Easter SUGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!! My dear friend Arabelle, pillow maker to the stars, has sent me enough Easter sweets to sink the Titanic and I couldn't possibly be happier...what a treasure trove of good old fashioned sweeties from Blighty....as each delight was removed from the cardboard box a swelling of oohs and ahhs reached piercing heights and now all I have to do is sit on my hands until Sunday when I can eat to my hearts content, I have forsaken sugar for Lent and Sunday is THE day....sugar coma here I come...not to mention I'll be baking my socks off on Saturday for of course I will also need CAKE!!!!! Come visit me in the hospital!!

Her Majesty is THRILLED, "Thumbs up Patricia!!", I am supporting British sweetdom and the potential for more bad teeth although sadly Cadbury's was just recently sold to a US candy company and what does that mean for the corner sweet shop of yore??

Sappy Saturday is almost here!!

Dear Readers....although I won't be making a divine dessert for Sappy Saturday I have in it's stead organized a little feastival of mapleness at Farmers Fare in Rockport, where I am now the cyber content personage and help in things eventful of the food variety!! What fun!! and how lucky am I??
Here is the description for tomorrows jollities:

Come celebrate this year's maple season by sampling an array of maple flavored delights this Saturday March 27th from noon to 2:30pm at Farmers Fare, Rockport, Maine.

Rob of the Moonlight Maple Company in Mount Vernon will be serving samples of his maple products. Along with Rob's delicious treats there will be Maple BBQ Pulled Pork and Maple Pecan Upsidedown Cake, Maple Crumb Muffins, Maple Custard Pie and Maple Bread Pudding to be sampled and sold in the cafe. To improve an already fabulous day Gelato Fiasco will also be sampling some gelati made with maple syrup as a key ingredient and Great Salt Bay Seasoning will be joining us again to sample their wonderful Smoked Maple Seasoning. Samples of Swallowtail Farms Maple Kefir and Yoghourt and Tropical Maine's sauce will also be available...YUM!!!!!!! How much more SAPPY can you get??

The next day, Sunday March 28th, is Maine Maple Sunday when you can visit sugar houses around the state to see how maple syrup is made.
NB: Because I have copied and pasted some text into here it is all over the place and I don't seem to be able to make it consistent..my apologies!!

A poem for Saint Patrick's Day

"AMHAIRGHIN"
anonymous

I am the wind which breathes upon the sea
I am the wave of the ocean.
I am the murmur of the billows.
I am the ox of the seven combats.
I am the vulture upon the rocks.
I am a beam of the Sun.
I am the fairest of plants.
I am a wild boar in valour.
I am a salmon in the water.
I am a lake in the plain.
I am a word of science.
I am a point of a lance in battle.
I am the God who created in the head the fire.
Who is it who throws light into the meeting in the mountain?
Who announces the ages of the Moon?
Who teaches the place where couches the Sun?

This is the oldest known Irish poem, of Medieval date, and I am dedicating it to my dear departed Mum and Dad who were born in Galway City, and all my rellies far and wide.

My St. Patrick's Day recipe: "Apple and Oatmeal Cake - Ciste ull agus mhin choirce"

St. Patrick's Day is coming up pretty sharpish and here is my recipe for this year made from good old Kate's Butter from Old Orchard Beach, Swan's Honey and local Granny Smith apples.
The recipe is called:

 "Apple and Oatmeal Cake - Ciste ull agus mhin choirce"

from Irish Traditional Food by Theodora FitzGibbon
It's actually more like a slice that is quite granola-ey with apple in the middle. It is not very sweet but quite wholesome and chewy.

INGREDIENTS:
2lbs of Granny Smith, or any tart, firm apple, peeled, cored and sliced

15 ozs medium oatmeal (not instant)

6 heaped tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

8 heaped tablespoons raisins

6 ozs, 1 and 1/2 sticks salted butter, preferably Kate's

3 heaped tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons of honey

grated rind of 1 lemon

2 large eggs beaten

Lashings of cream to pour over the finished product!!

