AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

NUTTY DECORATION FOR A FRUIT CAKE

Sorry about the glitch yesterday,I sometimes find that the day goes on for longer than I can manage,today I finished buying in the necessaries for my Christmas baking,the next couple of weeks it will be action stations as my own count down to Christmas gets under way.

The steady stream of pre -Christmas visitors has already begun and most of the afternoon was given over to entertaining old friends with tea and shortbread. One job I did manage to complete was the decorating of a very rich fruit cake, an annual gift to a good friend, and the recipe for which was published last month.

As I opened the tin the aroma of fruit, brandy and spices filled the kitchen,its one of the things I love about this time of the year. Assembled on the table were Brazil nuts,blanched almonds,walnut halves,glacé

cherries, ,marzipan and the syrup from a jar of preserved ginger.

Unwrap the cake and turn upside down on to a flat plate or cake board. Remove the marzipan from its packaging and knead until it begins to soften. Dust the table with icing sugar and roll out the icing to roughly the size of the top of the cake,paint the top of the cake with some of the ginger syrup then lay the rolled marzipan on the top of the cake and press down gently.

Trim away any excess marzipan to make a neat edge( save any marzipan trimmings, find out why tomorrow) then beginning at the outside start to decorate the top with the nuts and fruit. There are lots of different ways of doing this so indulge your creative side. Paint the underside of each nut of cherry with a little of the syrup then press each piece into the marzipan.

When your pattern is complete carefully brush over the fruit and nuts with the remaining syrup and leave open for about an hour to dry a little.

If you wish the sides of the cake can then be covered with a piece of bright ribbon. Store the cake in and air tight container until needed.

Before you put your cake into its tin first line the tin with a long piece of grease proof paper making sure that it overhangs the sides by about six inches then place the cake on the top of the paper, this will make it much easier to retrieve from the tin.

Christmas postponed!

It's been a very long and trying day; Avie has had again to retreat to bed. More on the Home-Made Christmas to come tomorrow!

Son of Avie

AVIES HOME MADE CHISTMAS

LOVE AND LOGISTICS

If during the mad rush towards the great day you had the time to stop and consider the amount of raw materials required,and all needing to be acquired to produce the traditional Christmas day you could well be reduced to a gibbering wreck.

There are ways to alleviate the problem,prevent the last minute death march round the supermarket and give you more time for the important things,like having a game with the children or a quiet drink with your partner.

Order your Christmas meat,be it turkey,beef,gammon or goose as soon as possible and arrange to have it delivered on the 22nd or 23rd of December. This means that you will not have to heave a huge hunk of meat around with you when you shop. It also give you a fails safe so that if for some reason your meat does not arrive you still have time to replace it . Do not worry about the missing bird,if the provider fails to deliver it to you on the specified date then he must refund you at once.

You do not have to order fresh meat from a butcher, most super markets deliver and you can book a slot in advance. Even if you do not normally have your goods delivered it is well worth doing so on the last two shops before Christmas,things like tea ,coffee washing up liquid, all the run of the mill stuff that can easily be forgotten if the frantic hunt for last minute gifts or dashing round the neighbourhood with cards.

I leave only the fresh fruit and vegetables until the last day or so,I find that cuts the job down to size.

I know I bang on about supermarket meat but there are some things even they do well and if you are worried about G.M , Iceland guarantees that all its own brand products are G.M free, that’s rare these days.

Don't be tempted to over shop,all that will result if a full dustbin,these days the shops only close for a couple of days at least. Last year a friend of ours rang in a panic on Christmas morning because his turkey was still rock solid and he he had ten guests for dinner. All was not lost,many halal butchers open on Christmas day and a short drive to the nearest town produced a perfect bird and saved the day.

Try a market stall ,farm shop of green grocer the quality will be better and the cost may even be less.

One more thing, a request. I know that times are tough but please,please spare a thought for the homeless. It is, as Dickens said at this time of year that want is most keenly felt and abundance rejoices. A small donation, anything at all is better than ignoring this problem. If cash is short then old clothes are always welcome at places like “Crisis at Christmas”.

I know it can be difficult to relate to a smelly old tramp ,but think of this,they were all children too,they had family and friends. They loved and were loved in turn,as we love our own children.

It is all in too easyto fall into such desperate poverty,any one of us,any of our beloved children could so easily become homeless. I Hope with all my heart that if such a thing should happen to my son that someone would care enough to help,if I was no longer there to do so.

Even the small change in your pocket can make a difference, and a hot meal can be a turning point for someone on the edge, and wouldn't you fell so much happier as you ate your Christmas dinner that someone else was feeling the warmth of hot food and the knowledge that someone cared a little. Thank you....Love Avie.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

OF MINCE PIES AND CHEESE STRAWS


I believe I have e already mentioned the fact that the trimmings from ready rolled short crust pastry cannot be re rolled to make more tart bases as for some reason it puffs up and all the mince meat of jam is pushed out. I often use ready made pastry these days,its inexpensive,save a lot of mess and tastes almost as good as the home made sort.

Having made three dozen mince pies this afternoon I had quite a lot of oddments and corners of short crust so I decided to make some cheese straws and a few savoury nibbles.

I am certain I do not have to tell you how to make mince pies so we will skip that part and come to the cheesy straws.

For the cheese straws

scraps of ready rolled pastry

strong cheddar finely grated

sesame seeds

dried Italian herbs

garlic

salt

freshly ground black pepper

Gather the scraps of pastry roll into ball and then roll out to about a quarter of an inch thick. I always save the blue wrapper that the pastry comes rolled in as it prevents ans sticking to the rolling pin. Scatter the cheese,herbs and garlic salt over the pastry then form in to a sausage shape ,fold into a square and roll out again to the same thickness as before.

Next scatter with the sesame seeds and cut in to strips,twist and transfer to a baking sheet.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes a 200oC, when crisp and golden remove from the oven and cool on a wire tray. Store in an air tight container.

Pastry treated in this way can also be cut in to small circles with a biscuit cutter, sprinkled with a little more cheese and cooked in the same way.


For a different flavour try adding some sun dried tomato pieces well drained and finely chopped, a little dried basil and some finely grated cheese.

. They are great with sherry although I prefer mine with a pint of Guinness!

