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Boxing Day, sherry anyone?

Originally known as St Stephen’s Day, Boxing Day reputedly took its name from the ‘Christmas Boxes’ that were traditionally given as a thank you to tradespeople for their services throughout the year.

These boxes were usually given on the first working day after Christmas – the 26th December – hence the name Boxing Day.

So what will you be doing today? Possibly indulging in a small tipple? Sherry maybe?

Despite its reputation as an old fashioned drink attributed to old ladies, sherry is seeing something of a revival with bars dedicated to the fortified wine popping up across the country.

According to The Independent, ‘M&S, which has seen sherry sales rise 15 per cent in the past three months, talks of a “Downton effect”. Sue Daniels, its sherry winemaker, said: “Sherry is one of the best kept secrets in wine, and seeing it enjoyed by the Downton Abbey characters has obviously sparked our appetites for it – it’s great to see it having a revival.”’

So, during the Christmas special of Downton, if we see the cast tucking enthusiastically into a bowl of tripe, will we all follow suit? I seriously doubt it!

Raspberry Sherry Amaretto TrifleRaspberry, Sherry & Amaretto Trifle
A wonderfully flavoured trifle that’s perfect for the Christmas break

Recipe taken from Dairy Book of Home Cookery.

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Christmas ordering

Order your Dairy Diary and Dairy Book of Home Cookery in time for Christmas

There’s still time to order the Dairy Diary and Dairy Book of Home Cookery for delivery before Christmas

Order by Friday 16 December and you can have your Dairy Diary and Dairy Book of Home Cookery delivered in time for Christmas!

  • The Dairy Diary is 30 years young and still the best-selling home diary. The 2012 edition is the best ever!
  • We have a new edition of the much loved Dairy Book of Home Cookery totally updated for 2012.

Take a closer look at both books at www.dairydiary.co.uk where you can also sample a selection of yummy recipes.

The Dairy Diary makes the perfect
Christmas gifts for family and friends. 

The Dairy Diary Set has already sold out, so order today to ensure you don’t miss out on the Dairy Diary!

Emily
Managing Editor

 

P.S. Don’t miss our blog on Monday. 

It will feature a selection of essential Christmas Day recipes to ensure a truly scrumptious, yet stress-free day.

 

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Children’s birthday baking

Birthday pirate ship

Today is my son’s 4th birthday and I have had a very busy weekend baking and partying.

I have such fond memories of my own homemade birthday cakes as child; I was determined to make my own.

Despite loathing cooking, my mum made me a magical cake creation every single year, with themes ranging from hedgehogs, to trains and castles. As we were having a pirate party, I attempted a pirate ship to grace the centre of the party table. It really was very simple: a chocolate sponge (from the new Dairy Book of Home cookery) covered with chocolate buttercream; with Polo mints and Rolos for portholes; and paper on skewers for sails.

It only cost a couple of pounds to make, which was much much cheaper than a shop-bought cake, but the main thing was Isaac loved it.

Baking is now so trendy, and such big business, with many individuals starting their own businesses selling celebration cakes and cupcakes. I am definitely not at that level to say the least, but it was such a joy to see the look on my little one’s face when he saw his very own pirate ship cake.

I would love to see pictures birthday cakes you have made for your children or grandchildren. Next on the list, Christmas cake, I had better get my skates on! You may not want to make this into a pirate ship! So here’s the conventional recipe for Chocolate Layer Cake.

Chocolate Layer CakeChocolate Layer Cake
Recipe taken from
The Dairy Book of Home Cookery

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2012 Olympic Games

As London is hosting the Olympic Games next year, we have a feature on the history of the Games in 2012 Dairy Diary.

It is full of interesting facts, such as:

  • Britain is the only country to have won a gold medal in every one of the modern summer Olympics
  • in 1908 Britain won 56 golds
  • art competitions used to be part of the games in the early part of the 20th century!

In ancient Greece, a flame, ignited by the sun, was kept burning until the Games closed, and in 1928 the practice of keeping a flame alight for the duration of the Games was adopted by the modern Olympics.

A relay of runners bringing it to the host city was first introduced for the 1936 Games, held in Berlin.