 DIRECTIONS:
1. Simmer the apples with the 6 heaped tbspoons sugar and cinnamon until they are very soft, you may have to add a little water to get them mushy...I did.

2. Add in the raisins and leave the mixture to cool.

3. Melt butter, brown sugar and honey in a small pan.

4. Combine the oatmeal with the lemon zest.

5. Pour the honey butter mix over the oatmeal and lemon and mix well.

6. Add the beaten eggs to the oatmeal mix and again mix well.

7. Divide the oatmeal mix into 3 portions.

8. Press one third of the oaty mix into a 9"cake tin with a removable base, then spread half the apple mix over this, then a second layer of oat mix, then another layer of apple, and finish with the last of the oat mix.

8. Ta dah...it's ready to go in the oven...Lucie and I made 2 different sizes of 'cake', we followed the recipe in the book and added half again but with the amount we had we could only do 2 layers of oat and one of apple, see Lucie with our efforts below and her cute little St. Pat's green wristband... so I am giving you the quantities for 3 oat and 2 apple in a 9" diameter springform pan.

9. Bake in a pre heated 375F oven for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown as below....

Below is a picture from the side nice and close so you can see the layers...yum!!

James poured some maple syrup over his...which I have already boiled down from the sap I have been collecting for the last week or so, see my little sap buckets below,...you could also pour some Golden Syrup over and maybe some nice heavy/double creammmmmmmm...

HAPPY ST. PATRICIA'S, sorry, ST. PATRICK'S DAY...don't drink any green beer for heavens sake!!!! When I was little my Mum's relatives in Ireland always used to send over little boxes with water soaked cotton wool and sweet little bunches of shamrock!! How lovely!!

This blogpost is part of the Saint Patrick's Day bloghop at Butterceam Bakehouse

You can purchase my Saint Patrick's Day design, which celebrates the great friendship between the US and Eire, at my CafePress shop HERE

I'm so excited!!! I have a new toy....

Just a small post dear friends to say how excited I am that James has procured for us a wondrous refurbished large format printer which is archival and wonderful and OOOOH la la divine......this means that I can now offer my work as prints on nice watercolour paper, nice and big and non-fading (within reason of course), I do so like to hang on to my originals, I have such a hard time parting with them and now I have another avenue to explore where I don't have to say "Au revoir" to my creations. I didn't think a printer of this caliber would ever be within my reach but people the prices are dropping like lead pickles from the sky and yea!! for that!! If you have an interest in any image you have seen here on my sugary blog as an archival print do drop a line by clicking on "View my complete profile" in the right hand column under my profile pic where there is a link to my e-mail....wish me luck, I'll be printing late into the night...and of course now I have to rescan a lot of work at higher rezes in order to enlarge the original image as a print....but no complaints from me.....I have a 'new' printer!!

A stalwart pumpkin and a list of fun food holidays!!

Hasn't my Hallowe'en pumpkin been a brave little guy...he's been outdoors now since before Hallowe'en and been rained, sleeted, iced and snowed upon since then...if you look inside he's actually desiccated and quite fascinating...good on ya Jack!!

I was doing some research for Farmers Fare (where I am now the cyber content personage) on food holidays for us to co-ordinate with special food events at the market and look what I found...this is just a part of the list I discovered and I have edited it to the kind of things I like, especially desserts. I'll be doing some posts here on the blog to co-ordinate with some of these fun days and will let you know what's happening at Farmers Fare on the days they are celebrating too!!

