Merry Christmas to All!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Wishing you a wonderful and blessed day.

Christmas Eve blooms

I was dreading leaving home and getting all caught up in the Christmas Eve rush, but alas, I had to leave the house after all.
I needed to purchase fresh flowers for the graves of my Mum, Mums, and also my brother.
It was necessary to leave home as early as possible and return home early to start my food preparations for lunch tomorrow.
Off I went to one of the floral wholesalers on the south of the island.
I like to use red and white blooms in my festive floral arrangements to remember my loved ones who have passed.
I had called ahead to make sure that the flowers were still available, but I knew that with all the last minute hustle and bustle traffic my arrival would be after 9am, when lots of folks may be shopping as well.
However, my timing was great, and it was an easy in-and-out purchase.

The wholesaler has a large cold storage room where all the beautiful imported blooms are held.
It is cold....cold....cold......brrrr.
I had to put on a thick thick padded jacket before entering the cold room.

The flowers seemed to love it though.

 

Red carnations - just what I was looking for.

It's so frosty cold inside the room, the photos are blurry.

 

Safely home and awaiting their debut in my floral arrangements which will be completed on Boxing Day.

Here are some beautiful orchid blooms at my friend's Shop that are enjoying the sunshine-y weather....enjoy.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Christmas is definitely in the air everywhere.
Folks are cleaning and painting and decorating and shopping for gifts wherever you go.
My Christmas tree is finally up, but not to its usual full size.  This year with Mr. BrownBerts in the house, it was necessary to work a different angle for putting up the tree.
Therefore, this year, not being able to set it up on the floor as usual, I decided to use my side table as a base, and use only two out of the three segments of my artificial tree.  This way Brownie can still relax in his favourite spot under the table and we can still enjoy the tree in its regular spot as well.

 Brownie in his favourite spot- his toys are in the basket under the table

"We all have to live together in harmony," I told my daughter when she bemoaned the smaller version of the tree.
Alas, it's just as pretty in full size or in a scaled-down size in my opinion.
See how my fellow blogger Angus in France tackled his tree problem with his two PON's here. 

 Smaller tree on my prized rotating stand

At first Brownie thought the Christmas stuffed animals were for him, but when I explained why they were there, he promptly jumped down from the chair and has not touched them since -  such a sweet dog.

Let's get closer.  I've used red and gold ornaments this year.
Large poinsettias, gold filigree stars and snowflakes, red and gold balls, angels and teardrops and a large gold bow on the top.

 

The tree is moving on the stand in these photos

 

My Christmas tree in rotating mode

Candy Land Central

My Jazz Santa officiating

If you know me well, you know somehow deep in your heart that my Christmas decor had to have a jazz aspect included.....well you were right.

 

My Jazz Santa in action

None of my music is stored in the "Cloud"....I don't see the reason why "anyone" should know what I listen to at 3am or whatever time I choose to listen to music.

Instead my cd jukebox is loaded up with Christmas jazz and other favourites like Debbie Boone, Luther Vandross, Alexander O'Neal, Mariah Carey and Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers, and guess who else is enchanted with the music.

Brownie relaxing in front of the speakers enjoying Christmas musical favourites.

I'm still cleaning and preparing, and hopefully by tomorrow I should have completed all the supermarket shopping.  I don't want to be anywhere near the crazy last minute shoppers next week.

I wish them all the best negotiating the crowds and the bullies in the stores.....rather them than me.

Bajan Christmas Fruit Cake - "Black Cake"

Yesterday I made my Christmas fruit cake.
One of the traditional delicacies of the Christmas season here on the island is our Bajan Christmas fruit cake.  It's not Christmas without Christmas fruit cake.
It's not a cake that can be made on the spur of the moment either.  It takes some planning and preparation, especially if it is to taste like the traditional Christmas cake.
My fruit cake began several months ago when the dried fruit and the liquor were purchased.

 Raisins, currants, prunes, cherries and mixed citrus peel.

Some folks also use dates but they don't seem to like me, so I leave them out.

The fruits were then minced in an old fashioned meat grinder.

Yes, I know it's easier to process in a blender or a food processor but it just doesn't taste the same.
My daughter has been hinting that she wants to make the fruit cake every year, but when she sees me grinding the fruit, her usual cry is, "Isn't there an easier way?" I usually tell her, "Yes daughter dear, but that's why the manufactured cakes do not have the same taste as when it's done this way....the old school way."

The minced fruit then becomes very GOOD friends with copious amounts of liquor, spices, Guinness, essence, nutmeg and sugar, before they are "put up" in a covered glass jar and stored away safely for months or even years sometimes.
One must remember to open up the jar and add more liquor as time goes by, so that the fruit will continue to feel comfy.
As a child I can remember my brother and I "stealing" little dribbles of this manna from my mother's stash until one year she announced that she did not have enough to make a cake, and we were punished with a store bought cake, much to our dismay.

