Find Ancestors

I made some extra special mince pies yesterday and thought I would share the tip with you 'coz it is gorgeous !!!

I am afraid that I don't make my own mincemeat but use 'shop bought' instead :-(
but I saw this on a TV Chef programme so thought I would try it.

I made some sweet shortcrust pastry and then for the filling it said to chop up one eating apple (I peeled it but it didn't say to, and I chopped it fairly small ?) Then take the zest from 2 tangerines and chop up the segments. Add these to the mincemeat for the filling.

It did say to use 2 x 420g jars of mincemeat and use to make 12 deep mince pies (in a muffin tray) - I found this more than enough for 24 !

Anyway, even hubby thought they were delicious served warm with a little cream or brandy butter.............. I shall always do it this way in future.

The only difficulty I had was in getting them out of the muffin tin and putting them to cool on a wire rack. I think I will have to roll the pastry a bit thicker for the base of the pies as a couple of them 'split their sides' during this process! (It didn't matter though as you have to eat any broken ones straight away ;-) :-D :-D )

Dea Xxx

Good morning all :-)

Porridge is bubbling away and the sausage, bacon, baked beans, and fried bread are just about ready.

Mushrooms and tomatoes and finishing under the grill.

Plenty or fresh fruits, yoghurts, croissants and danish pastries are set out.

Eggs are poaching for our Ginns and the toast and crumpets are keeping warm.

Please help yourselves..............

Dea Xxx

Hi all
xx


where did the day go??????????


we had about 11 cm of snow between about 10 pm Thursday night and 1 pm Friday afternoon.

Then it turned to drizzle, now it is going to freeze overnight :-(



Jonesey .................. congratulations to you and Mrs J


OH and I actually met in October 1959, if you can believe it! But it was not a life changing event at that time ;-)

It took us until December 1966 to change form being good friends to wanting to get married :-)



Not putting a tree up ........... we like real ones, and we will be away all over Christmas. As we normally only have a tree up form about the 20th Dec to 6 Jan, we decided not to bother.

Haven't even put the cards outs


And the evergreen wreath that was to go on the front door, is lying under the table on the sundeck. Hopefully, OH will be able to get through the snow to fix it to the sun deck railing before we leave!



take care everyone



s
xx

Soon be Christmas and we can have some nuts, some dates, some tangerines, some chestnuts, some parsnips, some sprouts, some roast tatties, some roast turkey (Quorn Chik'n cutlets available for vegetarians), some stuffing, some cranberry sauce, some roast pork complete with crackling, some Pigs in Blankets, some mashed potatoes with grated cheese, some peas, some onion gravy, some Christmas Pudding with brandy butter and custard, some Mince Pies, some single cream, some crackers containing paper hats, useless prezzies and daft jokes, some Sherry, some sparkling wine, some baked honey glazed ham, some Brandy, something to nibble whilst listening to Her Royal Maj's Christmas message, some buttered finger rolls, some lettuce, some cherry tomatoes, some celery, some sliced redskin onions, some boiled ham, some cold sliced turkey, some pickled red cabbage, some pickled sliced beetroot, some pickled onions, some Piccalilli, some Branston pickle, some Hellmans mayonnaise, some sherry trifle, some fresh fruit salad, some whipped cream, some Stollen, some shortbread, some chocolate Yule log and some Christmas cake

Jonesey,

Congratulations to you both hope you did something to celebrate.

Gins hope you have a nice time tonight

Cynthia hope the meds help your OH and get that tree up ;-) for goodness sake you are retired after all you have plenty of time ;-)

Had GD at play today she loved it before that we tooke her to McDonalds where Santa arrived and came round and handed out chocolates. the staff gave out balloons.

She had a fun day and was clapping her hands at the play which was about a cake shop where a little mouse steals the cakes and then has 3 babies.

The actors came into the audience and let the children cuddle the mice she loved it .

We have the girls tomorrow from 10am till about dinner time aargh.

One day I will get a day to get organised ;-)

Jonesey! You old romantic you! How lovely that you remember such a special day. I'm sure Mrs J must realise what a treasure she has in you........... ;-)


Fridays are usually nice and quiet for me.....not today though!!!

Go to doc's and wait around for a while before seeing doc. Seems as though OH now has cellulitis......! 3 antibiotics 4 times a day! Trying to fit them into the already crowded pill regime is proving a challenge! :-S

Went for Christmas lunch at church today and it was very good indeed and very, very, popular! :-D

Brought OH home and then decided to do a big supermarket shop.....my oh my! I didn't get home until gone 4 o'clock :-0

When I came in, I had to re-type the service sheet for Christmas Day because, apparently, it wasn't printing properly and, you see, I have time because I am retired.........!!! Really????? :-S

Eventually sat down at about 6 and intend to stay here!

Bring on January!!!

:-D :-D

That's the one Ginns ;-) :-D

Congratulations to Jonesey and a sparkly gold medal coming over for Mrs. J. ;-) :-D :-D

Dea Xxx

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..............finished until Jan 6th

Dea

That watch is an 'Eco Drive' powered. I got one for No2 sons birthday

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Jones :-D

Mrs J

How did you learn to be so long suffering?

Congratulations and admiration.

xxx

Dea,

Patience, there are still 5 days (Including today) left to add more culinary delights to the list. I haven't forgotten the Chocolate Log. If you notice, other than mince pies, no traditional Christmas pastries or cakes have yet been included in the bill of fayre.:-P

Something else I managed to remember despite my great age. 20/12/1963, the day on which I first met Mrs J meaning that today is the Golden anniversary of that momentous and life changing event.

