Looking at You, 2015

I'm writing this post from a ski chalet in the French Alps. Outside the snow comes up to my knees in places and icicles hang from the roof. I've spent most of my New Years Eve bombing (read: hesitantly sliding) down the sides of mountains. This is in sharp contrast the all of the other New Years Eves of my life, which have, generally, been spent in the theatre. Tonight I'll be eating pizza and tobogganing down the nursery slopes instead of eating hotpot in my cousins living room. I have never not eaten hotpot in my cousins living room on New Years Eve, not in 22 years.

Today is teaching me something - it's teaching me that times change, things move on. It's a suitable lesson for New Years Eve I suppose, and it's making me look at 2015 in a different light. Change is difficult, but it's also great sometimes. Lots of things will change in 2015, they have to. But today is teaching me that's okay, because I've enjoyed wobbling down mountains.

2014 has been great. To prove it, I've got a photograph to document nearly every single day - which is completely insane, but I'm so proud that I managed it. The last week and a bit of 2014 will be covered in my final photo post when I'm back home. Until then, when I'll allow myself a little bit of nostalgia for 2014, I'm looking at you, 2015. 

                       

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

This has been my view for a little part of this evening. I like to sit with (under) the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, to spend a few minutes away from the busy Christmas preparations and to think. The smell is unbeatable, and the twinkle of the lights is a sight I look forward to all year round.

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas Eve, and that your day tomorrow will be filled with exactly what you want it to be filled with. 

Week Fifty

It's now so close to the end of this project, I really can't believe it. I'm working on a few ideas a weekly project for next year. I think it's going to be a bit more baking related, but I don't want to commit until I've made up my mind, so more on that later. Do you have any blogging projects planned for 2015?

Monday - This breakfast is pretending to be healthy.

Tuesday - I like to call this the Christmas Twig.

 Wednesday - Writing card and wrapping presents and generally getting covered in glitter.

Thursday - I'm trying to make as many meals as possible really healthy to make up for the copious amounts of bad stuff I seem to graze on throughout the day. I'm already scared to go to the gym in January.

Friday - Last year I posted a recipe for Terry's Chocolate Orange Cheesecake just before Christmas. It slipped quietly by, drew very little attention. Since about October however, I've noticed the page views on it have gone through the roof. It is by far and away the best performing post I've ever made. I know everyone loves chocolate orange, but it really is remarkable. Especially considering the state of the photographs. So, I re-shot (and re-ate) the cheesecake this week. Pop over and see what the fuss is about! 

Saturday - Christmas came early! I was moaning about whipping cream by hand, because my small electric hand whisk was up in Edinburgh, and TA-DAH, enter Christmas. I am so beyond grateful. (P.S. Does anyone else think this picture looks like a Dalek eyestalk?).

Sunday - One week after getting the tree stood up in the dining room, it actually got decorated. It makes me so happy!

Christmas Cranberry and Orange Cake

This cake is an absolute showstopper - perfect for the centre of your Christmas dinner table for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's a lighter option than the traditional Christmas pudding, but has all the familiar tastes of the season. Lighter options seem to be popular this year, I keep reading about them everywhere, so I thought I'd join the party. Secondly, this cake looks spectacular (if I do say so myself). And all you need to do to it is pop it on a cake stand and you're ready to go. It absolutely doesn't need setting on fire, and you still have plenty of time to whip it up before Christmas - it doesn't need time to develop. Really, it's an incredibly low maintenance cake. 

Have I convinced you to give it a go yet? 

It's very easy, and though it looks like there's a lot of steps it really doesn't take much time. It's worth bothering to heat the cranberries for the topping in sugar and water, it takes some of their tartness away, and makes them contrast just nicely with the rest of the cake. You could replace all of the cranberries with dried cranberries easily, but I think the fresh look much nicer.

Christmas Cranberry and Orange Cake

Cake

250g Unsalted Butter

250g Caster Sugar

3 Large Eggs
Zest of 2 Large Oranges
270g Self Raising Flour
120ml Fresh Orange Juice (those oranges you zested will come in handy here!)
100g Fresh Cranberries, cut in half