JANUARY
National Soup Month
Jan 23rd National Pie Day

FEBRUARY
National Sweet Potato Month
Feb 16th Shrove/Pancake/Fat Tuesday
Feb. 26th National Pistachio Day

MARCH
March 14th UK Mothering Sunday
March 17th St. Patrick’s Day...nothing green please unless it is spinach!!
March 19th National Poultry Day
March 25th Waffle Day
March 27th Maple Syrup Saturday...I am organizing an event at Farmers Fare for this one called "Farmers Fare gets Sappy", here is a link to their events page for more info on what we will be doing that day!!
March 28th Something on a Stick Day...yea for that one!!!/Also Maine Maple Sunday when the Sugaring Shacks around the state are open for visits.

APRIL
April 4th Easter Sunday
April 14th National Pecan Day
April 19th Garlic Day
April 23rd St. George's Day
April 25th National Zucchini Bread Day

MAY
National Egg Month
National Salad Month
May 4th National Candied Orange Peel day...an odd day to choose for this I think...shouldn't it be nearer Thankies and Christmas?? Maybe this is when oranges are harvested...anyone know?
May 9th Mothers Day US
May 31st National Macaroon Day

JUNE
National Iced Tea Month
National Dairy Month
National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month
June 5th National Doughnut Day...yea!!!
June 17th Eat your vegetables day
June 20th Father’s Day
June 22nd National Chocolate Eclair Day!!

JULY
National Ice Cream Month...Gelato Fiasco where are you??
July 1st Creative Ice Cream Flavour day
July 2nd National Ice Cream sandwich day
July 18th National Ice Cream Day...is this the only thing Americans eat in July???, oh no wait the 18th is also Caviar Day!!!
July 30th National Cheesecake Day

AUGUST
Peach month!!
August 1st Blueberry, blaeberry, whortleberry, hurt, whimberry , fraughn or hurtleberry Sunday...mostly in Ireland
Aug 2nd National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
Aug 19th Potato Day....big Maine one!!!
Aug 30th National Toasted Marshmallow Day

SEPTEMBER
All American breakfast month
National Chicken Month
National Honey Month
National Mushroom Month
Sept 14th National Cream Filled Doughnut Day...I like this one!!

OCTOBER (Great Maine Apple day is in Oct but I can’t find the date yet!!)
National Pizza Month
National Pasta Month
Vegetarian Awareness Month
October 1st World Vegetarian Day
October 9th Mouldy cheese day...I like this one too...Stilton YUM!!!!!
Oct 31st Halloween

NOVEMBER (Stir Up Sunday is in Nov but not sure of that date yet....when you make your Xmas puddings!!)
National Pepper Month
Nov 3rd Sandwich Day
Nov 5th Guy Fawkes Night in Blighty
Nov 13th National Indian Pudding Day
Nov 25th Thankies

DECEMBER
Dec 5th National Sacher Torte Day
Dec 9th National Pastry Day
Dec 15th National Lemon cupcake day (why just lemon I ask??)
Dec 21st National Hamburger Day
Dec 24th Christmas Eve...Trieze Desserts in France
Dec 25th Crimbly!!!
.........and my personal favourite and the one I just can’t wait for
Dec 30th National Bicarbonate of Soda Day!!!!!’

If anyone has any fun food holidays to add please let me know, especially from other parts of the world.....thanks!!! and Happy Cooking of every kind!!

Pink, red, butter, sugar........CAKE!!

HONESTLY...is this corny enough for you? For those of you in Blighty these are Valentine Candy Corns...in case you don't get the oh so subtle joke there!!

Lucie and I decided for Valentine's Day we would decorate some cupcakes..above are our Valentine's sugary accoutrements!!

and the essential buckets o'buttercream...yes that is chocolate buttercream...I do like chocolate in that instance...and also in chocolate mousse so long as it is not too dark, I am a milk chocolate person, I know it isn't trendy or hip to be so but I have accepted that fact about myself and now I feel I can move forward with my head held high!! Tee hee

Voila...my pink and brown cupcakes...ah yes that is a chocolate truffle, homemade of course, atop one of the cupcakes pink icing...and a chocolate buttercream rose, which, even though I say it myself, I am quite pleased with...buttercream roses are not so easy to do as the Youtube videos I have viewed for technique portray!!