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

THE GREAT BRITISH TRIFLE


How this Mammoth,show stopper of a pudding ever came to be called a “Trifle” is a mystery, this recipe was made in my childhood home for every party or special occasion,there are many variations,this one however has children in mind.

UNCLE JACK'S PARTY TRIFLE

I could tell you to begin with scalded milk,vanilla pods and eggs.......lets leave the faffing about to Nigella and cut to the chase.

1 pint of custard made to the manufacturers directions and left to cool with a little sugar scattered over the top.

1 sponge sandwich cake

raspberry or strawberry jam

4 macaroons crushed

4 fl oz of raspberry sauce or cordial

10 fl oz double cream

2 oz glacé cherries

edible silver balls

angelica (if you can find any)

Spread the jam over the sponge cake,cut up and place in a shallow 2ltr bowl and top with the crushed macaroons. Spoon over the fruit cordial(This takes the place of sherry) and leave to stand for 2 hours.

Stir the cold custard well and pour over the sponge cake and macaroons.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form and top the custard with half of the fresh cream. Pipe the remaining cream around the edges then decorate with the cherries,angelica and silver balls . Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Starting tomorrow I am on my own Christmas countdown,well one of them as I have several,this one is a count down to a very special party,sadly I fear the last of its kind I am determined that it shall be the best ever and I have 20 days to prepare it,beginning with the making of a vegetarian mince meat which tastes every bit as good as the ordinary sort.

My other deadline in Pa's birthday feast which this year we shall have six days early as it will be more convenient than his actual birthday on which my son will be at work.

The next few weeks will pass in a whirl of Pavlova, mini quiches,sausage rolls and lots of other delectable Christmas treats and as they roll off the production line watch out for the pictures some of which go with the recipes in my recent Avies Home Made Christmas blogs.

AVIES SMALL WORLD

THE PARTY CAKE

Sorry I have been missing for a day or two,I rather overdid things on Friday and the resulting exhaustion kept me in bed yesterday. Today I feel rested and am allowed up and more important allowed access to my net book,on the understanding that I refrain from checking my mail...I hear and obey oh Mighty One.(My son of course.)

There are few children who enjoy the traditional heavily fruited cake customarily served at Christmas and so as this is to be a children’s party we shall act accordingly and cater to their tastes.

In the past I have made teddy shaped cakes,railway engines and even the Starship Enterprise, fine if one has lots of time but who ,at Christmas has such a luxury. This recipe is perfect,it has loads of creamy white icing on which Santas, fir trees or whatever decopration takes your fancy can be displayed. Better still it  contains the sort of ingredients commonly to be found in the store cupboard at the festive season.

The size of the cake will depend on the number of guests,this recipe will serve 8-10.

6 oz butter

6 oz caster sugar

6 oz self raising flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

3 eggs

1 medium sized carrot finely grated

2 oz glace cherries chopped

1oz angelica chopped

2oz walnuts chopped

1 heaped teaspoon of poppy seeds

2 oz sultanas chopped

two tablespoons of milk



FOR THE ICING

6oz butter

10 oz icing sugar

rind of a lemon

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Grease and line an 8” cake tin,set oven temperature to 160oC

Place the butter into a large mixing bowl and beat until soft ,add the sugar four,baking powder and eggs and beat well until the mixture is smooth add one or two tablespoon of milk if the mixture seems dry. Fold in the remaining ingredients and pour the mixture in to the prepared tin.

Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.

While the cake is baking place the butter in to a bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Add icing sugar, lemon juice and rind and beat again until the butter cream is very pale.



When the cake has cooked remove from the oven and turn out on to a wire cooling rack,leave to cool. When the cake has cooled place it on a plate or a cake stand and cover with the icing.

Decorate with holly and ribbons or reindeer and fir trees penguins or even a polar bear on a skateboard,what ever your children will enjoy. Sprinkle with a little edible silver cake dust , and that,as they say is that.

CHEATS CHEESE STRAWS

These are so simple yet having recently seen a box of 8 selling at £1.99 I think it is well worth a mention.

1 packet of ready rolled puff pastry

3 oz finely grated Cheddar,Gruyère, Parmigiana... whatever hard cheese you have to hand.

1 teaspoon of made Dijon mustard stirred in to 3 tablespoons of milk

Make sure that the party is chilled. Open the pack and unroll then with a sharp knife slice widthways,each slice should measure about half and inch wide.

Twist each slice and place on to a greased baking sheet then brush with the milk and mustard mix and sprinkle with the e grated cheese.

Bake at 200oC for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack and store in an air tight container.

For variety try brushing with egg white and sprinkling with sesame seeds,poppy seeds or brush with Marmite!





.

OCIF

Most people generally think 'TGIF' - Thank God Its Friday. This house is often an exception to that rule - Friday is not only our cleaning day, but also seems to be the day that attracts trouble and peril...we're more likely to say 'OCIF' - Oh Christ It's Friday!

In that spirit...Avie has been forced to retreat to sleep, and normal service will resume shortly.

Son Of Avie

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

Coping with stress Pt 2:


CHILDRENS PARTIES

As a child growing up in a rural environment I seemed to attend quite a large number of parties around Christmas time. One farmers wife put in a Christmas party for all the Hamlet children every year.

One child had a birthday within a day or two of Christmas and elected to have a Christmas party rather than one for her birthday.

There was of course the school Christmas party , a great occasion which always followed a concert put on by the children and finished with a gift for every child from under the tree.

All the parties had games,competitions and lots of lovely food, each child brought a small gift for the hostess(a much nicer tradition than the obligatory party bag which modern parents feel blackmailed in to giving to each child) for Christmas games I advise you to ask your Granny about the sort of games that were played when she was a child herself.

A few ,like pass the parcel still survive , but in these days of parties catered at M cDonalds and timed to the minute so that the next set of guests are already queueing up before you and your party leave games are rudimentary to say the least.

Spin the plate ,postman’s knock,sardines and charades are still great fun and keep children entertained for longer.

If your house is large Hide and Seek is exiting,if your house is smaller then try hiding a number of objects in odd placed around the house then set the children to find them. Prizes for the winners of course.

Forget the burgers and serve a selection of mini sandwiches pin wheel sandwiches,sausage rolls,so easy to make,cup cakes of course and don’t forget the trifle great big one covered with edible silver balls.

