Preparing for an Olde Fashioned Christmas

The weather has now turned & Autumn has turned in to Winter.

We have had a beautiful last few days with the Winter sun shinning & clear blue skies. This makes for cold days, days spent inside in front of the fire preparing for an Olde Fashioned English Christmas.
Baking, orange slices & cloves fill the air in the cottage.

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Christmas Crackers.

I love to make crackers, it means each one is specially made for a certain person.

I can not show you the gifts as my eldest Son reads my blog & he will know his little gift!

Even though he is all grown up now I still like everyone to have surprises at Christmas.

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The finished crackers all ready for Christmas Day lunch.

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Chocolate & Cherry Cookies waiting to go in to the freezer for Christmas Eve tea.

We have a party tea with all the children.

They enjoy pass the parcel & Christmas games.

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The twins painting a Christmas tree each, we read a beautiful Peggy Burton book & then they chose a page to paint.

Painting is one of their favourite things to do.

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The girls handmade Christmas cottage cards.

We all had very gluey fingers when the cards were finished.

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Letters to Father Christmas.

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Making Braised Red Cabbage for Christmas Day.

This is another Delia Smith recipe & one I can prepare early.

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All the ingredients are layered in a heavy pan.

Red cabbage, apples, onions, spices & sugar.

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All ready to be put in a low oven for 2 1/2 hours.

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All cooked & ready for the freezer.

The smell was wonderful, it filled the whole cottage.

We will have this with our Christmas lunch.

I found the recipe on Delia Online.

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How sweet George looks like the cat on the cover of The Christmas Cat.

This little fella is such a special friend & very much a Mummy's boy.

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A special advent book, each night the girls have a little book read to them.

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A selection of the twins Christmas books that we will read this December.

The Little House books used to be Daisy's, some of the books bring back special memories of older children at Christmas time.

I am still reading Cranford & sadly nearing the end. 

I am disappearing each night in to the village of Cranford, sitting there with Miss Matty & Miss Pole & thoroughly enjoying it.

Although I do have many Elizabeth Gaskell novels next to my bed ready to be read. In the Cranford Companion book about the making of the BBC drama it says that many of Elizabeth Gaskell's other stories were added to the BBC production.

 I can't wait to read the other books.

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Getting some dried things ready for Christmas decorating.

I do love to use simple natural decorations & then antique baubles on the parlour tree.

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I just need to add some beautiful holly & yew branches to the kitchen dresser.

This I will do a week before Christmas as they dry out very quickly in this room with the Esse cooker.

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My one exception.

I can not use fresh branches over the inglenook with the strong heat so I have a lovely fake greenery garland with pine cones in it.

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I hope everyone is keeping warm at this beautiful magical time of year.

It is always a busy time for us, such a blessed time of year.

Thank you dear readers for your beautiful comments, each one is read & enjoyed.

Fondly Michelle

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Cozy Days, Cranford & The Coast.

The Winter in our small corner of the world is a little late in coming this year. 

Outside all is settling down for the Winter & quietly going to sleep. The branches are mostly all bare apart from our beautiful yew & holly trees which line our garden.

Even though there is a nip in the air the cold weather has not settled in yet & we have had some lovely days full of wonderful clear skies.

Inside the cottage Christmas is in the air, our minds are full of idea's of what to make & bake for the special day.

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Lemon Drizzle Cake.

This recipe I have had since our first holiday to Yorkshire as a family. We had three children then & stayed in a beautiful stone cottage in the Yorkshire Moors.

The lady who owned the farm where the cottage was, baked this cake for our arrival & she kindly gave me the recipe. It has become a family favourite & has been baked many times.

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Cream together 5 oz margarine, 6 oz sugar & the grated rind of a lemon.

Then beat in 8 oz self raising flour, 2 eggs & 2 fl oz milk.

Bake in a round cake tin at 160 for 45 mins.

Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the hot cake, then sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar on top.

Remove from tin when cold.

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Lemon Drizzle Cake ready for tea served on Andy's Grandparent's plate that they received on their wedding day.

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Sadly I have finished Larkrise to Candleford.

 I found myself transported to a gentler & slower time reading this book but now I would like to find out what happened to Flora in adulthood.

Now I am reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

My husband bought me a set of c1880 Elizabeth Gaskell books for my birthday this year.

The BBC production is one of my favourite drama's to watch. Cranford covers every emotion & is so amusing, added to this is that it is filmed at the wonderful National Trust village of Lacock. 

All the wonderful period costumes are so simple & beautiful & the sets stunning.

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We decided to take a trip out to the Lincolnshire coast & collect some shells.

There was a crisp chill to the air & we needed to wrap up warm.

We were the only one's there, it was a beautiful time to take in all the beauty of the coast.

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The girls with their Peter Rabbit & Jemima Puddle Duck bags.

These bags go everywhere with them to collect from hedgerows & days out.

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We found some beautiful shells to make some Christmas crafts with.

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Such clear & simple beauty.

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We made some little Christmas mice with pine cones & shells.

All with a little bit of sparkle for Christmas.

The twins love to make gifts & take such joy in giving them.

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Christmas Cake

This year I thought I would bake a different recipe for our Christmas cake & decided upon Delia Smith's Classic Christmas cake.

I have used many recipes over the years & found this one easy & simple to follow.

You can find the recipe at Delia on line.

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All the dried fruit & cherry brandy socking overnight.

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Ready to go in to the oven.

Christmas cakes are baked for a long time at a very low temperature.