...and here is Lucie's Plate O"Cupcakes...aren't they lovely!!! Well done Lucie!!
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!!

Coeur a la Creme, or in my case Petit Montagne a la Creme, with Lemon Curd!!

Yes, I know I should have little heart shaped molds for this BUT I didn't have any on hand, I did, however, have little flat topped mountain shaped ones so that's what I used! There are two parts to this recipe...the creme part which takes overnight and the curd part which takes about 40 minutes total, so start the day before in order to have it all right 'on the day'

PS The type is all over the place today on this posting and will not behave so forgive me for my inconsistency in typefaces!

CREME RECIPE:

6 ozs cottage cheese

4 ozs cream cheese

¼ cup either sour cream or crème fraiche (I used sour cream)

4 tablespoons of confectioners/icing sugar…more or less depending on your sweet tooth, the recipe I worked from said 1 tablespoon for twice the ingredients but that was way too subtle for moi!!

1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract

1. In an electric blender, yes I gave in to technology on this one, blend the cottage cheese, cream cheese…you know what, everything above…until super smooth.

2. Find yourself a ceramic mold with holes in the bottom…I don’t know where mine came from but I just happen to have 2 on hand, you can also use small clay plant pots that haven’t been used before and give them a good soapy washing and a good rinse or, if you are very fancy, you can buy the special Coeur a la crème molds which are little ceramic hearts, hence the Coeur part, with holes in the bottom.

3. Cut some squares of cheesecloth (some people use paper towels for this but I prefer cheesecloth which you can actually buy at the supermarket if you look hard enough..try to get the tightest weave you can, not too open)…usually you use two per mold layered one on top of the other, then wet them and wring them out thoroughly, this helps the liquid to drain more easily, if you use dry cloth sometimes it won’t drain at all. Line the inside of the molds with the cloth.

4. Pour the cream mixture into the lined molds until nice and full then tap the molds hard on a smooth surface to help any air bubbles rise to the top and pop away.

5. Put the filled molds on a cooling rack or similar over a plate so the whey can drain away nicely and pop in the fridge overnight.

The Lemon Curd Recipe:

3 egg yolks lightly beaten

½ cup sugar

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ stick/2oz butter (yes I used salted, I like that kind of taste!!)

1. Put a pan of water on to simmer, you’re going to be using a double boiler to make the curd.

2. In another non-reactive pan or glass bowl mix together all the ingredients EXCEPT the butter and then put bowl or pan over the simmering water and stir, stir, stir until the mixture thickens slightly…the sauce can be a little runny when ‘set’…you don’t want it quite so hard as the usual curd…

3. Take curd off the heat and stir in the butter until all melted then allow the curd to cool….you can make this the day before or just before you are ready to unmold the crème.

To assemble:

1. Pour a goodly amount of the curd into the bottom of your chosen crème vessel.

2. Very gently tip a crème out of the mold and very gingerly remove the cheesecloth.

3. Pop the crème into the pool of curd…add a rose geranium leaf for adornment or a strawberry, or a raspberry or whatever you would like…a chocolate truffle…go crazy.

This is a very subtle dessert, the crème is very cremey and just slightly sweet but combined with the tangy bright curd it makes a lovely treat for Valentine’s Day especially so if you can get your hands on some Coeur molds…kind of helps if the dessert is heart shaped!!

Sussex Pond Pudding revealed!!

Before you begin making the pud get your big old steamer/double boiler out...I use a nice big double boiler that came with a spaghetti strainer, also find yourself a 3 cup (24 fl oz) basin or bowl that you can steam. The double boiler, or steamer, should take the depth of the bowl with a fitted lid not touching the top of the bowl!! Put the empty bowl into the top of the boiler and fill with cold water until it comes to about 3/4 way up the side of the bowl, take the empty bowl back out, put the lid on and start the heat 'til the water is doing a nice rolling boil. Then butter well the inside of your cute little bowl. Set aside. Then cut out a round of parchment big enough to fit the top of the bowl and down the sides about 3/4", butter this parchment...then also cut out a round of aluminium foil the same size....now you're ready....off we go!!

