Ahhh... it's Christmas Eve, that magical time of year. My sprained ankle healed very quickly so I was busy as an elf today running some last minute Christmas errands. It has been a bit of a challenge getting ready for Christmas here ... many of the foods that we associate with Christmas simply are not available in this part of the world. So, we've made a compromise, and have added some traditional English elements to our Christmas celebration.
We had planned to go out to eat for Christmas dinner, but were unable to secure a booking at any of the restaurants in town. Why, you might ask? Because only a scant few restaurants will be open on Christmas Day and by the time I called (two weeks ago) all the restaurants were fully booked. So, we'll be preparing a traditional meal tomorrow.
I won't be making my favorite Christmas dessert: pumpkin pie. You simply cannot buy a can of pumpkin (or a fresh pumpkin, for that matter) in the local stores in Yorkshire. The commissary only stocks the giant 2 lb. cans -- too much for the two of us. So, we've decided to sample some traditional English desserts. I bought a couple of miniature steamed Christmas puddings and some mini mince pies. Both feature scads of dried vine fruits. I had hoped to pick up one of Betty's famed Christmas puddings. They've been judged No. 1 best Christmas pud in the UK by the BBC Food magazine. Alas, once again, I was too late. When I arrived at Betty's last Sunday, they were sold out of Christmas puddings. They only make so many every year, beginning the process in July and allowing the puddings to mature over the months running up to December. Betty's Christmas pudding is said to have a nice fudgy flavor, even though neither cocoa nor chocolate is one of the ingredients.
I decided to make some Christmas crackers for our Christmas dinner. (shhhh, don't tell Brad, it's a secret.) If you haven't heard of Christmas crackers, they are a de rigueur party favor at an English Christmas dinner. I scoured downtown Harrogate to find a place that sold Christmas "snaps" -- the little tab in the cracker that makes it go pop. I finally found them yesterday. Pleased as punch, I brought them home then realized I had no goodies to put in the crackers. So, that was one of my stops today.
We had almost given up hope of preparing one of our favorite Christmas goodies: pizzelles. A key ingredient is anise extract. Could not find it anywhere, neither locally nor at the commissary. Then I happened to try this odd little store in one of the downtown shopping centers. Pick and Mix it is called and they sell candies and nuts by the scoopful. Lucky for me, they also stock some obscure cooking ingredients. I snatched up the last bottle of anise extract. Enough to make the pizzelles, but I had to forgo making anise biscotti. While searching for the anise extract in the baking section of the English grocery stores I noticed that vanilla is usually only available in very small bottles (about 1 oz.) and is extremely expensive. I guess the English must not use vanilla in many of their recipes.
We had planned to go out to eat for Christmas dinner, but were unable to secure a booking at any of the restaurants in town. Why, you might ask? Because only a scant few restaurants will be open on Christmas Day and by the time I called (two weeks ago) all the restaurants were fully booked. So, we'll be preparing a traditional meal tomorrow.
I won't be making my favorite Christmas dessert: pumpkin pie. You simply cannot buy a can of pumpkin (or a fresh pumpkin, for that matter) in the local stores in Yorkshire. The commissary only stocks the giant 2 lb. cans -- too much for the two of us. So, we've decided to sample some traditional English desserts. I bought a couple of miniature steamed Christmas puddings and some mini mince pies. Both feature scads of dried vine fruits. I had hoped to pick up one of Betty's famed Christmas puddings. They've been judged No. 1 best Christmas pud in the UK by the BBC Food magazine. Alas, once again, I was too late. When I arrived at Betty's last Sunday, they were sold out of Christmas puddings. They only make so many every year, beginning the process in July and allowing the puddings to mature over the months running up to December. Betty's Christmas pudding is said to have a nice fudgy flavor, even though neither cocoa nor chocolate is one of the ingredients.
I decided to make some Christmas crackers for our Christmas dinner. (shhhh, don't tell Brad, it's a secret.) If you haven't heard of Christmas crackers, they are a de rigueur party favor at an English Christmas dinner. I scoured downtown Harrogate to find a place that sold Christmas "snaps" -- the little tab in the cracker that makes it go pop. I finally found them yesterday. Pleased as punch, I brought them home then realized I had no goodies to put in the crackers. So, that was one of my stops today.
We had almost given up hope of preparing one of our favorite Christmas goodies: pizzelles. A key ingredient is anise extract. Could not find it anywhere, neither locally nor at the commissary. Then I happened to try this odd little store in one of the downtown shopping centers. Pick and Mix it is called and they sell candies and nuts by the scoopful. Lucky for me, they also stock some obscure cooking ingredients. I snatched up the last bottle of anise extract. Enough to make the pizzelles, but I had to forgo making anise biscotti. While searching for the anise extract in the baking section of the English grocery stores I noticed that vanilla is usually only available in very small bottles (about 1 oz.) and is extremely expensive. I guess the English must not use vanilla in many of their recipes.
posted by lenora at 10:08 AM
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