PIN WHEEL SANDWICHES

I sliced loaf

softened butter or spread

Meat paste,chicken,ham etc.

Remove the crusts from the bread then spread with a little butter. Next spread with some of the meat paste. Now roll carefully in to a sausage shape and with a sharp knife cut in to four. You can make your own fillings as long as they are smooth enough to allow the bread to be rolled up.

TRAFFIC LIGHT SANDWICHES

1 wholemeal sandwich loaf

a few thinly sliced tomatoes

half a cucumber thinly sliced

half a pound of hard yellow cheese thinly sliced or slices of boiled egg

butter or spread

Remove the crusts from the bread and butter thinly and cut in half. With a small pastry cutter cut three small circles out of half of the slices. Next place the cheese tomato and cucumber onto the slices without holes making sure that when the tops go on the fillings will show through the holes red,yellow and green just like traffic lights.

TRIPLE DECKER SANDWICHES

l sandwich loaf

softened butter or spread

an assortment of fillings (at least three

party cocktail sticks

remove the crusts from the bread and butter thinly

Take the slices three at a time and using g two of your chosen fillings make a three layer sandwich. Cut in to quarters and secure with a cock tail stick.
Instead of a salad which most children will ignore try a more adult approach and offer a dish of carrot sticks, celery sticks,spring onions and cucumber wedges, place a savoury dip in the centre.

For the dip

Half a medium sized jar of mayonnaise

a teaspoon of Italian herbs (dried will do)

teaspoon of garlic salt

the rind of a lemon

Mix all the ingredients together and place in a bowl in the centre of your veggie sticks

Any of the cookie recipes from recent blogs will be suitable for the occasion ,a selection is best.

Sausage rolls either home made of cooked from frozen are always popular.

Make no apologies for the absence of the ubiquitous party bags ,so many young mums of my acquaintance detest the practice but are not bold enough to ignore the fashion...be the first and start a new trend.

Finally don't try to go it alone.,rope in older children,your mother,your sister,your best friend,the lady next door,never be afraid to ask for help,you will often find that many people are not only waiting but are wanting to be asked.



Tomorrow the birthday cake and cheats cheese straws.

.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

COPING WITH STRESS : PART 1


It is more than usually the case that at Christmas we visit and are visited far more than usual and it is this
that I wish to address today. Although I do not normally boast,.on this subject I speak from the summit of a mountain of often bitter experience.

Being visited at Christmas can be an experience similar to being on trial,nerve racking to say the least and there are so many scenario so let us begin with.

THE MOTHER IN LAW....da da DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

My husband was a lucky man,my parents adored him on sight and treated him as one of the family from day one,I on the other hand was not so fortunate.

My Mother in Law was a repressed,puritanical over critical character assassin who could see no fault in herself because of her constant preoccupation with the imagined faults of others. She took one look at my long corn silk hair and my patched jeans ...and hated me on sight. An art student in those times and in such a small town was considered little better than a tart, I was sixteen and desperate to please....it was to take almost twenty years for me to realise that pleasing such a malevolent old hag was impossible.

In her eyes if one did not do exactly as she did or exactly as one was told one was,... now let me remember.....oh yes,,,a slut, (if there was one thing out of place in an otherwise pristine room) A harlot (if one did not cover every bit of flesh from the neck to the ankles). An alcoholic( if one drank anything stronger than shandy.) she was the sort of woman who when I asked on her arrival at my home ,if I could get anything she would say “Yes,a duster!”

Had she kept her views to herself things would have been bad enough...she did not.., she was in the habit of broadcasting her malicious tittle tattle to all and sundry. Once at a party at my parents house she observed my father taking his second glass of scotch and was heard by the whole room to remark that she was deeply sorry for my poor Mother, and what a trial it must be to be married to a drunkard. Fortunately for her my family had better manners than she,in other society she may not have been so lucky.

Now you may be wondering just where this reverie is leading it's really very simple,if you come across someone who refuses to be pleased ,please yourself,don't take it to heart,in the end I felt sorry for the old girl. After all everyone disliked her and she had no fun at all. People like her only win if you let them, make them welcome then let them get on with it.

If you are the hostess rise above it, enjoy your other guests,your family,have fun,after all she cannot think any worse of you than she does. If you are a guest,leave early. If you are unfortunate enough to be staying the night ,smile,be pleasant and be sure to take a bottle of your favourite tipple and any other treat you can think of to make things more palatable. If children are involved be firm,set a time for visiting and being visited and make sure that it is observed.

Excited children and grouchy old grannies do not mix,tell her you are thinking of her when you tell her your Christmas rules,she won't believe you,she might whinge a bit but think of the rewards,a Christmas surrounded by those who love you best.

You've worked hard to make the magic,you deserve to enjoy the applause.

TOMORROW ALL THE FUN OF A CHILDRENS PARTY

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

TREES AND TRIMMINGS


I have already made some suggestions for decorations ,edible and otherwise,the tree itself can often pose problems. When my son was at the toddler stage, a time when nothing was safe from his curiosity,I was also blessed with a number of cats several of which were kitten’s. Envisioning constantly having to extricate either my son of one of the kittens from the tree focused my mind and I decided to do away with the traditional sort of tree for the duration and instead found a curved branch of sycamore and suspended it from the ceiling in a corner of the living room.

On to this branch went the lights, the tinsel and the baubles collected over the years. It turned the room into a magical fairy grotto and was so admired by our family and friends that even those without either toddlers or kittens adopted the same approach on subsequent years and we continued to do so long after the necessity was gone.

If you have a small room with no space for a tree how about making a paper or card board tree to stick on the wall. This looks lovely if you also make cut out decorations to BlueTac on to the tree.

Stars and hearts are in vogue at the moment but if you like you could make cut out birds,angels Santas, Christmas baubles, anything that takes your fancy and the children will love helping to make and attach these decorations.

A walk in the countryside or a park may furnish you with fir cones, twigs and so on all of which can be used to decorate cheaply and effectively. A friend of ours who had several small children was dreading Christmas as her husband had been made redundant and the firm she worked for and gone out of business. They could not afford a tree so she and her husband collected a small pile of short logs,some fir comes and some holly into which they planted a small twiggy branch. She then made some small animals and birds from scraps of cloth and wool which they placed on and around the

log pile,all that was needed then was a little fake snow and a small animal winter wonderland was created for the children who adored it.

