Posted by admin on April 26th, 2008 — Posted in Eating Stuff
Most of us not from England are only familiar with plum pudding from those much-loved holiday movies that show scenes of English families gathered for the family meal enjoying their delicious plum pudding. Plum pudding is also mentioned in numerous stories and songs.
Of course, I had no idea of what plum pudding really was until I saw it advertised in food catalogs. Plum pudding isn’t really a pudding at all, it’s a steamed cake filled with fruit, nuts and spices. Plum pudding is traditionally served around the holidays.
If you make this plum pudding, I don’t know if you’ll be inspired to write dreamy stories about it, but you’ll definitely enjoy savoring every bite.
Christmas Plum Pudding
PLUM PUDDING
- cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- teaspoon salt
- teaspoon baking powder
- teaspoon cinnamon
- teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- cup butter, chilled
- 1 cup seedless raisins
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1 cup chopped pitted prunes
- cup slivered almonds
- cup mixed candied fruit peel
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs
- cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- cup brandy (can substitute apple juice)
- 3 eggs, beaten
HARD SAUCE
- cup butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons brandy (can substitute teaspoon brandy extract, plus enough water to equal 2 tablespoons)
Directions
Generously grease a 1-quart mold or ovenproof glass bowl; line with double thickness of cheesecloth.
Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In large bowl, combine flour, ginger, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice; mix well.
With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add raisins, prunes, almonds and fruit peel; toss until fruit is well coated with flour mixture.
Add bread crumbs and brown sugar; mix well. Stir in brandy and eggs; mix well. (Mixture will be very thick and almost crumbly)
Spoon mixture into greased and lined mold, packing firmly with back of spoon as mold is filled. Cover tightly with lid or heavy-duty foil; tie foil in place, if necessary.
Place rack in bottom of Dutch oven or 6-quart saucepan. Add water until it reaches top of rack. Bring to a boil. Set mold on rack; carefully pour hot water around mold until about half way up mold. Return to a boil.
Reduce heat to low; cover Dutch oven. Simmer 2 to 2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Add boiling water as needed.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine all hard sauce ingredients; beat until smooth. Line a 10 oz custard cup or decorative mold with plastic wrap. Spoon hard sauce mixture into lined cup. Cover; refrigerate until serving time.
Remove pudding from Dutch oven; cool in mold for 1 hours. Turn out of mold; carefully remove cheesecloth. Place on serving plate.
Unmold hard sauce onto small plate; remove plastic wrap. Top each slice of pudding with small slice of hard sauce.
Makes 8 servings.
About The Author
Copyright 2004
Donna Monday
Got a brownie craving? Satisfy it here
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Posted by admin on April 17th, 2008 — Posted in Eating Stuff
It seems that school starts earlier every year. So it’s time to start thinking about what to put in those school lunches every morning.
My children always wanted to bring their own lunches because they didn’t really like what was offered in the school lunchroom. But it was sometimes a little difficult to make their lunches nutritious and tasty and also to put a little variety in their lunchboxes without spending a small fortune.
If we let ourselves, we can spend a “lot” on individual servings, lunchables, and treats for lunches. Here are a few ideas to help you meet the “Frugal Lunchbox Challenge”.
Go to the Dollar Store and buy a few of those individual serving-size storage containers. These are very inexpensive and they are worth every penny.
You can use them for any number of things–like making your own fruit cups and pudding cups.
And they can also be used to hold dip for carrot or celery sticks or fill with peanut butter and pack a zipper bag of pretzels for dipping.
Also at the Dollar Store or discount store, you can pick up one or two of the small “blue ice” cold packs. They will help keep lunchbox items cold and safe. Sandwiches such as egg salad or tuna salad need to have a cold pack. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, on the other hand, can be packed without one.
Those zipper bags we all love come into their own when packing lunches! They can hold vegetable sticks, popcorn, crackers, homemade cookies, etc.
Muffins hold up well in a zipper-top bag, as do slices of banana nut bread, or most any other quick bread.
When the weather turns cool, a small thermos will come in handy for homemade soup or chili. I see lots of these for sale at garage and yard sales, sometimes for as little as 25 cents.
A thermos is also handy to hold whatever drink your child likes to take.
Try to put some fun in the lunchbox: keep a stash of small, inexpensive toys, cut sandwich bread into cool shapes with cookie cutters, write little notes to your child, cut out funny cartoons. Children love surprises.