This dessert is not vegetarian!...but it can be if you use butter instead of suet in the dough.

For the dough:
1 ½ cups of white flour, about 7 ozs
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 oz shredded suet, just less than 1 cup (you can use butter here if you like but it doesn't work as well as the suet...the butter can make the dough greasier and heavier so try to get suet if you can)
3/8 cup/about 3 fl ozs iced water
2 tablespoons sugar

For the filling:
2 lemons, organic is preferable as you will be using the entire lemon
½ cup/4 oz light brown sugar
6 tablespoons/3 oz butter cut into small pieces

To make the dough: 1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl.

2. Rub the suet in by hand or pulse in a processor until the mix resembles coarse meal.

3. Add the water bit by bit and blend until you have a soft dough.

4. Refrigerate for at least ½ hour preferably one hour.

5.Now, take the well rested dough out of the figerdator and roll out two circles, one large enough to line your bowl and one large enough to cover the top of the bowl. Again I am using my trusty 3 cup bowl which I have buttered well prior to lining with my dough.

6. I tried this pudding twice, the first time I did it the traditional way which is to just put the lemons whole into the dough case, I added a few small calamondin oranges which I had growing on a small tree in my living room...you pop the lemons in and add the butter and sugar....this is for radical lemon lovers...the lemons were hard for even me to eat and I like very bright tart flavours, so the second time I sliced the lemons...I didn’t have any oranges left, and layered them with the butter and sugar. I much preferred the sliced lemons but also think the oranges added a bit of mellowness to the flavour so it’s up to you if you’d like to add some orange slices to the mix.

7. Now pop your little round dough top on the pud, wet the inside dough all around the edge then fold the inside dough over the top dough and squeeze together to form a seal over the top, you don’t want your pond leaking out do you.

8. Tie up your little pudding thus...... cover with the round of parchment, then with foil and then put a couple of elastic bands around the top edge of the bowl to make the parchment and foil somewhat airtight, THEN use string to tie like a package, this really helps you retrieve the bowl from the pot without burning the crap out of your fingers!!! Pop into your delightful, delovely steam bath....

...and boil for three hours non-stop, make sure to keep checking the water level so it doesn't dry out......take the pud out of the water bath, do not worry if your pud looks as unappetizing as the picture below...like a sticky, dense stodgy mess...that is normal as it is almost impossible to stop the top of the pud from getting somewhat soggy in the steaming process..... allow to cool for about 10 minutes then invert it onto a plate with a deep centre, don’t use a flat or shallow plate or you’ll have a nice sticky mess on your hands....

.....cut into the pud et voila out pours your pond!! I am thinking there may be another reason it is called a Sussex Pond Pudding and that’s because after you have done the water bath for three hours the contents of the pan look somewhat akin to a pond in high summer....inevitably some of the ingredients have leaked out into the water and end up as a bubbling mess....but we don’t really need to discuss this any further do we.

This is a fun pudding for a dinner party presentation where your guests don’t know what’s in the pud...it’s quite the treat seeing the juices flow but beware you better love bright lemony flavors!! The dough was intriguing albeit a little spongy and soggy in parts but nevertheless quite nice and unusual, certainly NOT a light pudding by any stretch of the imagination, but when your bones are chilled after a day out in the snow and wind it’ll certainly satisfy any craving you have for a stick-to-your-ribs dish!!

I am starting a previous recipes page - please take a look below the masthead above for other curious and wonderful British Puddings - thanks!!

Please consider joining me on my Facebook page for more British puddings - both intriguing and not, my artwork updates and pictures of beautiful Maine - thanks and happy steaming!

