Kitchen Notes, Christmas edition

molasses batter :: sticky jamaican ginger cake :: orange and clove tea :: fried apples on cornbread :: 

mincemeat pies :: pies all done :: final batch of royal icing :: creme brûlée is gone

We had a remarkably quiet holiday this year, by our own choosing. This was the first time we stayed in our own home, and Julian had bought my gift (a new 9ft artificial tree) before Thanksgiving, so there wasn't even any unwrapping. There was, however, lots of eating.

You may recall that I made mincemeat about 6 weeks ago. It did not disappoint! In fact, I completely forgot about it until Christmas Eve, and I kept chanting to myself, "Don't forget the mincemeat!" I got up Christmas morning and made these pies, but I didn't add the additional fruit the recipe called for and I used half shortening and half butter, instead of all butter. One pint of mincemeat made 12 perfect muffin-sized pies. It's always nice when something you've never done before comes out so well.

Speaking of things never done before, Julian and I made lobster and crab ravioli for our Christmas dinner. Being only two of us, you can do those things, you know. I don't have many good pictures of it because the lighting was low, but you can imagine that it was yummy, yummy, yummy.

Still to come are some photos of our gingerbread house, a tradition we renewed this year after several years off. It was fun, but exhausting, and you'll soon see why.