Ten pots of marmalade, and some parsnip, Parmesan and sage bread!

As well as preparing for the meal tonight. Will post pics later .

Menu, 

Homemade potted shrimps( get them from friends in Norfolk,and then crush mace, pepper corns, lemon zest and chilli Pepper, and then melt some unsalted butter,and mix the spices together,and when warm pour over the shrimps.

Pigeon breasts( shot by son in law) with celeriac and potato mash, routs with bacon and chestnuts

Prosecco jelly with pomegranate seeds and oranges in the jelly, not very easy to get into the fridge one handed!

Cheeses if we have say room. Plus walnuts and Majool dates.

The kitchen smells gorgeous, all citrusy ,and I haven't made too much of a mess for once!

Must go and sit down,as I ache all over.

What did I do for Christmas?

I made the following, 

a dozen mince pies, home made pastry and mince meat naturally.plus the brandy butter sauce to go with them.

Spiced red cabbage ,and a carrot and parsnip pureé to go with the meat.

Bread sauce.  The vegetables and bread sauce went into the freezer a week before hand.

Then I did some mini crab cakes for eating with drinks before the meal, plus some very stiff pesto for spreading onto tiny pieces toasted bread, plus some tapenade .

A large terrine,pork and pancetta and chicken livers, with  sour cherries and pistachio  nuts in the mix. 

A pear cake, not unlike a Tarte Tatin, but with a cake mix poured on the caramelised pears,and then cooked in the oven in a frying pan, to be served with a home made chocolate ice cream

Finally ,chees biscuits I always make these when thre are odd bits of cheese hanging around, so they are always different! I roll them into a sausage,and thrn freeze the rolls, then there are always some in the freezer for emergencies.

Exhausted by the time that lot was done. 

Only 2 weeks  to go before the final chemotherapy! Then hopefully I will be finished with it.have had weird symptoms this time, , mouthulcers and unexplained bruising, never had THAT before.

Cinnamon bun, made from a recipe from the Guardian Cook last week.we will have it for breakfast on Christmas Day

This is now the third time I have tried to add a comment to the cinnamon  bun. 

So here goes again! I wish that they wouldn't keep on  changing their configurations. I find it so tiresome.

The cinnamon bun was tried by all the family who were here over the holiday, and their reaction was overall positive. It lasted well, I didn't freeze it, but warmed  it in the oven.

I shall definitely make it again, but reverse the ratio of Wholemeal/plain flour,as I found it a bit " worthy" 

Such a.shame that much of the luscious filling of butter ,sugar and cinnamon ended up on the base of the oven, so that when I opened the door, the whole house was filled with blue aromatic smoke!

Puddings,made for our book group Christmas meal. As you can see, a pavlova with mango, pineapple and passion fruit, plus a chocolate Marquise,with Raspberries.

Latest news re cancer

Will have to have 2 more sessions unfortunately,as it hasn't shrunk as much as expected.  This will take me up to Christmas ,and finish ( I hope!) in the first week of January.  To think it has almost been nine months since I was diagnosed. 

Still, I made a huge fish  pie for yesterday's lunch, and then today did a chicken dish with pancetta,garlic,and onions plus porcini mushrooms and sour cherries . Potatoes with olive oil, garlic and rosemary, and then Claudia Roden's Clementine cake ,made with half a dozen eggs, boiled and bashed up clementines, sugar and ground almonds, done in the food processor,which is so easy, then cooked for an hour in a moderate oven. With it I did a compote of clementines and  cranberries. Shared with my second granddaughter,and her friend who is at Uni here.

One handed chopping using my trusty device

Here you can see something I use almost everyday to peel, chop and slice vegetables one handed. I got this from the hospital 10 years ago, lots of trial and error but still works well enough.q

Here's how it works:

I always lay the peeler device thing on to a damp cloth first - this keeps it firm and stops it slipping.

Impale object on to triangular spikes

Using peeler or knife to peel or slice, flipping your veg over and spiking again to peel the under side. I find it easiest using a knife. It works for most veg, but long and thin roots such as carrots and parsnips I usually cut in half first.

Cauliflower cheese,with ham and tomatoes, plus curry the curry is chicken, chickpeas and cauliflower,with red onions, garlic and ginger ,with a few cardamom pods, and mustard seeds.plus tomato passata to give colour to the Curry.