Essential seasonal extras.....

I know everyone is busy at this time of the year, so no apologies for brevity ....... blogging just gets shunted down the list of things to do.
These are some of the things higher up the list......
1. Christmas puddings. Do you know how many recipes for a festive pudding there are out there? Me neither, but having read a fair few my conclusion is that there is no formula. There is no apparent ratio of fruit to flour to sugar to fat to liquid - it seems a random pick-and-mix. Stout or green ginger wine? currants or apricots? butter or suet?
These are mine and they tasted good last year and I am hoping they will be good this year.

There is also a pot of scrummy brandy butter in the picture - an essential extra!

2. The Cake. It takes practise, lots of practise, to perfect a fruit cake that does not have shelf-life on its list of ingredients. Find a friend who likes eating fruit cake and if they can be objective about it, all the better.
You could become walking buddies.

3. Chocolate. Make time, make your own. It's fun!

This list is longer and I will add more, but now I must rub in some pastry.