I of course love the food. I cannot claim to not induldge at Christmas. I enjoy how warm the kitchen is while cooking and I think it's a great excuse to stay creating in the kitchen. Normally Christmas dinner is a big even in our house. We love to challenge ourselfves every year, to create new ways of serving the best feast of the year. Some things don't change. Everyone has their traditions. One of ours is the stuffing. I have been making the same one since I took over from my mom when I was about 15. It's very simple. Nothing fancy involved but it is true Christmas for me. The second I smell it I know it is without a doubt going to be a great meal. This year Jamie Oliver has provided some foodspiration for us and i'm looking forward to putting it all together.
This year we are also having family over this Sunday for a little pre Christmas get together. I say "we" are having people over but in reality I have taken on a lot because Mr Big Red has to work (darn chefs) so all the preparation has fallen to me. Knowing I won't be able to spend a huge amount of hours in one day in the kitchen (4 year olds tend to become destructive after a while) I am preping what I can in advance.
This morning in My Big Red Kitchen we made our Cookies for Santa! I have taken my inspiration from many sites and without a recipe wasn't sure these would actually turn out but they did! I'm sure Santa will just love them!
I also prepared something I have been wanting to make for a few year but never have. An alternative to mince pies. Lets call them... mince swirls? I'll work on the name...
Before I go on YES I took the lazy route and used store bought puff pastry and store bought mince meat. Why not cut corners?! If you plan on enjoying more than a few glasses of wine over the season (as I do) you really don't want to be worried about the little things. Except maybe keeping an eye that that wine glass doesn't empty!
Simple spread the mince meat over the pastry in a thin layer and roll carefully from either side towards the middle. You will end up with something like this
**Make sure your knife is sharp AND dust it with flour between each slice to avoid sticking**
I got 12 pieces. I'm sorry I don't have a delicious golden finished product to show you yet but these won't be cooked until tomorrow night. They will then cool over night and drizzled with a water/sugar Glace Icing. I'll pop them into the oven @ 180F for about 15 mins/until golden and crispy.
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