Time for a Catch Up

     Sorry, haven't felt like blogging but have been keeping up with others' blogs, lots of Christmassy stuff which I haven't got into yet.

    Monday was Knitters and Crafters and we had some extra Christmas treats with our coffee. I didn't go out for lunch after as I was a bit queezy, too much chocolate probably. I felt better by the evening and managed a small dinner before heading out to dancing. The church where we dance has finally opened the kitchen for us to use so we had tea and muffins at the break.

   Today I slept in and have been behind the eight ball ever since. Had a small breakfast when I got up then worked out for nearly an hour. Had the rest of my breakfast, washed up the dishes from the night before (!) and then had to rush to get to Bridge on time. I had dreadful cards (and played badly) but the fates were with me as I not only got my $1 back for having the lowest score but also won the Lucky Draw! So, came home $6 to the good. Can't remember ever having that much good luck! Maybe I'd better buy a lottery ticket (NOT).

More Christmas Baking

     I am really ahead of the game this year as I made some Mincemeat tarts to have at the Christmas dinner today. Just a quick batch of pastry and leftover mincemeat from last year. It looked a bit dehydrated so I added the last of the molasses from the plum pudding. They turned out well, just one for each of us. That will be enough as we will have plum pudding first!

   They will go in the freezer until the big day.

Keeping Busy in the Kitchen

    Used up the last of a big carton of milk, just before its expiry date, by starting a batch of yogurt in my Instapot. It will work its magic overnight and will be ready in the morning to go in the fridge to drain for a few hours. Decanting it into a container is the only tricky part of the whole procedure but I am getting better at it!

     I also made a Holiday Fruit Bread to use up the leftover candied peel and glace cherries from the plum pudding. It sank a bit in the middle even though I gave it an extra ten minutes but it tastes fine.

   I like it for breakfast with my morning coffee, slathered with butter. It doesn't have much butter in the recipe and just one egg, so fairly healthy.

A Short Update

 I had a busy weekend, supervising the grandkids while their parents were away for a quick jaunt down to the Bahamas. I arrived on Friday afternoon and went back home on Monday morning once they had all left for school. The kids were quite able to entertain themselves and my biggest chore was driving James to hockey practices. All the meals were laid on so I didn't even need to do any cooking!

   However, I seem to have picked up a bug (headache and nausea) and have spent today taking it easy. I usually go out on Tuesday evenings but will spend tonight in front of the fire with the TV on.