A fairy grotto could be made by fixing small doors on to the logs and adding the odd fairy of elf to the scene.

I once made a fairytale Christmas castle from an old cardboard box,some silver spray, toilet roll middle turrets topped with cardboard cones and lit from inside by a set of old Christmas lights placed in the widows and arrow slits,so you see,,it does not have to be a tree.

A focal point, somewhere to place the gifts and more important than all something which the whole family helped to create makes Christmas even more special and exciting to little ones and parents alike. My Grandmother once knitted me a whole family of mice from a white whiskered old Grandfather to a tiny baby mouse mouse wrapped in a shawl. These graced our tree that year and when the decorations were taken down I was given the mouse family to play with, it made my Christmas.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that lots of money does not always make for a happy Christmas, being together, having fun and making the magic between you does.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS JEWEL BREAD



Not everyone likes the traditional Christmas cake and some,who are on a diet but love a slice of the spicy cake might appreciate this recipe. It is my own take on the traditional stollen,seen everywhere these days,it looks good on the Christmas tea table and also make a lovely gift suitably wrapped.

Half a teaspoon of Allspice

juice and rind of 1 lime

juice and rind of 1 lemon

175g strong white bread flour

1 tspn easy bake dried yeast ( the sort that only has to rise once)

4og butter melted

100ml tepid milk

500g ground almonds

100g icing sugar

1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon of egg white

80g pistachio nuts

75g glacé cherries washed and halved

25g caster sugar

Put the Allspice into a bowl and add the lime and lemon rest,flour,yeast and caster sugar

Add the butter to the bowl with the egg yolk and the milk. Mix with a metal spoon to make a soft dough,adding a little more milk if the mixture feels dry then turn out on to a flour surface and knead for ten minutes then cover the dough with a damp cloth

Put 25g of the pistachio nuts in to a grinder with the ground almonds and blend until the pistachios are mixed with the almonds and the mixture is pale green . Add 40 g of the icing sugar and the egg white and blend to a thick past , white if necessary,adding more egg,

then roll the paste in to a cylindrical shape.

Take the dough and knead in the glacé cherries and the remaining pistachio nuts, make the dough in to a ball then flatten it out into a round then place the pistachio paste in to the centre of the dough and roll it up to completely cover the marzipan. Place in a 2lb loaf tin with the join underneath then

cover with the wet cloth again and leave in a warm place to rise. Preheat the oven to 200oC and bake for about 25 minutes when the loaf should be risen and golden brown.

Tip the loaf out of the tin and tap the bottom,if it sounds hollow then the loaf is done,if not return it to the oven for another five minutes then test again.

Decorate the loaf by mixing the remaining icing sugar with the strained lime juice and a little of the lemon juice and mix to a smooth paste then drizzle over the top of the loaf.

Wait a few hours for the icing to set then wrap in cellophane as a gift of keep in a tin until required.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

PARTY CHEATS

Parties at Christmas can be a right royal pain in the bum to the poor hostess who has probably spent the last few weeks scurrying round packed shops to buy gifts, staggered around a supermarket or two where the staff have heard Jingle Bells played so often that they have lost the will to live;and herds of customers who's Christmas spirit has like Elvis “left the building”.

I love cooking ,as is well known but,rule number one at Christmas is “It,s my holiday too.”

There are masses of party nibbles available in most food stores at his time of year and they all have one thing in common...they taste like cardboard! From as little as a pound for a tray of twenty you can provide your guests with something novel to stuff into the nearest pot plant. Other stores charge a small fortune for tiny bites of...what you will.. just because they are served on a blinni they taste every bit as awful and they are seldom if ever worth the money.

Now I know I always champion make it yourself ,but there is absolutely no virtue whatever in giving yourself a hard time over what to serve with the drinks,do as I do....cheat!

Wonders can be performed with a few jars of anti pasti and some ready rolled pastry(which can be purchased for as little as a pound)

CRAFTY CANAPES

1 small jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil'

1 small jar of roasted peppers in oil

small jar of olives

half a pound of mushrooms sliced and fried in butter until soft

tomato purree

6 eggs

3 rolls of ready rolled shortcrust pastry,chilled

salt,pepper and a little garlic salt.

Grease 3 individual bun tins, twelve per tin. Unroll one of the pastry packs and using a cutter to match the depth of your tins, line each of the wells. Beat two of the eggs and add a little salt and pepper, Next finely chop a few sun-dried tomatoes and sprinkle them in to the cases. Add half an olive then spoon in the beaten egg until about two thirds full.

Repeat the process with another box of pastry this time using the finely sliced mushrooms and a little garlic salt before topping up with beaten egg. 4Finally fill the last set of cases with the roasted peppers first adding a small squeeze of tomato purree to the base of the pasty case.

Bake in the oven at 200oC foe about ten -fifteen minutes,all ovens are different so keep and eye on them. When they are well risen and browned a little remove from the oven and cool.

The same ingredients can be used to make individual size quiches which with a little salad make a great first course for a more formal party and both these and the canapés will freeze so you can ,make them in advance.

Make and freeze a few blanks so that if you run out of munchies you can quickly fill them with a little cream cheese topped with snippets of sun-dried tomato. These little tartlets are always the first things to go and I never seem too make enough,and if you are careful about the pastry they are fine for your vegetarian friends.

One more thing,save the oil from the jars of anti pasti and if you need a quick and tasty salad dressing mix in a little made mustard,add a squeeze of orange or lemon juice and season.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

TOM'S TURKISH DELIGHT


My father spent most of the Second World War out in the Middle East where,having a sweet tooth he developed a taste for real Turkish Delight, Rahat Lokoum, or Lumps of Delight.
He loathed the chocolate covered confection which at the time passed in England for the real thing.
After a long search Mum found this recipe and we made Dad his favourite sweet every year after that.

