A Productive Day

    I was a busy little bee in the kitchen today, starting at 8:00 a.m. preparing breadcrumbs and dried fruit (soaking it in brandy and Marsala) for the Christmas plum pudding. After I got home from fitness class around 11:00 a.m. I got mixing and had the pudding steamy shortly after.

   After lunch and a short nap I decided to try my hand at making tablet, a delicious sugary Scottish treat! It requires lots of sugar and a can of condensed milk. Unfortunately I grabbed a chocolate version from the cupboard and had it open before I realized - of course, the fact it was brown instead of creamy yellow was a definite clue!

    Once I got the right ingredients in the pan it was just a matter of stir, stir, stir (25 minutes) until it was thickened. In fact I think I let it go a bit too long but it turned out OK. Now the problem is to try to avoid nibbling on it before I take it to our St. Andrew's Day party on Monday.

    So now the plum pudding is wrapped and maturing in the cupboard, that's one course of Christmas Day lunch taken care of!  

     

Just a Quick Post

    Fitness classes this morning and the afternoon spent behind the counter at the coffee bar. It wasn`t too busy so I had plenty of time to read my book.

   Temperature still hovering around zero and we are expected to get some snowfall overnight but it will turn to rain later and tomorrow is to be slightly warmer. I hope all the snow melts and we have a few mild days as I`m not ready for winter yet!

A Busy Few Days

Sunday and today I was out from early morning to early evening but I managed a morning at home on Monday. The weather has been bitterly cold - temperatures hovering at or just below freezing and a very strong north wind. It felt like it was coming directly from the North Pole. We're just not ready for this cold yet!

    Into the bargain there was a reasonable amount of snow to contend with although not enough that it required shovelling. Hopefully it will all be gone later in the week when it's supposed to be a bit milder. One can only hope. I spent Sunday with the grandkids - it was Natalie's birthday so I stayed for dinner and cake (actually 3 as It was Steve and Alison's birthdays a few days previously and Judy made them each a cake.

    I have managed to stay warm without burning too much fuel. Monday afternoon I spent at the Senior's Centre playing Bridge and I was back there again today for the Bridge class. This morning I played tennis at Hendrina and Carol's condo and we were sweating after an hour and a half. After Bridge class I did a bit of shopping ( buying the ingredients for the plum pudding) and then went to Cineplex to see "Arrival" - a very confusing film which I don't think should have received four stars. I will have to ask someone who has also seen it to explain it to me.

   I got home around 6:30, had a quick dinner of leftovers, and am now cosily tucked up by the fire, watching TV. Nothing much on tonight but since I didn't have a nap, I think I will have an early night.

A New Recipe

    Quite a change in the weather today, 7C this morning, dull with a few raindrops, down to 4C by the afternoon and will probably be close to freezing overnight.

   I slept in again this morning - it was 8:45 before I surfaced. I had a late night last night as I was "ushering" at Markham theatre for the production of "Doubt" and didn't turn off the light until 11:30. It was well into the play before I realized it was the script from the movie of the same name which I saw a couple of years ago. The acting was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially since the ushering duties are minimal.

   With the late start to the day I felt behind the 8-ball all morning. But I did get all my chores taken care of before lunch, had a nap then watched the semifinals of the tennis. The Murray/Raonic match was extremely close but Murray won in the final tiebreak. Too bad for the Canadian! The other match was rather one sided so it will be Murray and Djokovic in the final tomorrow.

   Chicken legs and veggies roasting in the oven but I have been nibbling so won't eat for another hour. Forsyte Saga on TV at 8:00 - I have ordered the series from the library as I missed a couple of episodes while on holiday - and I've had the gas fire on so the room is nice and cozy. I am currently watching an Italian chef cook a simple version of Eggplant Parmigiana and it looks so easy and tasty I might just try it. Reminder to self - buy an eggplant and some pecorino cheese tomorrow! Now he's cooking stuffed calamari but I think I'll give that a pass.