I marked the occasion about half an hour ago by presenting Mrs J with a potted Orchid plant to add to her others which live on the kitchen window sill. The spot obviously suits them as there is always at least one of the orchids in bloom throughout the entire year.

Who says I'm not an old romantic? ;-)

Good morning and thank you for bacon Gins....I agree with Dea....it smells delish.


Just waiting for a phone call from the doc :-( OH has developed a red patch on his leg which is rather sore. He thinks he may have phlebitis.....we will see what the doc says.

So, I must get on and get those jobs done before another trip to the surgery.


Dea......the tree is still on the floor.......sorry... :-( ;-)

Good morning all :-)

Thank you Ginns - I can smell those lovely sausages and bacon <3 <3

Jonesey has forgotten the chocolate log - I will be making mine today so I will do an extra one to add to his menu :-D

Sylvia - you should have a solar powered watch and you wouldn't need batteries ! ;-)

I didn't know they existed until I went to buy hubby a new watch for Christmas - It was amazing - There were kenetic watches which are powered by movement but I thought they were rather large and heavy so I ended up buying a solar powered one. Things have certainly changed a lot in the past few years :-S

Glad your GD is starting to get better Linds and hope you are feeling better too <3

Cynthia - GET THAT CHRISTMAS TREE UP !!! :-D :-D

See you all later,

Dea Xxx

Cripes, you lot have been busy!

I managed to drop the remote control for the central heating and bust it.....batteries wont stay in

I see Jonesey's foo list is increasing.............

Finish at 1.00pm today. Off out for a meal with family and friends tonight. big brothers birthday

Kettle is on, bacon and sausages in the oven along with muffins and toast

Mornin All~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon be Christmas and we can have some nuts, some dates, some tangerines, some chestnuts, some parsnips, some sprouts, some roast tatties, some roast turkey (Quorn Chik'n cutlets available for vegetarians), some stuffing, some cranberry sauce, some roast pork complete with crackling, some Pigs in Blankets, some mashed potatoes with grated cheese, some peas, some onion gravy, some Christmas Pudding with brandy butter and custard, some Mince Pies, some single cream, some crackers containing paper hats, useless prezzies and daft jokes, some Sherry, some sparkling wine, some baked honey glazed ham, some Brandy, something to nibble whilst listening to Her Royal Maj's Christmas message, some buttered finger rolls, some lettuce, some cherry tomatoes, some celery, some sliced redskin onions, some boiled ham, some cold sliced turkey, some pickled red cabbage, some pickled sliced beetroot, some pickled onions, some Piccalilli, some Branston pickle, some Hellmans mayonnaise, some sherry trifle, some fresh fruit salad and some whipped cream

Busy day.......went to the funeral and ended up making coffee for the undertaker's men whilst they waited......as you do!! :-S


Got some housework done in between times and put a few decs up so that's good. Mind you, the Christmas tree is still in it's box on the dining room floor!!


The weather wasn't too bad, so took my friend out for a coffee which she greatly enjoyed.

Came home and then went to get my hair cut.

Since then have been dealing with all sorts of stuff...............phone calls - FB messaging. Sometimes I can be talking to up to 4 friends at once over there!! :-S :-S :-S :-S :-S It's all to do with my good looks, personality, brains, intelligence and sheer genius you understand......hahahahahahahahha

See you tomorrow......~~~

Got here at last!

Finally got time to defrost the freezer in the garage. It is about 15 years old and isn't a frost free one :-(

It didn't get done in the summer as we just never seemed to find the time. It took us about 3 hours but is all done now.

We then went to do the bulk of the Christmas food shop even managed to get some more presents.

Have got a huge pot of soup bubbling away.

Tomorrow taking GD to another panto. The antibiotics are helping her thank goodness.

On Saturday we have the GD's to let DIL get some shopping done.

Now all we have to do is finish food shop get a few pressies and get the house organised. ;-)

Hi everyone
xxx


there was a glorious sunrise this morning :-)

and the weather is much colder and cloudier than yesterday


and, yes ................... the "s" word is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning!



My watch apparently stopped at 12:15 am this morning. We have to make a stop at a watch shop for a new battery!

OH thinks he's found a suitable new printer for me ......... I'd found the one I thought I wanted, but there was some problem with buying that one.

So now, we have to go and look at the one OH has found.



Otherwise, everything's fine for Christmas!!!


No food to buy, just some gift bags for the pressies we're giving to people on the Island.



s
xx

Ey Up~~~~~

Busy day, winding down now for Christmas.........finish at 1.00pm tomorrow :-D

Oer I think my darling OH has vey kindly shared his rotten cold with me :-(


I feel all shivery and I still have so much to do :-|

GD's temperature was at 39.9c last night they have finally started her on antibiotics.
DIL is still sending her to nursery :-S

Yes Cynthia I am sure there is something about having to sell goods at the price shown. Must ask my brother he works in retail.

Morning all.......thanks for the bacon Gins.... :-D


OH got the all clear and is now discharged from the hospital - so he is no longer a head case.....hahahahahaha


That dye thingey is what OH had done back in October - he too has the macular degeration wotsit.


Dea, you are quite right, the NHS would be lost without us!


Well done Linds! I do that sort of thing too.........there is something about them having to sell goods at the price marked, even though the store may have labelled it in error, isn't there??


Off to a funeral this morning and then taking my friend out - or at least going to see her - this afternoon. A lot depends on the weather.


Have a good day.....~~

Must remind myself to get the tree out of the garage soon....... :-0