Half a pint of water

1 oz gelatine

1lb granulated sugar

1 table spoon of rose water ,use lemon juice if you do not have rosewater

A few drops of pink food colouring 1oz icing sugar 1oz cornflour

Quarter teaspoon of citric acid (available from wine making shops and online)

Put the water into a pan and sprinkle in the gelatine. Add the citric acid and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Boil over a medium heat for 20 minutes then add the rosewater and the sugar and food colouring. Leave to cool for 15 minutes then pour in to a shallow tin. Leave to set for 24 hours. Combine the icing sugar and the cornflour on a clean flat surface,turn out the jelly on to this mixture and cut in to cubes with a sharp knife. Roll the cubes in the sugar mixture and until completely covered and leave on a wire rack to dry for a few hours. Store in an air tight container and pack with more of the cornflour and icing sugar mixture.

If you use the lemon you can add a few chopped pistachio nuts just before leaving the mixture to set.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

GUGELHUPH


I have no idea how to pronounce the name of this cake but I can vouch for its deliciousness,it is a great cake for those who dislike the traditional heavy English Christmas cake and is vastly cheaper and much less complicated to make. I make several each year at the request of friends and seasonally dressed it looks every bit as good as the usual sort of Christmas cake.

50g sugar

1 orange

50g raisins

65ml milk

1 teaspoon of dried yeast

225g strong plain flour

50g melted butter

50g raisins these should be soaked in the rum over night.

1 tablespoon of rum

semolina

This cake should be baked in a fluted tin ring but a plain one looks just as good. Warm the milk and dissolve the yeast in it. Add 50g of the flour and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. Beat in the melted butter,sugar,eggs,grated orange rind and juice. Add the raisins and beat in the remaining flour to make a very soft dough.

Grease the tin well and dust thoroughly with semolina. Pour the mixture in to the tin which should come about half way up the tin. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour until the dough reaches the top of the tin. Bake at 200oCfor 40 minute on a wire rack then dust with icing sugar.

You can, of course decorate the ring in other ways, perhaps filling the centre hole with glacé fruits,or try pouring glacé icing over the cake instead of dusting with icing sugar then decorate the with a sprig or two of holly.

Some years ago I made this cake for a Christmas party,I made some glacé icing but before I poured in over the cake I placed a fat church candle in the middle,then after pouring the icing over the cake I decorated the edge of the serving plate with real holly sprigs and red ribbon bows and set it in the centre of the table. Everyone thought it was a table centre until I blew out the candle and began to serve slices of the cake to my astonished guests.

AVIES HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS

OLD GRANNY MUGWUMP'S MELTING SHORTBREAD

A Swiss roll sized tray of shortbread can be made in about an hour from start to finish,in an average sized oven four such trays can be made in the same amount of time. Traditionally eaten ate Christmas there is always a good deal if very indifferent tasting shortbread decked out in fancy packaging and at a pretty price.

One of the secrets of good shortbread is of course to use butter not margarine,but there is another less known and equally important trick to making the best shortbread. I personally guarantee that anyone who eats the shortbread made to this recipe that they have never tasted better.

One tray will give you sixteen good slices eight of these wrapped in greased proof paper topped with foil,then gift wrapped in Christmas paper make a welcome gift, you can of course put them in a box if you wish. Shortbread like this will keep fresh for several; weeks in an air tight tin so it can be made well in advance.

225g butter

100g icing sugar

225g plain flour

100g cornflour

pinch of salt

caster sugar for dusting

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift the cornflour,plain flour and salt into the bowl and mix with the creamy butter to make a smooth. Sprinkle with the caster sugar while still hot then cut in to fingers.

Add the grated rind of a fresh lemon to make Lemon short bread.

Add a teaspoon of ground ginger to make ginger short bread

Sift in a heaped tablespoon of cocoa powder with the flours to make chocolate shortbread.

Make lots but remember to keep some for yourself.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES


These luxurious little treats will keep in a refrigerator for three days and so are best made near to the big day, they make a wonderful addition to the Christmas table,can be flavoured with mint,vanilla or rum and make a great gift to your hostess if you are invited out over the Holiday.

I have found this recipe invaluable for last minute gifts and lets face it we all forget someone in the merry Christmas muddle!

iNGREDIENTS

50g almonds chopped

100g plain chocolate

100g ground almonds

30ml double cream

75g caster sugar

a few drops of vanilla

grated chocolate of chocolate vermicelli for coating and and toss over heat until brown, remove from the pan at once to prevent over browning. Break the chocolate into small pieced and melt in a bowl over a pan of hot water.

Remove the bowl from the pan and add all the other ingredients with the exception of the chocolate vermicelli and mix to a stiff paste. Roll into small balls ans toss at once in the grated chocolate or vermicelli. You can buy tiny paper cases for these sweets if you wish ,I prefer to serve them in a chilled bon- bon dish or on a pretty plate. As a gift a paper bag tied with a bit of pretty ribbon gives a special look to a very simple gift.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

STAINED GLASS WINDOW BISCUITS


These biscuits look spectacular and are quite easy to make,the only problem seems to be that none of the recipes tell you how much the biscuits will spread when cooking, the hole in the centre needs to be big enough so that the “glass” part does not become covered as the biscuits spread/

You will need.

2 holly leaf shaped cutters ,one smaller than the other(see photos
heart or star shaped look good too.


350g plain flour plus extra for dusting

pinch of salt

1 tspn bicarbonate of soda

100g softened butter

175g caster sugar

1 large egg

1 tspn vanilla extract

4 tbsp golden syrup

about 50 mixed coloured boiled sweets 250g chopped

1 Sift the flour,salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl,add the butter and rub in until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar.

Place the egg,golden syrup and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk together,then pour the egg in to the flour mixture and mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.

2 Preheat the oven to 180oC.line two baking sheets with baking paper. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 5mm thick, then using the large cutter cut out your heart shape. Carefully transfer it to your lined baking sheet the with the smaller cutter cut the middle out of the larger heart shape.

Make sure that you flour the cutters regularly.

3 Fill the centre hole with the chopped sweets then using a skewer make a small hole at the top of each biscuit.

4 Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes,or until the sweets are melted. Make sure that the hole has not closed up during the cooking and re-pierce if necessary. Leave to cool then carefully remove the biscuits from the trays and thread with a bit of ribbon or string.

Collect together any scraps of the dough and chill again then repeat the process.

