Food, Finds & Forays
Hey there....
Merry Jingle Bells!!! Here we are in the very heart of the festive season. A week into December and that jolly atmosphere is all around. With that in mind I’m going to wind up here a week earlier than last year and sign off for the year with today’s letter. It’s been lovely to enjoy a relatively normal year after all the tumult of these last few years. That said ours did see covid whizz through the house in the first half of the year and a few of life’s ups and downs but all thankfully without the anxiety and uncertainty of the early days of the P*******. I’m so looking forward to this Christmas. We have a few catch ups with dear friends planned, a pre-christmas lunch with my in laws and special Christmas eve lunch planned with our kids, all topped off with the annual neighbours Christmas eve do and of course a lovely Christmas day. All in all it should be a happy and joyful few weeks.
I’m going out with a bang this year with a morish and decadent rocky road, brilliant for gifting or just to have in a jar in the kitchen for yourself with a cuppa for some little festive indulgence. Best part too is it’s super quick and easy to make for when your plate feels a little full in these last busy days leading up to Christmas. Of course as always I’ll finish off with a few links and ideas to keep in your back pocket for your kitchen forays and the like.
As always I hope you know how much I appreciate your company here each week. I hope you’ve enjoyed my offerings this year and have learnt some delicious new ideas in the kitchen or some great new finds and forays to enjoy. Whilst I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas or indeed not everyone finds great joy at this time of year I hope the end of year period brings peace and some time for reflection and rest amongst all the celebratory hub hub and if it is a more difficult time of year for you, you find the space to move gently through the coming weeks.
Stay safe, find joy and love and most of all eat well.
Merry Christmas
S x
Food
It was always the sweet smell of sugar and chocolate that drew my attention first. Small hand ensconced in my mother’s, eyes darting around for the entrance, the sweet heady aroma of chocolate and assorted sweets would waft from the entrance always drawing hungry shoppers, and us, in. My mum had a penchant for liquorice allsorts and straps. A bit of a monthly indulgence on our Saturday shopping trips, she’d stock up ensuring there was always a jar of soft squishy liquorice straps in the cupboard and a smaller one of cubes of all sorts. Not a liquorice girl myself I was always more taken with the mountains of chocolate. Jars and jars of it, all available by individual piece and more, wrapped in brightly coloured crinkly packaging invitingly displayed just within a child’s reach. I would always delight in the small offerings of samples made by the sales assistants, keeping me occupied while mum stocked up…or quite possibly enticing me to pester mum for something yummy for me as well. They wore long full skirts that would swish with each step around the store they took and billow sleeved blouses, adorned with equally long bib and skirt aprons and full bonnets that reminded me of shower caps all as a nod to the heritage of the brand. They were the type of local brand who’s wares were coveted, indeed my mother in law always cherished a gift of a box of assorted chocolates right up until the store's recent closure.
Alongside her love of liquorice mum also loved rocky road bars. Come xmas she’d stock up on these, some cut into bars in individual clear bags their squishy shiny marshmallow and jewels of Turkish delight shining out from the rich chocolate coating and others cut into cubes piled abundantly in bags with small fragments of nuts piled at the bottom like prized debris. She loved having a basket of goodies at hand that she could gift people. Generous to a fault she hated the thought of not showing her fondness for those around her at Christmas time. From the postman, to work colleagues, school teachers and friends, everyone was thought of and many the recipients of treats from our favourite chocolate shop.
To be honest I’m a bit the same. I love small offerings of love at Christmas and do indeed include as many of those in my life as I can. Spiced cookies, shortbread, mince pies and fruit cake all feature prominently but this year I wanted to include something a little different. I was reminded of Mum’s rocky road love and as always my fondness for putting my spin on a recipe. I recall my small fingers as a child picking the individual jewels from the chunks and licking my fingers of the melted chocolate as my mind darted around with ideas for my version of Rocky Road. I’m particularly enamoured with these marshmallows, large cubes like small sugary pillows and fragrance that bursts from the packet. Tumbled with floral Turkish delight jellies, golden caramel popcorn and crunchy cashew nuts I like to encase them in dark chocolate to balance out the sweetness with a few pops of tart craisins for little bursts of sour. I’ve also kept the big, lovely pieces of marshmallow and Turkish delight jellies whole because it’s one less thing to do and then when I’m eating it I can enjoy chunks with each delicious ingredient on it's own. You could chop marshmallow and Turkish delight into smaller chunks if you prefer to have a candy cocktail with each bite, it’s entirely up to you. You may also prefer milk chocolate or even white, it will all be delicious and loved by all those in your life to whom you make a small offering of chocolate love this Christmas.
Ingredients:
250gm turkish delight (rose flavoured, the pink one)
140 gm marshmallows
1 C dry roasted whole cashews
2 C caramel popcorn (remember Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs?)
½ C craisins
725 gm of dark chocolate (I use this one.) roughly cut into small pieces
2 Tb grape seed oil or other neutral flavoured oil.
Method:
Line a 30cm x 19cm straight sided slice tin with baking paper leaving a few centimetres overhang on each side so you can easily lift the slice out for cutting when set.
In a large bowl combine all ingredients except chocolate and oil. You can cut up the marshmallow and Turkish delight if you wish. I like to leave it whole, saves time and gives you pieces with big chunks of individual ingredients.
Bring some water to a simmer in a small to medium sized saucepan suitable for a glass bowl to sit on top. Ensure there isn’t too much water that it will lick the bottom of the bowl when placed on top.
Put chocolate pieces in a second large bowl big enough to fit over the saucepan you have simmering on the stove. Place the bowl on the saucepan keeping the water at a gentle simmer. Melt the chocolate until just smooth . Stir through oil until well combined and remove immediately. Keep stirring to help the chocolate cool a little so we can add it to the other bowl with melting the marshmallow and Turkish delight. Once cooled to room temperature, pour over first bowl and stir through until well combined and all the ingredients are coated. Tip into prepared tin, smooth out until mostly well distributed and pop in the fridge uncovered to set for at least one hour or until firm.
Cut into chunks of your own size preference and gobble up!.....or pop into pretty bags and share....if it lasts that long.
Finds & Forays
Aside from making rocky road I have the fruit soaking for my Christmas cake from this favourite (which would make a brilliant foodie christmas pressie). I think everyone has a favourite if they don’t have a family recipe that they revisit, the recipe from Nadine’s book is definitely mine. I’ll make shortbread next week too and for a few GF pals these will be perfect. For some of the get togethers we have planned I’m going to draw on this feature and if I’m really lucky her book might appear in my xmas stocking.
Are you getting away for the xmas break at all? We’re headed here for the annual Christmas camping trip. Something different for this year, perhaps a few delicious lunches and winery trips and a day trip to the coast. I’m also looking forward to working through my 'to be read' pile with this one from one of my favourite authors and this new release which sounds intriguing.
Finally if you still have some spare time on your hands and are feeling a little fancy you might like to try this. I’m always intrigued by these ideas, people are so clever aren’t they.
