Stir up Sunday

Sunday 20 November is Stir up Sunday the official day to make your Christmas cake, puddings and mincemeat allowing them time to mature for the 25 of December.  I didn’t realise that when I prepared to make my cake, I was waiting for delivery of a new set of digital kitchen scales that arrived today, mine gave up the ghost last week.  In the meantime I had collected together all the necessary ingredients. I shopped locally, just a stroll the end of our road, to an eco grocery shop where you take your own containers to reduce packaging. I kept the glacé cherries separate as I like to rinse off the sticky sugar coating otherwise everything went into the same box.

I’m quite risqué when it comes to dried fruits (that sounds so Victoria Wood, must be a northern thing).   As well as sultanas, raisins and cherries, no currants, I added dried mango and cranberries with a shot of limoncello in the mix for flavour.  MrFF and I each made a wish while stirring the mixture, we didn’t reveal what they were apart from the fact that both were cat related.    The cake turned out just fine.

To get my moneys worth from having the oven on for 4 hours I also made two banana loaves from a 25p bag of overripe bananas,  later I stuck some jacket potatoes and braising steak in the oven, that kept the penthouse toasty and smelling delicious all afternoon. 

I am so pleased to report all this activity and confirm that I am now fully recovered from our journey home.  It’s taken almost two weeks to feel like me again.