5 Hang some on your own Christmas tree and give some to friends as a gift. This recipe will make at least 25 biscuits.

SUGAR MICE

As children my brothers and I loved these funny little confections which were always made for us by two elderly sisters who lived in our village. I persuaded them to teach me how to make them and they are now loved by my nieces and nephews.

Sugar mice,or for that matter sugar pigs or rabbits are also very popular at school fêtes and charity bazaars and have the advantage of needing no cooking Pink and white are of course the traditional colours but these days the sky,s the limit and there is no reason why mice cannot be orange or pigs blue.

To make the mice you will need.

300g icing sugar

I egg white

a few halved blanched almonds

a few chocolate buttons

chocolate drops

red food colouring

strawberry flavouring

peppermint essence

white string or even coloured wool

Separate the egg white from the yolk,set the yolk aside and beat the egg white until frothy.

Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add the egg white, mix together to form a firm paste. Eggs can be of different sizes so do not worry if your mix becomes a little too wet,just add some more icing sugar.

Divide the mixture in to two and in to one half add a few drops of red food colouring and a drop of strawberry flavouring ,into the remaining white mixture add a drop or two of peppermint essence.

Mix in thoroughly and knead each piece so ensure smoothness.

Cut each colour paste into four pieces and roll each one in to an oval then pinch in pone end to make the mouses nose.

Lay out the mice on greased proof paper, cut tail sized pieces of string and using a cocktail stick push it in to the sugar paste deep enough so that the tail will not easily fall out. Use three chocolate drops to form the eyes and nose, the use either the halved almonds or a chocolate button cut carefully in half to form the ears.

Leave them to set for a day or so in a dry place them wrap carefully in cellophane or cling film.

Remember, you can use what ever colourings and flavourings you happen to have and do have a go at a pig or two.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

                                               HOME MADE GIFTS

I firmly believe that to give a gift which you have made yourself is always well received. If you consider the array of grotty selection boxes which are often given to the young at Christmas it is easy to see that perhaps a gift of home made sugar mice,ginger bread men ,fudge,or the magical stained glass window biscuits might well be preferred to the same old Kit-Kats,Mars bars and Bounty bars packaged in a festive form.

For adults too a home made gift of melting shortbread, ginger nuts,jam ,chutney or rum truffles is sure to be most acceptable

Over the years I have already published some of the recipes mentioned here but for this series of blogs I shall publish them again in case you missed them last time.

Lets begin with Cinder Toffee This odd confection has an almost magical quality in the making and costs very little to make.


8oz granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of golden syrup

quarter teaspoon of cream of tartare

2 and a half fluid ounces of water

( I have been told that I must get up to date with my weighs and measures)

quarter teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon of warm water.
Put the sugar syrup, cream of tartare and water in to a heavy pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Boil without stirring until a little of the mixture forms hard brittle threads when tested in cold water.

Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the teaspoon of warm water and pour it in to the toffee,which will froth up. Stir well and pour into a shallow greased tin ( a cake tin will do). Break in to pieces when cold and wrap in greased proof paper. Store in an air tight tin.

This amount will fill a tin 9” approx and it is a good idea to make a small amount as a practice run. When you are confident double the amounts to fill a Swiss roll sized tin.
I sometimes use a mold but I think that a tin is easier,at least at first.

While cinder toffee is delicious plain it is even nicer dipped in a little melted chocolate and left to cool before wrapping as before.
The rest of this weeks blogs will I hope be given over to the other recipes mentioned.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

SOMETHING FOR THE GROWN UPS


While shopping a few days ago I came across some quarter sized bottles of Sloe Gin,Damson Gin .Apple Brandy etc., They were selling for the ridiculous price of £11,99 ans £13.99..what a rip off. I have been making this stuff for years as gifts for friends and for family consumption,its easy,it's cheap and it takes very little time to make.

Although it is a little late to make damson or sloe gin there is still plenty of time to make a couple of delicious liqueurs to treat yourself or your friends at Christmas.

Apple Brandy

1 bottle of the cheapest brandy you can find

4 oz granulated sugar,6 if you like things very sweet

8 dried apple rings.

Put the apple rings and the sugar in to an air tight jar then add the Brandy,Shake and then set aside,shake every day until the sugar has dissolved. Leave until a few days before Christmas then strain through a plastic sieve and bottle,



Do not throw the apples away, put them in your apple sauce or snipe in to sage and onion stuffing..lovely,

Apricot Brandy, as above,just us apricots instead of apples.


Cranberry Vodka

I bottle of cheap Vodka

4 oz granulated sugar

4 oz dried cranberries

Proceed as in the other recipes. You may substitute dried blueberries if you like

Generally speaking liqueurs made with dried fruits are much quicker to make than those using fresh fruit,these need four to six weeks,fresh fruits would takes three to six months.

Remember,always buy the cheapest spirit, the result would be not better using the most expensive.

AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

DECORATING THE TREE


Edible Christmas tree decorations are traditional,inexpensive and easy to do what could be better.

POP CORN GARLANDS

Buy a bag of popping corn and cook as the instructions direct,you do not need a popcorn maker ,just a sauce pan with a well fitting lid. My own tip is if using butter to cook the corn add a little corn oil,this will help prevent the butter from burning and is quicker than clarifying. When the corn is cooked add a little food colouring if you wish,I think it looks lovely left white.

Using a needle and cotton thread the corn to make long streamers which look like snow and are every bit as nice as tinsel.

GINGERBREAD MEN.

Not just gingerbread men but stars,angels hearts anything you like and all made from the same simple recipe.

8oz self raising flour

half a teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of mixed spice

2 teaspoons of ground gingerbread40z butter or margarine

3 oz light brown sugar

3 tablespoons of milk plus extra for brushing

Sift the flour,salt and spices into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter then add the milk and form into a stiff dough,

Roll out the dough on a floured surface then cut in to the shapes of your choice,collect the trimmings and roll then into a ball ,roll out again until all the mixture is used.

Using a skewer make a hole at the top of each biscuit them place on a greased baking sheet and brush with a little milk.

Bake in the oven at 200oC for about fifteen minutes .or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.