Yesterday was the "the" day to make my Christmas fruit cake.  I have a ritual of making it one week before Christmas.  This way when friends come by they are welcomed with a slice and there is lots of time to lace it with more liquor.

 Ingredients: Butter, Sugar, Eggs, Flour,Minced Fruit, Almond and Vanilla essence, Nutmeg, Spice, Pineapple Jam, Peanut Butter and Crosse and Blackwell Browning which is now Sarson's.

Funny thing about the browning.  Myself and a few other ladies who only use Crosse and Blackwell browning as well, were searching the supermarket shelves for our favourite browning and all we were finding was the Sarson's that had the same packaging label.  I didn't want to take a chance, so I came home to google it....then to find out that Crosse & Blackwell no longer makes the product, so it has been taken over by Sarson's.
I think the supermarkets should put a little sign up notifying the customers that it's the same product but under a different name.

Our local Glow Spread margarine comes in 250g blocks, not in sticks like in the US and other parts of the world.

Mix the butter and sugar, and add the eggs (Break them into a bowl and blend with a little essence separately and then add).
Then add the liquored-up minced fruit.
Mix well. Add the flour. Mix well. Add the browning stirred into a little water. Mix and mix until blended to perfection.
Please don't put in the electric mixer....the cake must be dense and hand mixing is the right way.

 

Line the cake pans with cut-rite paper, trimming off unwanted portions....this makes clean-up very easy.

Use a ladle to scoop the dense cake mixture into the prepared pans.

All ready for the oven

Bake in a 300 degree oven for 2-1/2 -3 hours with a bain-marie (pan filled with water on the bottom shelf of oven) until done.  
Water in bain-marie will need to be refreshed at intervals during baking.  Cake is finished when knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

You are rewarded with a nice dense cake full of liquor and what I lovingly refer to as my figgy pudding. Some of the alcohol is baked off during the process, so it's necessary to smother the cake in more rum, falernum and wine.
It goes quite quickly.
The cakes came out of the oven at 11.30am and by 12.45pm the first one had died a natural death.

My girlfriend came by for a quick visit and I gave her a slice to travel with.  I received a text later as follows:
"Oh Lord, had a bite of your cake (on an empty stomach) and feel a bit heady now! You need a warning label.  Don't eat and drive."
I responded that the warning labels had not arrived from the printers as yet.

 

 My lovely Isabella Cake stand by Anchor Hocking - an early Christmas gift from my daughter.

The cakes have been portioned out for the "regulars" who enjoy my Christmas cake.

This fruit cake is what is used for wedding cakes adorned with lots of beautiful icing designs.

Before I write the recipe, I must tell the story of how I got it in the first place.
Back in my banking days when I was working at a very busy out-of-town branch, I had a very nice supervisor.  One day during the festive season, she brought to work slices of cake for a few of us. After my first nibble, I knew that I had to have the recipe.  The thing was, she was a baker like my mum, no measurements, just handfuls of this and dashes of that.  I made her spend her lunchtime recreating the measurements until she came up with these measurements just for me.  Isn't it good to have a nice supervisor?  Thanks Stephanie!!!
Here is the recipe:

Bajan Christmas Fruit Cake also known as Black Cake/Great Cake
1lb butter/margarine (2 pkgs 250g)
1lb dark brown sugar (2 cups)
6 eggs
1-1/2lb all purpose flour (3 cups)
almond essence (1 tablespoon)
vanilla essence (1 teaspoon)
mixed essence (1 teaspoon)
1/2 cup water
Browning - 6 tablespoons
2 small flasks of rum (200ml each) -or just pour in as much to suit your taste like I do
1 small bottle of Port Wine (200ml)
1 small bottle of falernum (200ml)
1 bottle of Guinness or Royal Stout
6 heaping tablespoons pineapple jam or other tasty jam
4 tablespoons peanut butter
1 small grated nutmeg (about 3 teaspoons)
Spice - 2 teaspoons
Fruits: raisins, currants, cherries, prunes, mixed citrus peel (1lb of each fruit)
Method: Mince fruit and set up in rum, falernum and port wine, along with Guinness, nutmeg, spice, essence and a little sugar.  Store in a covered jar until ready for use.

Mix all ingredients together as above and bake at 300 degrees until done (2-1/2-3 hours)

This cake (a steamed pudding really) is so decadent and intoxicating.....please be careful.
I don't drink alcohol, but I've been told by many of my friends that I eat my alcohol in my cake....hahahaha....I have some "very funny" friends.

It takes skill

My neighbour has finally removed the large ugly "eyesore" container that was sitting in his back yard.
A big truck with a crane hoist pulled up early one morning, and out jumped a pleasant young chap who completed the removal process all by himself.

 

In about ten minutes it was all over.
His cargo safely loaded and away he went.
I'm in awe.