As hosts we are all lucky enough to have the chance to see the flame pass.

There are 1,018 cities, towns and villages on the route of the Olympic Torch Relay next year. Between 18 May and 27 July, the Olympic Flame will come to within just 10 miles of 95% of the population of the UK. The Torch Relay will include some breathtaking spectacles and unusual modes of transport.

The world-famous telescope at Jodrell Bank, a steamer across Lake Windermere and the Manx Electric Railway all feature in the plans. Well worth watching!

For more information visit http://www.london2012.com/olympic-torch-relay

 

St Andrew’s Day

We have so much to celebrate! It’s St Andrew’s Day on Wednesday. Take the opportunity to make this delicious soup, which comes from the fishing village of Cullen, in Morayshire, Scotland.

 

Cullen SkinkCullen Skink
The name of this rich, tasty soup comes
from the fishing village of Cullen, in Morayshire.

Recipe taken from Around Britain Dairy Cookbook.

 

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First Sunday in Advent

This coming Sunday will be the first Sunday in Advent and the start of the proper countdown to Christmas.

Plaetzle - German Christmas treats

I must confess, being a bit of a Christmas-obsessive, I have been feeling festive for weeks!

I am an avid subscriber to Baked and Delicious magazine and back in early November when I saw the flyer for their Festive Special I was eager to don my pinny and make the gorgeous gingerbread house.

Festive foods
On a recent visit to see my German friend Gudi, she offered me some delicious little baked fruit treats, which got us talking about festive foods.

It is traditional in Germany to offer these
plaetzle to visitors in the run up to
Christmas as a gesture of hospitality.

It’s really interesting to see how festive foods change throughout the world. The Baked & Delicious Festive Special includes recipes for Roscón, a Spanish ring cake traditionally baked for Epiphany; Buche de Noel, a French yule log; and Semifreddo Natalizio, an Italian alternative to Christmas pudding. As well as our fabulous mince pies and Christmas cake of course!

Baked and Delicious Baked & Delicious magazineThe magazine plops onto my doormat once a fortnight complete with silicone bakeware – FREE with every issue! I am such a convert to this – it so easy to clean and the cakes virtually jump out of the pan when they are ready. A winner in the Davenport household.

Take a look at their Facebook page www.facebook.com/bakedanddelicious or order online http://www.baked-and-delicious.com/subscribe.aspx or just pop out to the shop and buy an issue!

 

Frost Lemon Top Cake

Frosty Top Lemon Cake. Quick, easy and lemony lovely. A perfect match for silicone bakeware!

Recipe taken from Clever Cooking for One or Two
now available for just £7 from the Dairy Diary website.

 

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Food Hospital

Television is positively saturated with food programs nowadays, it seems that we can’t get enough of watching people chop, stir, braise and bake their favoured dishes.

One quite different program has just begun though – Food Hospital.

This program attempts to alleviate medical problems, simply by making dietary changes. This is a subject quite close to my heart – after months of daily headaches, I discovered that I had an intolerance to onion and had to eradicate it from my diet. This small step made a huge difference to my daily health and, despite my GPs reservations, proves to me that diet has a radical impact on the way we feel.

There is a fun quiz on the Food Hospital website to see how much you really know about nutrition http://foodhospital.channel4.com/the-truth-about

Of course, what we eat impacts on our future health as well as how we feel now. Indeed, in the news only this week it is reported that scientists have discovered that eating a diet high in fibre, such as oats and brown rice, can significantly improve your chances of avoiding bowel cancer.

It is also reported that diet-related illnesses cost the NHS £9 billion every year. My wonderful Grandad never smoked or drank, ate loads of fruit and vegetables, cooked all his meals from scratch and hardly ever indulged in junk food. He lived a full and happy life well into his nineties.

So, I am not going to follow any faddy diets (as the Food Hospital website shows, these are often detrimental to our health), but eat as well as I can as often as I can (though the odd chocolate or glass of wine may pass my lips!) and hopefully I will be as healthy as he was.

Start the day a super-healthy way with this delicious Homemade Muesli breakfast.

Dairy Diary Homemade MuesliHomemade Muesli
A Dairy Diary recipe.

 

 

 

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