Patricia Shea Designs Facebook page 

When you look outside and see this...........

...careening down your road like something out of Mad Max...

...you really do crave a little colour in your life. James very kindly hung these two 'mandalas' of mine one atop the other and they make for a colourful pair. I LOVE geometric design..it is so contemplative laying it out and then once you have the groundwork done you can 'mindlessly' fill in the colours, just like Paint by Numbers, which I was a little obsessive about when I was a kid.
The only problem with the 'mindless' aspect is that many a time you end up running out of colours and the final spaces are surrounded by all the colours you've already used...ooops!!

Now what is this little treasure.....don't you love the way the cubes look hanging like this? James is creating a new maquette for a presentation in a couple of weeks...and he's heading off in a colourful direction too......

How cool are these?

And then of course it warms the cockles of your little cotton socks to see Eleanor and Harry sleeping toasty like pickles by the fire...Eleanor cautiously keeping an eyeball in Harry's direction .......just in case!!

Hey...this is my 1ooth post...who knew I had so much to type about!!

Here comes the Spotted Dog, although there is another name..

Ooooohhhhh...when the weather outside is frightful and the wood stove is so delightful, consider making yourself a "Spotted Dog" or as some say "Spotted Dick"...dick being an old fashioned English word for pudding!!...as you can see from the title of this post I prefer dog...perhaps because I indeed do have a spotted dog!!
SPOTTED DOG RECIPE
Ingredients:
6oz/1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of one lemon (preferably organic)
juice of 1/2 lemon
6oz/ 3/4 cup sugar
6oz/ 3/4 cup plump raisins
2oz/ 3/4 cup shredded suet (yes I know in the mincemeat recipe I mentioned how grim it was to shred suet BUT I have to admit I thought it was grim but hadn't actually done it..I bought some nice suet from Farmers Fare from local cows at Aldermere Farm and tried my hand and found it was somewhat akin to shredding soft candlewax...not gruesome at all really plus I tried one recipe with butter and suet and it came out a lot stodgier...ie dense and a bit too carby and sticky)
2 large eggs whisked together
3 fl oz/1/3 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence and 1 of cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

Before you get going on the recipe you will need to find yourself a 3 cup (24 fl oz) basin or bowl that you can steam. Then find a double boiler, or steamer, that takes the depth of bowl with a fitted lid not touching the top of the bowl!! Put the empty bowl into the top of the boiler and fill with water until it comes to about 3/4 way up the side of the bowl, take the empty bowl back out, put the lid on and start the heat 'til the water is doing a nice rolling boil. Then butter well the inside of your cute little bowl. Set aside. Then cut out a round of parchment big enough to fit the top of the bowl and down the sides about 3/4", butter this parchment...then also cut out a round of aluminium foil the same size....now you're ready....off we go!!
In the meantime make your 'pud'
1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, cardamom, nutmeg and baking powder.
2. Rub the shredded suet into the flour mix until it resembles even sand, you ca also do this by whisking a couple of separate times in a food processor.
3. Stir in the zest, raisins and sugar.
4. Stir in the lemon juice, then the eggs, then the vanilla and then the milk.
5. Bob's your Uncle...you have the thing you see below...a nice thick batter!!

Now put all your delicious batter into your buttered bowl, cover with the round of parchment, then with foil and then put a couple of elastic bands around the top edge of the bowl to make the parchment and foil somewhat airtight, THEN use string to tie like a package, this really helps you retrieve the bowl from the pot without burning the crap out of your fingers!!!

THUS...your pud should look like this ready to bobbed into it's steam bath...below...

...and here we go, put the lid on and boil that little 'puppy'(ha ha) for about 2 hours!! Check on the water occasionally and make sure it doesn't get low...refill with boiling water to keep the boil going. About 20 minutes before your 2 hours is up start to make the custard as below...the dog and the custard should both be almost hot when served.

