Some decorating and easy mince-pies.

Some outside decorating.

Using fresh greenery and berries I've collected

and things I've dried over the year.

The first wreath I made,

 now hangs on the door at my daughters house.

Some outdoor decorating with lanterns.

Peeping in the window.

Every year at Christmas time I make mince-pies.

 For those of you who are not familiar with these spicy little tart-lets

 this is what they look like.

I don't make my own mince-meat I cheat a little and use a bought jar of good quality mince meat and add a slug of brandy, along with a few other extras

like grated orange peel a few cranberries & some chopped nuts. 

 .... but if you do want to make your own, take a look here

 Daphne always makes her own.

But this way is quick & easy.

This year I'm going to try something totally different.

It's a Jamie Oliver recipe, he used bought mince meat in a jar
along with ready made puff pastry and filo pastry sheets, 

so even chefs cheat,

Jamie's Mince-pies  they look so different.

Just to finish off

 I wanted to show you this lovely vintage enamel plaque

 I found it at a Christmas market.

It's been made into a coat hook-hanger.

I think I'm all organised now, 

what needs to be ordered has been ordered.

Cards and gifts to be sent have been posted.

Always some last minute presents to wrap.

So now I can do all the extra little touches to make

my home extra special for family and friends.

I plan to make Winter Spiced Pot-Pourri

It's an easy gift, smells wonderful
When all the spices and dried fruit are mixed together
 put the pourri in a pretty jar or a see through bag & tie with ribbon.  

Last year it was a great success, so I'll definitely make some more this week

I followed Stone Gable blog recipe, if you want to know how

to make it why don't you pop over to her  blog.

How is all your preparation coming along ?

Hope you are enjoying the build up to the festive season.

I'll try and get another post done, 

so that I can show you all the house decorating I've done

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

A Danish recipe for you

It was one of those days when I didn't know what to cook for dinner, 

I was wandering around my local supermarket,

all the essentials were ticked off  my shopping list and were in the basket,

 at the bottom was written something for dinner,

 I always put that when I need an inspiration.

Then I saw the sign promotion.  I went over to have a peep at the counter

and minced pork was on offer. 

So immediately I knew what we were going to have for dinner today.

Frikadeller.

These are a Danish speciality and we love them.

a bit like the Swedish meat balls. which are served in a fresh tomato sauce.

I first tasted these at our daughter in laws family home in Denmark.

I loved them, and would have loved to ask for the recipe, 

but thought they might think it rude if I asked.

I'm sure you all have your own way of making meat balls

but  thought you might like to try my daughter in laws recipe

It's  tasty and quick and easy.

It's not often I make a post giving a recipe.

So don't expect step by step instructions like Daphne

we became friends when we both started our blogs nearly 2 yrs. ago.

She shares her tasty recipes weekly and I know there will be something there that you will enjoy.

Tell her I sent you, Daphne will love it if you pop in for a chat.

Now for Ingredients to make 

Danish Frikadeller

Makes 14/16

depending on the size you make them.

500 gr. minced pork.

1 onion finely chopped

1 beaten egg

approx.100 ml. milk
3 or 4 slices of bread
2 tablespoons of flour

1 teaspoon mustard 

1 teaspoon oregano

a little salt 

& lots of  freshly ground pepper.
Oil and butter to cook


Method

Put the minced pork in a large mixing bowl 

In a separate bowl  beat the egg, mustard and  milk together
and add the bread, leave to soak until the bread has soaked up the liquid.
If you have a chopping mixer use this to chop the onion finely, then add to the soaked bread
Tip this into the bowl with the minced pork.
Add the oregano ( if you don't have this herb use any of your own favourite herbs.)
then season with salt  pepper.
Finally add the flour.and mix well.
You might think the mixture is a bit sloppy, don't worry ! I put mine in the fridge for a little while.
Then using two large spoons make oval shapes, place onto a floured plate,
roll the meat in a little of the flour, when you've used all the mixture
heat a little oil & butter in a large frying pan on a medium heat,
fry the Frikadeller in batches. for 5 to 6 mins  then gently turn them over
to cook the other side, they don't take long to cook,
so keep your eye on them.They should be cooked in about 10/12 mins. Don't overcook.

This is what they look like after 5/6 mins.

keep you eye on them as they soon need to be turned, 

Take out of the pan and place on absorbent kitchen paper.
 put them in a med. heated oven to keep warm,
till they are all cooked and you are ready to serve.

 Serve them hot with your own favourite accompaniment..
I serve mine with creamy mashed potatoes.

Bon appétit

In the summer they are also great served cold with potato salad  & a crisp green salad.

I would love to know if you try this recipe and what you served it with

also if you like them as much as I do.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Mr. France is making Bread .

Although it's me who does all  the day to day cooking and baking
When Mr France decides to cook, he always chooses  much more adventurous recipes than I do.
 Especially now he's showing his talents in baking.

He'd said he wanted to learn to cook/bake, so our daughter bought him a recipe book

'Cook with Jamie'

by 

Jamie Oliver.
which he always uses.

and  he never chooses what I call simple things to bake. like a sponge cake.

The 1st. cake he ever made was an American cheesecake, it was delicious,

This last week he made a heavenly Rich Chocolate Rum & Almond Cake.
recipe by Rachel Allen
thankfully it's a cake that keeps well, so we could limit our selves to small slices
and save the rest for afternoon tea and cake when visitors popped in.

We've seen several cooking programmes on TV where they used Kitchen Aid mixers,
with a hook attachment to make bread. Mr France liked the idea and said
 'I could make bread, if we had a mixer like that '
 Thinking this could just be a fad and knowing how expensive the machine was,
 I asked did he realise how much this mixer cost..?


Our friends were going back to England for a few months and asked if we'd like to borrow their bread machine to see if Mr France would actually enjoy making bread.
  He gave the machine a try during the winter months but was never satisfied with the finished result.

A few weeks later we had a publicity catalogue delivered in our post box
advertising a special offer on Kitchen Aid Mixers.This was too good an offer to let slip by.
We read the description and decided we would choose the red model, which had an even better reduction .
Evidently red mustn't have been a very popular colour in France.

So we got ourselves a real bargain.

and now he's making bread.

 .

This is the flour he uses, all the measurements and instructions are on the packet.
This mornings bread had a slightly different texture & I commented on it
He said 'he'd just tweaked the recipe a little to make it easier to handle'
I'm loving this New 'Mr France'.

So our nice red mixer has pride of place on the work top in our kitchen area..
and Mr France is using it regularly to make our bread.
We do pop to 'La Boulangerie' now & again for a crusty baguette.

I'm setting myself a challenge to do  more watercolour painting and sketches.

This is my impression

of  Mr France's freshly baked  Pain Multi Céréales.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Easy one pot meal for Autumn.

This is one of my other half's favourite meals.

Sausage & Lentil Simmer

 I love this because it's a meal he cooks for me.

 I'll share his recipe with you, then maybe your other half can be coaxed into
putting a chefs hat on & cook it for you.

Maybe your thoughts of lentils, is food for the health freaks or maybe not to every ones taste.
 But if you've never eaten them give them a try, I did & cooked like this they are really tasty.

These are the best lentils, French of course.

But I'm sure any other green lentil would be just as good.

I'm not sure where the recipe came from. 

It's one I cut out from a magazine & added to my recipe file.

I hope you can read it.

 Why is it, scanned things come out with a blue tint ?
Maybe some one with 'hints on blogging' can help out on that !

Simmer nicely for about 40/45 mins.

 

Nice plump sausages.

An option,  add a little bit of colour to top it off.

et voila.

 

Bon appetit.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

A bientot

Barbara Lilian