Icing
150g Icing Sugar
Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Frosted Cranberries
3tbsp Caster Sugar
Water
Fresh cranberries
100g Granulated Sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC and grease your cake tin. I used an angel food cake tin, but a bundt cake tin or a loaf tin would work equally well.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until really light and fluffy
3. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by most of the orange zest (save a little bit for the top).
4. Fold in the flour, and then slowly add the orange juice.
5. Chop the cranberries in half and coat in flour. Fold carefully into the mixture.
6. Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. The time might vary a bit if you use a different type of tin. Particularly, I find loaf tins take a while, and after about half an hour I usually cover the tin with foil, so the top of the cake doesn't burn.
7. Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out to cool completely.
8. Whilst the cake is cooling, put fresh cranberries (however many you want on top of you cake) in a saucepan and just cover with water.
9. Add around 3tbsp caster sugar and heat. Once it's bubbling, remove from the heat and drain the cranberries. You mustn't let them pop when they're heating, so watch for cracks in the skin. If you see them, whip them off the heat then.
10. Coat the cranberries in the granulated sugar and leave to cool.
11. Sieve the icing sugar and add the orange juice - how much is up to you. I didn't use very much, because I wanted defined white stripes of icing, but if you want more of a glaze add more orange juice. The best approach is to add juice very slowly until you get the consistency you want. If you're using freshly squeezed you'll want to sieve it, so there's no juicy bits in the icing.
12. Put the icing in a piping bag, chop the tip of and decorate however you fancy.
13. Top the icing with the frosted cranberries.
14. Sprinkle over the remaining orange zest.

Week Forty Nine

You know, when I typed the title of this post, I was thinking, there's no way it's only week forty nine, because there's only two and a bit weeks until New Year, and there's fifty four weeks in a year, so I've obviously messed up somewhere (probably within the lost month of September).

It's okay though, because I do actually know there's only fifty two weeks in a year. I promise. I'm just having a slow day. Oh dear.

On with the photographs!

Monday - My bedroom door got seasonal with a couple of Pinterest printables.

Tuesday - I am a pro wrapper - I'm so proud of this present, I think it looks adorable!

Wednesday - I squeezed 14 people into my tiny flat for Christmas dinner. It was COSY.

Thursday - Snowy scenes on the train back home.

Friday - My Dads's birthday cake was seasonal, and the recipe will be with you later this week. 

Saturday - Delicious Italian tapas style dinner to celebrate my Dad's birthday.

Sunday - Naked tree! Aren't lights difficult to get on Christmas trees? Hopefully by this time tomorrow it will be beautiful.

Week Forty Eight

This week the photographs are distinctly Christmas themed - only appropriate for the first week of December don't you think? Are you getting into the spirit of things, or are you still pretending it isn't happening yet?

 Monday - I did some baking to celebrate the start of advent. You can read more about what I got up to here.

Tuesday - Christmas arrived in my flat!

Wednesday - This monstrosity is at the centre of Edinburgh Christmas Market. It terrifies me, but some of my friends went on it and loved it!

Thursday - Ben's house is inexplicably filled with butterflies all year round. I found this guy chilling on the window in the hall.

Friday - Boiler Shop Steamer is a monthly street food event in Newcastle, and it is amazing! 

Saturday - HOGWARTS oh my gosh I was so excited by this, I can't even tell you. The best evening.

Sunday - Christmas has landed in Ben's house too.

Christmas Stained Glass Window Biscuits

Now that it's FINALLY the 1st of December, it's definitely time to get the Christmas baking in full swing. I saw these beautiful stained glass window biscuits on Pinterest, and they really couldn't be easier to make. You can hang them in your window or on your tree, and add some homespun beauty to your decorations. Don't do what I did, which is realise you have nothing to hang them off and then spend an hour browsing trees online, when you really could have been doing other things!

Using Christmas shaped cookie cutters, you put a seasonal hole in the middle of your average biscuit. You then fill the hole with crushed up boiled sweets and bake. It only takes 8-10 minutes in the oven for the cookies to be cooked and the sweets to melt. Better yet, you can keep the inside cut outs and bake them too! They're perfect bite size biscuits, and you can keep them in a tin to serve with coffee over the festive period.

Christmas Stained Glass Window Biscuits
150g Butter
100g Light Brown Sugar
1 Egg
250g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
1tbsp Mixed Spice
1tsp Vanilla
Boiled Sweets

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC and line your baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg.
3. Mix in the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and vanilla until a dough forms.
4. Dust a clean work surface with flour and then roll out the dough until it's about 1cm thick.
5. Cut out the full cookie shape, and then the smaller one. (I used pre made cutters I got for Christmas last year, but you could easily make your own, or cut out shapes freehand if you're artistically inclined!)
6. Separate boiled sweets by colour, put them in a sandwich bag and crush with a rolling pin (this is harder than you'd think, and also I managed to break the sandwich bag and get little shards of boiled sweets all over my kitchen. Don't do that guys. Maybe put some kitchen roll over the bag before you smash).
7. Fill the gaps in the middle of the biscuit with the boiled sweets and then bake for 8-10 minutes.
8. Baking the cut out centres will only take 5-7 minutes because they're so tiny.