DECORATING THE BISCUITS

make a little glacé icing and use it to stick silver balls or small coloured sweets on to the stars .outline the holly leaf or tree shapes with the icing and sprinkle with a little edible glitter. I like to make gingerbread men and before I put them in the oven give them currant eyes ,a currant nose and currant buttons,if you feel artistic you can give them a smile using a sliver of glacé cherry.

Once icing has dried thread with a little ribbon or string and hang on your tree..magical.

Boiled sweets in bright coloured wrappers can be made into streamers by threading cotton through the paper twists and use as swags for the tree.

These decorations are fun to make as a family a few days before the tree is decorated I well remember the fun and excitement of making these simple goodies,the only limit is your own imagination.

Very Long Day

Apologies for this once again; it's been a very long day, and Avie has had to temporarily retire from the field of battle. She will return!

Son of Avie

AVIE,S HOME MADE CHRISTMAS.PT 2

You can't buy Christmas,it must be made. (my Mothers motto)


Rule number one...begin simply.   The picure above shows heart shaped tags made for my Mothers birthday gift,very simple but effective.

I know this may sound obvious but it really is a great idea to encourage to children to make things for decorating the home. Creating gift tags,even making sweets to give as gifts. As a child my brothers and I helped our Mother make sweets of all sorts,the smallest would have the task of wrapping the sweets and of course there were always a few perks to go with the job!

It is never to soon to start planning Christmas,especially if you are going to do-it-yourself,as soon as children begin to become excited involve them in the small but lovely festive tasks to distract them from the everlasting television commercials.

Gift tags can be expensive and the cheap ones are almost always tacky. Much nicer are the home made sort and very easy to do, you will need.

A few pastry cutters, round,heart shaped,holly leaf or star shaped,any will do.

A hole punch if you have one,if not a roll of sticky tape.

A large sheet of card,red,green,gold whatever you like,small sheets are fine too don't worry if you only have white card.

Blunt nosed scissors

Thin string,wool or ribbon

Some felt pens or glitter pens

a small bottle of paper glue

Glitter if you don't mind the fact that you will still be finding it in your coffee in six months time.



Take your card and the pastry cutter of your choice and carefully draw around it,fill the sheet of card with these shapes being careful to fit in as many as possible. Taking the scissors cut around the shapes as neatly as possible .

W hen the shapes are all cut out punch a hole in each one and thread with this string.

If you have used coloured card this is all you need to do but if you wish you can decorate as for white card. Take one of the white card shapes and draw on it a snow flake or a Santa hat, an icicle of a Christmas tree bauble,any thing you like.

If you are brave enough to use glitter dab a little glue on to your tag them put the tag on a sheet of newspaper before shaking a little glitter on to the glue. Leave for a minute and then shake off the glitter,which can later be put back in to the pot.

When you wrap your presents choose a plain paper to show of the lovely tags.

My brothers and I always made special tags for our gifts to Mum and
Dad and we kept the a secret until the day. Of such joys are real Christmases made and remember home made is NEVER second best,it is the greatest compliment you can give to a friend or relative,the gift of your time.

NOT A LEAF FALLS!

On my was to hospital this morning I passed the Doctors car park where two years ago the ivy on all the trees was killed by hacking it off at base of the tree. This method of controlling ivy is never a good idea and I told them at the time that it would result in large chunks of dead ivy branch raining down out of the trees and on to the cars in a year or two.


And it came to pass that I was right ,and two years later humongous chunks of dead ivy branch,some thicker than a man’s arm began to rain down upon the Doctors Range Rovers,Jags,Merc,s and so forth. It gave me considerable satisfaction to be able to say”I told you so” to them as they surveyed the dents in their penis extensions!

Back to this morning ,as I passed the car park I observed an official looking chap with a clip board inspecting the trees,curious I approached him to ask what was going on.

I began by announcing that I was a on the committee of a local conservation group and was, for this reason interested in his activities.

“Bloody Hell,” he yelped,”I only got here five minutes ago, how the Devil did you find out I was here.”

My answer was “Not a leaf falls that goes unnoticed by our group!”

The poor chap was quite taken aback at first but then said that he thought the trees needed protection as whoever had done the earlier work must have been “A right cowboy!”

He was obviously one of us so I left him to has work and went on my way rejoicing that there are still one or two decent tree surgeons about.

A s I write the Friends of Silverhall Park of which my son is the Chairman are meeting in my kitchen,he is doing battle with the lunatic fringe, the fluffy bunny brigade. He is resolved as am that the crackpot two shall not ruin the work of years,he is armed with facts and has every one who matters wishing him well.

Pa and I are having a quiet evening watching a film and choosing Pa's Christmas present from me.

Tomorrow......tomorrow will,I hope be quiet...I hope.

MAGIC MONDAY

In spite of the fact that I have spent most of the day getting the house ready for tomorrows meeting I feel marvellous. My son is a free man again,at least he will be in February when he has served his notice,and I finally managed to silence the bleating bunny huggers with a blistering attack on their selfish ignorance. It felt like swatting flies,before they land in your beer!


I hope that all goes well and that my house will not be pelted with eggs again,we shall see.

We celebrated this morning with hot bacon rolls for breakfast,and a merry meal it was. We were full of plans for the future and seeing my deaf son so happy again was wonderful. He used to love his job and I have been sad to see him slowly begin to hate it, he, like his mother does not suffer fools gladly and of late he has been doing little else at work.

He will miss him friends, of that I am certain for even in the bad times(and of late there have been many) the camaraderie and the loyalty of his team have helped him through so much. I have never met these lovely people yet \I feel I know them well,foe the kindness and loyalty they have show to my son I shall never be able to repay them. I shall miss them too.

Our two cats are settling down a little,they are at the stage of ignoring each other which is a distinct improvement on all the posturing and the hisssy fits of last week. Moth is still sleeping out side by her own choice but she comes in to the house for regular meals and is beginning to feel secure which is lovely to see. She has explored the orchard and climbed all the trees, she also chases away the army of
Tomcats who prowl about,the old music hall song”Meeeeow,here we are again jolly jolly cats are we.”

Tomorrow the repair man is coming to mend yet another puncture in my scooters tyre, the groceries are to be delivered and then of course there is the meeting in the evening, there is nothing like getting all the hassle out of the way at once. After that we shall order a pizza and laze about watching the Presidential Election results...that should be fun, and will help us to unwind.

