohol for an entire year. we opened the tin yesterday to a wonder - almost a pudding ... lovely crumb, beautiful texture and taste and aroma. we passed it around for the first quarter of an hour simply sniffing! :O) now I notice, dear readers, that I have left the recipe at home!! then tomorrow for the recipe. my mum always got the cake much denser, almost black ... llike the plum pudding ... but sadly she is gone and taken the secret with her into the clouds. poka! katrin

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fruit must be soaked a month in advance. you can add to it.
for two small (8 inch) cakes i use 2 kg of mixed fruit.
this is left in a sealed container to soak in molasses, brandy, rum, brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange juice - with just a splash of balsamic vinegar. :O) fruit and nuts are candied orange and lime peel, dried dates, apricots, prunes, half walnuts, half almonds. this is my own taste, so you could simply use one type of nut and one type of dried fruit as you will. i have made the cake simply with dried dates and almonds as well.

the cake pans are lined in brown paper which keeps the cake from sticking or burning and also means you can store the cakes in this paper wrapping for the length of time until you eat them. the cake batter is topped with a round of brown paper before it goes into the oven.

I do not use a bain marie in the oven to bake the cakes, though i used to. Oven temperature is 120 degrees celcius convection oven. Cakes are baked for 2 hours - until the toothpick is clean.

Ingrediants for cake:
4 cups sifted flour with 2 tsp baking powder.
12 eggs, 400 gram sugar, 400 gram butter.
beat together butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, add wet mixture to dry.
then fold in fruit mixture to cake batter.
split between your two cake tins.

you can make the entire batter into one cake. cooking time would then increase to 3 - 3,5 hours depending on your type of oven.

when cool, place in tin and seal with tape until christmas, or next christmas, or next christmas ...

merry christmas! :O) katrin