A good routine to get into is while you are cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, put leftovers in the storage containers, or make sandwiches and place in the fridge in a designated area for lunch items. Get your kids to help–the more they are involved, the better!
Put napkins, etc. in lunch boxes or bags and place them where all anyone has to do in the morning is fill with the prepared items. Now you can all be out the door in minutes!
Here are a few recipes that will help get you started this school year:
Apple Surprise
- 1 apple
- Raisins
- Peanut butter
Cut apple in half. Carefully, cut out the core of the apple. Spread peanut butter where the core used to be and over surface of apple. Sprinkle raisins over the peanut butter.
Trail Mix
- 2 cups granola cereal
- 1 cup peanuts
- 1 cup dried apple bits
- 1 1/2 cups yogurt-covered raisins
- 2/3 cup chopped dates
- 1 cup dried banana bits
Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.
A small serving of this goes a long way!
Peanut Butter Balls
- 1/2 c. peanut butter
- 2 1/2 tbsp. nonfat dry milk
- 2 tbsp. raisins
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 1/4 c. coconut
- Sesame seeds
Mix all ingredients and form into balls. Roll in sesame seeds.
This is a good recipe for the kids to help with– they love to roll the dough into balls.
NOTE: sesame seeds are cheaper in bulk at a health food store. You can get unsweetened coconut there, also.
Cyndi Roberts is the editor of the “1 Frugal Friend 2 Another” bi-weekly newsletter and founder of the website of the same name. Visit http://www.cynroberts.com to find creative tips, articles, and a free e-cooking book. Subscribe to the newsletter and receive the free e-course “Taming the Monster Grocery Bill”.
editor@cynroberts.com
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Posted by admin on April 6th, 2008 — Posted in Eating Stuff
Twelve Wines of Christmas a guide for Aussies
Wine selection at Christmas can be a good time to try some
different styles and varieties. Use teh holiday season to try
out some of these wonderful Australian wines made from less
common grape varietes.
You need to consider food matching. It’s good to have something
different on hand to drink on those formal and informal
occasions. Here are are few Christmas wines I will be trying,
along with some food suggestions.
Mann Cygne Blanc (Method Champenoise) This one is a different
sparkler, and there are plenty of occasions that call for
bubbles over the silly season.
Irvine Meslier Brut Another sparkling wine from left field made
by the Master of Merlot James Irvine. This wine is made from the
obscure Petit Meslier variety. Crisp and light this will be the
ideal start to any celbration or dinner.
Kangarilla Road Viognier You won’t find a better Viognier than
this, and you won’t find a better varietal wine to go with
chicken, either club sandwiches or the full roast.
A Murray Cod Called Bruce Vermentino A very clumsy name for a
very good wine, made by the Murray Darling Collection and equal
best regional wine at AAVWS 2005. You will find plenty of
occasions for this wine over the summer holiday season.
Garry Crittenden Geppetto Arneis This is a wonderful wine with
honey fruit aromas but still quite crisp. Just the thing for
informal summer salad lunches, but it has enough oomph to go
with seafood as well.
Galafrey Muller Thurgau The experts scoff at this variety but if
you can get a bottle of this, produced in the cool climate of Mt
Barker WA, you may see why some people step outside of the
varietal square. Drink it with the same foods as you would have
with riesling.
Morris Sparkling Durif Drink this with the Xmas duck (why have a
turkey when you can have duck?) Sparkling reds are just the
thing with a festive roast dinner.
Cobaw Ridge Lagrein A big and rich wine that would enhance any
festive roast. The richness and depth of flavours in this wine
show a great future for this Italian variety.
Aldinga Bay Petit Verdot This wine shows why the warmer McLaren
Vale is a better habitat for the variety than its native
Bordeaux. Enjoy it with meaty dishes or the inevitable summer
barbecue.
Vigne Bottin Sangiovese A versatile wine but like all
Sangioveses it cries out for food; so give it a go with anything
Italian, pasta, antipasto, veal.
Pizzini Verduzzo Light and drinkable it can be enjoyed as a late
afternoon beverege, or it can accompany fruit based deserts.
Leda Swan Pedro Ximenes This is a lovely desert wine, showing
all of the beautiful flavours of PX, but it isn’t fortified.
(11% alcohol means you can have a second glass!) Just the thing
with christmas cake or mince tarts.
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