Festive Foodies

I grabbed a couple of books from the Christmas display in the library last week. Donna Hay is the Australian equivalent of Martha Stewart - cooking plus lifestyle. And Brontë Aurell is the lovely woman who runs ScandiKitchen in London

DH had loads of recipes for main courses - interesting to read, but not much that I'd want to prepare for our Yuletide feasts. And quantities were for larger numbers, as you'd expect. Not much use to the two of us. However, in her dessert section, there were some ideas I liked. Four which used crushed up candy canes. 

Candy canes are pink and sweet and often greatly reduced straight after Christmas. Donna crushes them and uses them almost like a substitute for praline. 

Crushed canes, bourbon biscuits, and cream make truffles, coated in chocolate. 

Canes, crumbled brownie and ice cream make a loaf to slice for a fancy pudding. 

Canes, white chocolate, butter and shortbread melt together for chocolate bars. 

Canes with milk, cream and melted ice cream becomes a festive milk shake

The other ideas involve ice cream, pandoro and pannetone loaves. She hollows out the loaves and fills the inside with ice cream. One she covers with meringue like a Baked Alaska. The hollowed out "innards" become a trifle. And gingerbread men sandwich a slice of ice cream to make a fun ice cream sandwich [an idea for the grandchildren] 

Brontë's book has lots more recipes which I could see myself making. Scandinavian bread recipes, small cakes and biscuits. She also has an excellent section explaining popular Scandi ingredients [eg lingonberries, cardamom, buttermilk] and giving tips for substitutes

And I learned another word... Kringle.. I'd heard Americans referring to Santa as Kris Kringle, but I didn't realise that Kringle is a Scandi word for pretzel. And this dessert is a sweet flaky pastry filled with dried fruit, marzipan and nuts. 

Brontë also has lots of information about Scandi Christmas traditions. 

Both books were an easy read, with clear illustrations, and well written recipes. I liked the way that both books offered some fresh ideas for salads and side dishes. And good ideas for turning store cupboard ingredients into something more interesting. I'd expected a bit more "lifestyle" stuff from DH - if you have Disney+ you can watch her Xmas shows which do give tips for presentation and table setting. But I suppose she is in Oz, where they have sunshine not snow at Yuletide. 

But I need to stop reading and get on with Christmas tasks!