LEBKUCHEN, AND SAVOURY TARTS

First thing this morning I was back in the kitchen,breakfast came first and then savoury pastries and more cookies. The kitchen was bright and warm, the perfect antidote for a cold grey day and I would far rather be at home making Christmas treats than in a supermarket buying them.

At various time this week the air has been sweet with drifting icing sugar, spiced with the gorgeous aroma of fruit cake and today deliciously savoury with mini quiches and savoury tarts. My little cat has been interested in the baking today , and accepted the occasional snippet most graciously.

We always decorate the kitchen for Christmas as we all spend more time there than we do in the living room when the tree lives. This year we added streamers and the whole effect is very festive. Twiggy like the rug under the kitchen table where she sits keeping a sharp eye out for tit-bits.

Pa popped out for a couple of hours to do a little shopping and so I had the kitchen to myself which is what I like best. I make a pot of strong coffee which I keep hot on the stove and off I go. After the savoury tarts were done I decided to make a batch of Lebkuchen, to replace the Millionaires shortbread which unfortunately did not come up to standard. It tastes great but unfortunately the base proved far too crumbly and it did not cut well. Luckily my neighbours come round to eat up any mistakes of experiments so it will not go to waste, besides Lebkuchen is much more Christmassy .

While working on the party food I decided to re-write Slade’s “Merry Christmas” so here it is,as they say!

Are you working Boxing Day for not much pay.
Are the twerps who drive the trains causing delay.
Are you going to a party, in a dreary crypt again,
When you work for Messrs Scrooge it;s such a pain

Chorus

Well here it is Merry Christmas you deserve to have some fun.
Don't let then get you down they 're just a load of stingy bums.

Repeat

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Pa broke his all time record for tardiness by returning from the shops a ten past four this afternoon having left at twelve thirty, I do not know what he has been up to I did not ask.

One thing I do know I that I asked him to pick up a nice Christmas card for our son, he picked up a lovely card fine until I read the verse which ended by saying “A Merry Christmas to you both” No comment!

I am almost done with the weeks baking, tomorrow all the puff pastry items at to be made along with some loaves of bread and some bread rolls and that will be it for a few days...until I make the dreaded chocolate log,well logs this time as my neighbour has asked me to make one for him. I said yes,I must be potty!
Another neighbour arrived just as the Lebkuchen were cooling. He and his lovely wife and children have recently moved out of the area and I shall miss having them close by,they have been good neighbours and it has been fun to watch their children grow into talented young men and women. He told me that they were up to their ears in boxes at the new house so I sent him home with a bag of home made cookies to cheer them up a little.

I am having trouble eighth my legs again and was kept awake last night by muscle spasms, a little like cramp but worse because they go on for ages. I made some coffee and watched The Ghost Train ,took a load of pills and finally fell asleep at six this morning.

How lovely the world looked, glittering with frosty sparkles as the sun shone bright as can be. My dear son brought me some coffee and toast, he is very good to his old mum. We chatted as we ate, we value this time on working weeks as there is so little time for us to be together.
Pa joined us a little later and I felt rather like a Georgian Monarch holding a levee in my bedroom.

Twiggy will be a happy little cat on Christmas morning as we have managed to track down some Kookamunga, this morning two large drums arrived in the post. This stuff is amazing, it makes cats go totally dippy, they roll around in the stuff for hours at a time, I tried it myself once but nothing happened!

Tomorrow is my son's last day at work before Christmas and then the fun can begin in earnest. He will be back on the treadmill on Boxing Day but we shall not let that spoil our holiday, we have such plans for fun and games. Enjoy your weekend folks,and keep safe.