I do hope that the rest of the week will be peaceful.....What s that you said it sounded like a snowballs chance in hell!

ROCKET ROCKET ROCKET.

Since it is the season for lighting fireworks and precipitating explosions I would like to make a small contribution to the general cacophony. I shall begin by firing off an enormous multicoloured giant rocket in celebration of my son having at last handed in his notice. My views on the shysters he works for are well known,the only good thing I can find to say about them is that by some miracle they have a staff who are loyal to the point of self destruction...I kid you not!


The people who do the actual work .the work which makes the company so much money (they know who they are) are the hardest working and most diligent group of professionals I have encountered for a long time.
The rest of the outfit,let us call them the Drones(they know who they are) spend their time playing on line poker...amongst other executive activities. I shall stop here before I become too vitriolic...but...I have by no means done and \I promise plenty of exhumations at a future date!

Next I shall fire a large rocket directly at all well meaning do- gooders,the fluffy bunny brigade. These ignorant,bigoted,hanky wringing idiots are the bane of any serious attempt to protect the environment,here or any where in the world. Go any where and you will find a little coterie of these leaky eyed souls insisting that we save....it does not matter what as long as it's fluffy. I have learned from many years experience that the only way to fight for green issues is with cold hard facts,not emotion.

The moment you become emotional you have lost...facts,solid evidence,reasoned argument is all that counts,save your tears for when you are alone.

How about a nice noisy raspberry blowing rocket for our illustrious Government who argue over what constitutes a living wage for the undeserving poor while having lunch at the Carlton Club or a subsidised booze up at The House of Commons Bar! These parasitic hooray Henry's have not the slightest notion of what it is like to live on a tiny income. Today I heard IDS holding forth about the lower orders having large families while on benefits and the poor hard working Middle classes who only have one or two little Marcus's or Ffiona's. Is he suggesting that the undeserving poor be castrated,sterilised at birth or just starved to death.

I agree that too many children are being born into an overcrowded world but I am convinced that the Wayne’s and the Tracy's have as much right to a decent life as the Tarquins and the Phillipa's.

After all Wayne may get plastered on cider and smash up the bus stop, equally Tarquin may become intoxicated on champagne and smash up his local hostelry honestly now ,what is the difference?Well of course the difference is that Wayne ends up with a criminal record and Tarquin ends up as Prime Minister!

One last rocket for who ever told the star of Lemon La Vida Locca that he is funny. Nauseating,cringe worthy, flesh crawling, slimy, oh yes, but funny, I would rather go through a tax audit than watch him for two minutes and those endless trailers for his crackpot show go on and on and on and on............hissssssssssssssssssssssssss.......FIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,BANG.

IT'S NOT ME,IT'S THEM OTHERS......AGAIN!!!!!

Apologies for last night,I had a hell of a day and by evening I was so exhausted that my son insisted

that I should rest,I tend not to argue with him.

Dealing with idiots is as many of you will already be aware is a tiring and tiresome business and yesterday the village idiots from three parishes chose to regale me with their ill considered opinions about the conservation of a local park in which I am heavily involved. I shall not bore you with the details but they are the sort of people who employ experts to advise them and then ignore their advice because it does not coincide with their own ill considered ideas.

At any event my blood pressure soared and I was obliged to calm down and rest...no sleep of course but that is no new thing. Today I relieved my irritation by replying to the ridiculous nonsense spouted by these morons with a stinging illustration of just how pathetic they are,I then sent it out to the entire society for their delectation and delight.

I will be damned if I allow two or three childish do do-gooding twerps to ruin the work of many months with their unreasonable behaviour,honestly their ignorance is staggering and if I was half so stupid I certainly would not advertise the fact.

Unable to do very much I set about wrapping Christmas presents to be sent of relatives a task which by this time of year I have usually finished,I really am very far behind.

Tonight is a big night for my son,life changing even,my thoughts and my heart are with him.

I hope to be back to normal and back in the kitchen tomorrow so I had better behave tonight I supposed. Night night all.

Being Pecked To Death By Ducks

Avie has had an exceptionally hard and tiring day dealing with all manner of rubbish…as a result of which I have insisted that she has a rest. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.




Son of Avie.

MOVING SWIFTLY ON

All manner of strange things have happened today,endless streams of mail from assorted carriers, several telephone calls all full of either interesting or aggravating news and a very odd chap who appeared at the door this afternoon and refused either to state his business of to leave when asked!


My son irritated beyond measure with the lunatics who masquerade as management at his work place let off enough steam on his return home to drive a beam engine. I was not quite awake at the time and remember only his muttering about propaganda,posters and something about a length of clothesline and a lamp post!!!!!

By ten I was well on the way to the shops to purchase gift wrap and birthday cards for those members on my family (my mother and Pa) who are inconsiderate enough to have their birthdays in December. I observed once again that it becomes more difficult each year to buy a birthday card for

my mother which 1,Does not say Mummy!.2. Has a jokey cartoon on the front. 3 A verse so syrupy as to make one wish to vomit. Or 4. A trendy yummy mummy pictured on the front! I eventually found a pretty card and was about to cheer when on looking inside I saw that it announced “Sorry you're ill”!

I gave up and searched for a card for Pa, a cared which did not have A. A pint of ale or a bottle of wine on the front. B A set of golf clubs or a fishing rod. C .A sports car.or D an extremely rude joke in appalling bad taste!!!!! Not to mention the dreadful For my Hubby...yuk,yuk,yuk!

Finally I gave up and purchased two blank cards resolving to write my own thoughts inside...I believe in the trade they call such things “SENTIMENTS”.yuk,yuk,yuk!!!!

The stray cat chose not to turn up for food until after dark ,thus giving us a day of worrying about where she was. A friend called me while I was baking a batch of cookies and went on and on and on and on and on....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! The upshot of the conversation will involve me in a great deal of trouble for some time to come.

At five I realised that I had neither sat down or had anything to drink since eight in the morning,I felt suddenly tired and slung together the fastest prawn pasta in history,ate it washed up and then road the stair lift to my room....peace at last!

Since dinner I have drunk at least a litre of water and two large glasses of sarsaparilla and my headache is beginning to subside. I anyone wants me for any thing else this evening my answer will be as lance Corporal Jones used to say “in the infirmative”