The Boxing Day Meet

On Boxing Day we headed to my parents house, and from then went out for a lovely walk to clear the cobwebs of Christmas Day. Our route took us over the fields, through a very muddy copse and along winding country roads. As we came up the hill towards Castle Ashby, we were met with the sound of hooves and barking, as down the hill towards us came the full Boxing Day meet, proceeded by a pack of around 50 hounds! 

I took the following pictures as they rode down the hill away from us, hounds first, then the leaders in their distinctive red jackets (Apparently these are the hunt staff, Male masters and those who have been given their hunt button) followed by the others in their equally traditional hunting jackets in navy, black and traditional country greens and browns. 

You can write the things I know about hunting and horses on the back of a postage stamp, but it was a great addition to our walk, and gave us something to tell the rest of the family about when we got back to the pub over a nice glass of Aspalls! 

A Weekend of Baking...Tunis cake and Chocolate and Apricot Pudding

For our first Christmas, I have been carefully meal planning for the big day, and today I have been making two of the not so traditional elements to our first Christmas dinner, Tunis Cake and an Apricot and Chocolate sponge pudding. Neither David or I are fond of the traditional fruit equivalents of these desserts, so I decided to make something different.

The Tunis cake was first baked in the 1930's in Scotland, a traditional sponge cake covered with a thick layer of chocolate. Subsequent versions had marzipan fruits added as decorations, however I stuck to a traditional recipe of a moist madeira sponge cake with almonds and lemon zest, a thick and luscious chocolate ganache topping and white chocolate piped decorations. They're rather rustic, but I like them!

The cake was very simple to make and was baked in a basic 8" cake tin. Once the cake had cooled completely I covered it with a thick layer of chocolate and cream and allowed that to set again. Then to finish it off I piped some decorations on using white chocolate and allowed it all to set completely before removing it from the tin and onto a serving plate. A cake lifter or a couple of fish slices are essential at this point, as you can't turn it upside down to get it neatly onto a cake board, you'd end up with a very chocolatey hand and ruin all of your hard work.

I came across the Apricot and Chocolate pudding on the internet, and thought that it would be a perfect end to our Christmas dinner. It involved soaking apricots in brandy, (Honestly, it's awful!) then putting half at the bottom of a greased bowl, then chopping the rest into the chocolate sponge mixture along with extra chocolate chunks and ground almonds. As this is a steamed sponge pudding, it needs a double layer of buttered greaseproof paper tied on with string then a layer of foil over the top. This is very challenging if you don't have another pair of hands and as I tried practically lying on top of it to keep the paper in place whilst I anchored it with the string, I thought of an idea!

Put an elastic band over the top of the greaseproof to keep it in place. Then tie your string tightly around the bowl to secure the greaseproof paper, pulling it taught like a drum across the top. You can then snip off the elastic band with a pair of scissors and you're all sorted! Then cover everything with a layer of foil and tuck the ends up under the greaseproof paper.

To steam the pudding you can either use a large saucepan, or I used my slow cooker. First pre-heat the slow cooker empty on high for 15 minutes, otherwise you risk the bowl cracking when you pour in the boiling water. Place the pudding into the body of the slow cooker and pour boiling water halfway up the sides, then put the lid on and leave it to steam on high for the time stated in the recipe. 

As I write the pudding is currently steaming away. This dessert can be made up to two days in advance, then on the day I shall add it back to the slow cooker, again pre-heating it and adding boiling water and steaming for an hour, before serving with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream, I can't wait!

Christmas party outfit...From sketch to dress

This year I organised our work Christmas party, and to be just a bit different, I asked my mum to make my outfit. I have always loved guipere lace, and wanted this to be the main fabric for the dress. I sketched out a design based on two amazing dresses I had seen, one by Oscar de le Renta and another by Sue Wong, and between my mum and I we found a pattern that could be adapted. 

Guipere lace can be very expensive, so I was thrilled when I found a listing on ebay for some beautiful silver guipere lace that wouldn't cost the earth and was being sold in this country. I was a bit dubious about not being able to handle it before I bought it, however I ordered a sample and rang the fabric shop to talk to them about it directly, which really put my mind at rest. My mum sourced the draping weight nude jersey to use as the lining from a trader in Kettering, which was a perfect base for the delicate lace.

 The original sketch for the dress had crystals around the neckline, which I took off a bodice that I beaded for my 6th form prom, and ostrich feather trim around the hem. However, when it came to sourcing all of the different elements, the feathers worked out to be very expensive, so I changed the design to include a double layer of silver fringe.

As with any project or design, alterations are made constantly throughout the process, and in the end, we decided to keep the neckline plain, as the lace was so beautiful we didn't want to clutter it with extra decoration. The fringe was also a great decision as it gave a weight to the hem that made the dress sit correctly, and it was fab to swish around when I was dancing. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year...Christmas decorations

Of all the things I have been looking forward to about owning my own home, decorating for Christmas has definitely been on top of the list! I have been collecting various decorations over the past year, and I was really looking forward to being able to display them, but it wasn't until we bought the tree that I really began to get excited. 

We bought a 4ft artifical tree (I can't be doing with pine needles everywhere) to sit under the velux window in the lounge which gave us some extra space, then laid out all of the decorations on the coffee table to make a start. The trend this year in Christmas decor has been for oversized decorations, so more by luck than judgement (but don't tell anyone...!) my decorations looked perfect! I love the Scandinavian look mixed with gold and silver, so with a mixture of white lights, silver tinsel and a lovely little glass angel that was a gift from my Nan, I think the finished tree looked perfect

I also wanted to buy a bower for the top of the bookshelves going up the stairs, and we found a beautiful one in John Lewis with frosted fir cones, shimmering branches and icy twigs. It was challenging and frustrating trying to attach the bower at the right angle to the wood, as we had to screw hooks into the bookshelf, and then twist thick garden wire though the bower to attach it horizontally to the wood. At first we couldn't get it at the right angle and it kept falling forward, but once it was attached and garlanded with battery powered white lights, I was more than happy with it. 

My new apron from Griff's

To get ourselves in the Christmas spirit, we visited the Castle Ashby Gardens Crafts for Christmas fair. It was held in the gardens outside the beautiful Castle Ashby house grounds, and promised a selection of local craft stalls as well as live reindeer for the children, although I think they were more of a draw for the adults with their jingle bell harnesses and tinsel garlands!

I was really surprised and happy to see how busy it was, as it is a fantastic place to visit and it was great to see so many different examples of local crafts and meet some of the fascinating people who make them. On our second time around the marquees, I spotted an apron stall in the corner. Griff's is a Northampton based company who make beautiful aprons based on the heritage of the towns shoemaking past. They have a fantastic section on their website which explains all about how they make, design and reference the heritage in each of their aprons, so why not go ahead and have a look. https://griffshomemade.co.uk

They had a lovely selection of very well made and designed aprons, all named after local locations. I chose the Stanwick, a gorgeous deep aubergine colour with a deep patterned front pocket with smaller pencil pocket and a clasp on the neck strap. I was so pleased with my purchase that I wore it the very next day to cook my first family dinner for seven in The Nest!