Skip to main content

Monthly Munch: December 2016 (pre-Christmas edition)

Well, I know it's not the end of December yet, but I thought we'd have a whole bunch more photos once we'd got through Christmas.  So here's the rest of the month (also quite Christmassy).

Christmas lights at Calke Abbey


Toby


- has been really struggling with illness, poor boy.  He's had several occurrences of being sick in the night, plus hives and swollen eyes, plus a cold.

- was pleased to meet Marshall and Chase from the Paw Patrol at Markeaton Park.


- enjoyed a Christmas-themed Inspire Day at school - I got to go and do lots of crafts with him for a morning.

- managed not to eat all the sweets before making a christingle with them.



Theo


- was a sleepy shepherd in his first pre-school nativity.


- describes anything he likes as "so beautiful".

- carefully hung as many baubles as possible on the bottom branches of the tree.



- can tell you all the names of the Paw Patrol characters, but was not so sure about having his photo taken with them!

Thankful for:

- a lovely time at the Radio Derby carol concert, which I went to at Graham's suggestion (my husband has some of the best ideas).

- celebrating my friend Vivian's birthday with some delicious Indian food.  We went to the restaurant at 5:30pm which was brilliant - even after a leisurely meal I was still home before bedtime!

- both boys behaving perfectly at the barbers, resulting in some very smart haircuts.



Recipe of the Month:  Marzipan Cake


This is from a Nigella Lawson recipe which is very handy for using up leftover marzipan, should such a thing ever occur in your household.  The original recipe uses six eggs, which seems extravagant unless you're also trying to use up lots of eggs, so this time around I thought I'd try four instead.  It turned into one of those times when nothing is quite correct -  not enough butter, the last few drops in the almond essence bottle - but it still worked.  So much for all that stuff about baking being super-scientific.  Nigella's recipe is here (with a pretty picture); this is my adapted version.

200g softened butter
250g marzipan
120g sugar
1/2 tsp almond essence
4 large eggs
150g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Chop the butter and marzipan into rough cubes.  Put in a food processor with the sugar and whizz until fairly smooth.  Add the eggs a couple at a time, blending between each addition, then put the flour and baking powder in and whizz one more time.  Pour into a greased 25cm Springform ring pan, or similar-sized round cake tin.  Bake at 170C for about 45 minutes or until firm.  Leave to get fairly cool in the tin.  It usually takes some gentle persuasion to come off the ring, if that's what you've used, but it should get there eventually.

Comments

John Evens said…
Funnily enough I'm always trying to use up eggs! Rarely have unconsumed marzipan in the house though.
Rebecca said…
Ah thanks for this much needed recipe. I haven't had a chance to make a Christmas cake so this might be a last minute Christmas cake.

Popular posts from this blog

Supercars and Selfies on the South Coast

We drove south on a wet, wet Saturday in August. The windscreen wipers swished endlessly back and forth, as we debated whether it was worth stopping anywhere except for the overcrowded motorway services. By the time we reached Winchester, the wipers had subsided to an occasional flick across the screen. We decided to stop. Of course, as soon as we left the car park there was a brief shower, but we ducked into the City Mill, now a National Trust property. There was a large room full of the usual kind of displays about flour milling; a recently renovated garden; and downstairs, the mill race running at full tilt. The mill is built right across the River Itchen. Winchester City Mill garden The mill race Water wheel (awaiting renovation) We stayed dry as we explored further into Winchester. There was even some blue sky for our selfie by the cathedral! But as we walked back to the car the rain hit us like a hose on full blast. An overhanging building provided some slight shelter, but the wa

Reading for Spiritual Formation 2023-24

I wasn't sure whether to read another set of theology books this year. Could the time I spend on it be better spent on something else? At what point does it become reading for the sake of it, without having much impact on my wider life? It's difficult to tell. However, as usual, I had a growing list of books I wanted to read. I do need to think about what I'm doing as well as what I'm reading, and I don't expect to continue this specific discipline indefinitely. But I decided there was space for at least one more year of Reading for Spiritual Formation. So, without further soul-searching: The Books. Three Mile an Hour God Kosuke Koyama Japanese theologians are few and far between; Christianity is still very much a niche religion in Japan. Kosuke Koyama was Japanese and appears to be both influential and accessible. Not every theologian is both! So I'm excited to read his recently republished book Three Mile an Hour God. It was originally written in 1979, and is

National Forest Way: Calke Abbey to Ashby de la Zouch

All the best walking blogs have maps on. I finally figured out how to add a route map to mine. If I get time, I'll add them to the previous posts as well, so you can see where I went. So, here are the two walks which made up the next stretch of the NFW. Walk 1  I started from the National Trust property and walked along by the lake, up the hill by the deer park, and down to Staunton Harold reservoir - all very familiar. Calke village postbox featured a highland cow on top. Lake at Calke Abbey Herd of deer   A short stretch on the road took me to Dimminsdale, which was new to me. There are records of mining at the site from the 13th century until the end of the 19th century. It's incredible to think that people worked there for so many hundreds of years. Now it is a secluded landscape of still pools and shaggy trees. Dimminsdale   I crossed a small section of the Staunton Harold estate, then went up a private lane with some rather nice houses. My turning point was where the Nati