 I had to find things to do in the kitchen during that time so I could keep watching the oven as we cook with solid fuel & the temperature goes up & down. I find the best way to keep a steady low temperature is to get it banked up with coal & then shut the damper.

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All baked & now stored away ready to be iced a few days before Christmas.

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Some little knitted bonbon sweets I have made using scraps of wool & ribbon for Kitty & Mary for Christmas.

I do enjoy making gifts, we try to stay away from the crowded shops as much as possible.

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Thank you my dear readers for all your kind words, every one is read & appreciated.

Keep warm.

Fondly Michelle

Cold November Days

The weather has turned now here in England, the north wind is definitely blowing.

How bare the land looks around our village as the last of the sugar beet is harvested & taken away.

Life at the cottage has been full with jobs this week, there is always much to do before Winter sets in.

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I made cinnamon flop for breakfast.

It is an old Amish recipe from a book I have for many years.

They are very easy to make & very much enjoyed.

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I have been cooking pumpkins.

Pumpkin Butter.

I have been making this for a few years now, the children love it especially on hot buttered English muffins.

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The pumpkin butter ready for potting up.

The smell was wonderful, so warm & seasonal.

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The last of the canning finished for the year.

It always feels so good to see all that your garden has produced for you over the year.

I do not can a large amount but enough for us to enjoy the fruits of our labour for a year.

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Canning shelves in our pantry.

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Pumpkin Loaves.

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Some of the pumpkin went in to bread, two to eat & two for the freezer.

This is a recipe I was kindly giving by a friend 10 years ago that lives in Massachusetts.

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Our beautiful cherry tree is such a beautiful colour this time of year.

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Remember remember the 5th of November.

Bonfire night.

This is how a nearby village celebrates the anniversary of the Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the houses of parliament.

It is a very family affair and all the funds raised goes to the upkeep of the little playground.

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It was so cold, we were glad when the bonfire got going.

The twins in their crocheted scarves I made last year.

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Sidney enjoying his chips.

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Mary enjoying the fireworks.

The girls were so happy watching the fireworks.

We had such a special evening but it was so good to get home & get some warmth in to our toes.

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I finished reading The Cottage Diaries & found it a very enjoyable book that again I didn't want to end.

Now I am reading Larkrise to Candleford.

I have watched the television series & was enchanted by the stories & sets so when I saw this old edition in the old book shop in town I couldn't resist.

This copy is full of pretty country prints which lets you picture times from a bygone era.

I am really enjoying this book & how Flora describes all the little details of a time long ago just before machines came in to the countryside. She captured the countryside before traditions & a way of life disappeared.

This is a book you can disappear into & imagine yourself there in the cottages she describes in so much detail.

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One of the old country prints in the book.

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Rice Pudding.

This is such a simple dessert, we had it with home made canned rhubarb.

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Today it is Remembrance Day, a time to remember our fallen & the families who have lost a loved one. We are going down to the War Memorial Hospital in town to remember those soldiers & read some of the poppy's laid in remembrance.

Keep warm.

Fondly Michelle

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Warm Days & Chutney.

We have had an unseasonably warm October in our little part of the world, so we have been spending time cleaning up the garden ready for Winter.

I love to admire the outside bare beauty of our countryside this time of year.

Our wonderful holly trees are abundant with berries turning from orange to red, perfect for our little birds & Christmas decorating.

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These were the last of our pears, now they are in some chutney I made & also the fruit bowl.

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Garden Chutney.

We emptied the greenhouse of the last of the tomatoes & picked the last pears, rhubarb & apples to make chutney for Christmas.

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The first batch was made with tomatoes & rhubarb.

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The rhubarb always makes a smooth chutney ideal for sandwiches.

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The second batch was made with tomatoes, apples & pears.

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I do love the jewel colours this combination made.

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This made a colourful chunky chutney to go with cold meat.

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The jars cooling ready for the pantry shelves.

It feels so good to use up everything in the garden & to not waste a thing.

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Fruit Chutney Recipe.

2 medium onions

3 lb of mixed fruit { pears, apples, rhubarb,tomatoes, plums }

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon of spice

1 teaspoon of dry mustard

1 lb of brown sugar

4 oz of chopped dried dates

1 pint of malt vinegar

Chop up the fruit & onion & place in a jam pan with everything else.

Bring to the boil & then simmer until the chutney goes thick, around 3/4 of an hour.

Keep stirring so it does not stick to the pan.

I always test by dragging my wooden spoon along the bottom of the pan to see if it is thick enough.

Pot in to clean jars & top with plastic coated lids or old glass kilner lids.

This recipe gets better the longer you leave it.

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The hens enjoying the twins sunflower heads.

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A little rabbit enjoying food in the ground with little robin red breast next to him.

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I made some pinwheels again & tried cheese & chutney from last year this time.

It is such a good way to use up last years canned goods & find nice combinations for Christmas.

We will have all eight children here with partners too this Christmas so I will have to find easy things to cook.

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Our dear friends & the twins Godparents had a three week trip to New England.

They brought us back some wonderful gifts, the calendar brought back fond memories of our trip to Old Sturbridge Village 12 years ago.

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I harvested our hydrangea's, they dry so quick in our kitchen with the warm wood stove.

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We still have an abundance of apples in the garden so I made a pudding with them & also some plums from the freezer.

One tree is still laden with beautiful apples which turn red as the season changes.

It was delicious served warm with cream.

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Thank you dear friends for all your kind words, I really enjoy your comments.

Fondly Michelle

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