TA DAH!!!! Here's the pud after it has sat for about 10 minutes to settle, untie the string, uncover the pud and invert onto a plate...please be aware that when you first uncover the pud it may well look somewhat uncooked, like a dumpling, but this is because this part, the flat bottom, of the pud can get a bit damp during the long steaming...just wait until you un-bowl it though...looks lovely doesn't it, I think it looks like a mold for a hat!!??

THIN CUSTARD, CREME ANGLAISE, POURING CUSTARD, CUSTARD SAUCE, ANLANN CUSTAIRD
from "Irish Traditional Food" by Theodora FitzGibbon, a goodly trusty cookbook
1 heaped tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg and 1 egg yolk whisked together
10 fl oz/ 1 1/4 cups whole milk

1. Beat together the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and sugar in a bowl.
2. Have another double boiler on the go.
3. Heat the milk to almost boiling in the top part of the double boiler but on the stove top to make it go faster.
4. Stir a little of the hot milk into the egg mix and then a bit more to temper the temperature.
5. Then put the top part of the double boiler back over the bottom and the boiling water and whisk the egg and milk mix into the rest of the milk
6. Do not leave the custard alone now until it is finished or it will curdle whilst you are not looking and you will have to start again. SO stir and stir and stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken and coats the back of the spoon as in the picture below...you take the spoon out of the custard, turn the spoon over, run your finger through the custard and if the line doesn't fill back in it is ready, don't let it cook too long or get too hot as the eggs will start to turn into scrambled eggs and the sauce will be grainy.....take off the heat immediately and continue to stir.

Pour custard into a heat proof vessel as below...

Spoon your pud out and cover with lashings of hot custard and consume!!! YUM, tastes a lot like a very lightly flavoured and weighted Christmas Pudding...it does stick to your ribs but not quite so tenatiously!! Happy steaming...we are lucky to have a good old wood burning stove as we can steam all day long on this little purring darling and not waste one extra calorie of energy!!

And here is my spotted dog, little Eleanor, not so spotty in this picture but how could I resist sharing with you Ellie resting with her oatmeal rabbit!!

Snowmen, sculpture and more snow!!

All of a sudden early this afternoon the snow was just perfect to make snowmen...the temperature had raised to above freezing and the snow got a bit slushy and easy to mold...so out I went and made my local snowperson...coals from the wood stove, an old local carrot nose, James's scarf and hat, arm branches from the nearby spruce....making snowmen is not as easy as you think if you have never made one...quite hard to get them round...not as easy as you see in the movies where you just start rolling a ball and all of a sudden you have the perfect shape...na ah...it takes a lot of frigid fingers and considerable manipulation of the frozen stuff.

Cheeky me went out at dusk and used the flash...I just love how it makes the snowflakes look...I have to tell you when it snows at dusk it is one of the most beautiful things in the world, I just love it, everything gets so blue and silent...I think the blueness actually comes from ultraviolet but I may be making that up!!

Looking through the icicles hanging from the eaves at James' sculpture "Leap, run leaping"...it doesn't look like it but I took this photo at about 11AM...awfully dark isn't it??

The sculpture from the 'back' showing the snow covering sliding down and revealing that lovely red edge......

...and here the delicious curve of the snow which swoops and piles just like sand dunes

...masquerading as a shark!!

...and with a perfect line of snow silhouetting the top edge...there's the flash again!!

Almost a white out!

This one is my favourite, it really captures the feel of the driving snow. I love snowfall...I am not so keen on snow when it has fallen but as it is falling it is magical and enchanting and makes me feel like a kid again.

IN THE DEEP MID WINTER by Christina Rossetti, sister of Dante and muse to the Pre-Raphaelites...first verse and my favourite Christmas carol

In the deep mid winter
Frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone
Snow has fallen, snow on snow
Snow on snow
In the deep mid winter
Long ago.