IT SMELLS LIKE CHRISTMAS

 

It’s nearly that time of the year when bad feelings turn fuzzy, when we want to forget all about the long hours of work and the drudgery that comes with them, and the world becomes a snow-covered basket brimming with promises of good things to come.

It’s that time of the year when school and work and duty and backache and family and timetables and recipes and plane tickets and rush-hour presents become a blurry race into a parade of days when fun is a must and time takes on a new meaning.

Family time. Quality time. Eating time. Maybe a bit of spiritual time thrown in with the current.

It’s that time of the year when one word steps up into the limelight. Sharing. We share our time. Thoughts of each other. Things that convey our feelings for someone. A place in our lives that was forgotten amidst the vortex of everyday life.

Christmas is coming, again.

And I say “again” with all the heart-felt anticipation that a child harbours for Christmas Day or Epiphany when, at the first sight of sunlight, you peek from under a sleepy eyelid to find out what your first winter present is going to be.

What does Christmas mean to you? To me it means days off work, hours of recreation, warm and cozy moments around a table with family and friends, ornaments on a tree, jingle bells, surprises wrapped in tinfoil, a beaming face of joy at a gift, shopping lists, dancing till the wee hours.

Of course, it also means that everyone knows you have time to spare for their needs. Your house is invaded by aliens who bellow till your ears bleed, who gobble up every piece of turrón and cake and canapé you painstakingly prepared for hours, and who tear apart the beautifully decked tree with those expensive ornaments you just bought. It means you won’t have a moment for yourself until everyone has had their fill and you’re dropping on the floor out of exhaustion. It means endless hours of ever- the-same conversation with badly dressed people who never comment on your perfect attire. It means hundreds of kilos you can’t seem to know how to part with. It means, well, a lot of things you need to remind you it’s that time of the year, again.

I love Christmas. Don’t you?

it’s all over… till next All Hallow’s Eve

 

Hey fellows, now that it’s all over for one more year, it’s time to reminisce.

What in the world is that?  Well, if you ask me, it’s just reliving in your mind what is gone in the flesh. So here we are again talking about my favourite subject. One of them at least. I’ve got so many that I’ve lost count.

What exactly did you do for Halloween?

Remains of old pumpkins, wrinkled costumes strewn all through the halls and tummy aches can mean only one thing – it’s just been Halloween!

      Did you go trick-or-treating? Or perhaps you couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. Whatever you got up to, let us know. You could still win the prize for “best recipe” photo.

Speaking of witch (which), here is a bunch of photos that illustrates how good it was to celebrate Halloween with all of you.

  My turn now. I had, not one, but two Halloween parties. A proper one with my family and a nasty one (*grin*) with friends of mine. That means I had to do double of everything: double biscuits, double cakes, double popcorn… You get the idea.

Let’s just say you can have a hangover due to more than the usual suspects.

Whet your appetite with these scrumptious photos:

View Full Album

See you in a dark alley.

BONE APPETIT!

Three days till Halloween and counting. And eating...or at least preparing for it.

My plans for this eery, batty, bone-rattling, gruesome, chilling, haunting (gasp for air) weekend include Rotten Teeth (see yesterday's recipe), Flesh'n'Blood (blood-curdling drink), pumpkin pie, Phantom Sausages, Haunting biscuits and lots of decorations.

What do you say to a creamy pumpkin pie? Are you ready to tackle this challenge? If you are, please, please, send us a photo of your great effort at the kitchen.

PUMPKING PIE RECIPE

ingredients:

1. 450 g/1lb prepared weight pumpkin flesh, cut into 1in/2.5 cm chunks

2. 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk (use the white for another dish)

3. 3 oz/75g soft dark brown sugar

4. 1 tsp ground cinnamon

5. ½ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

6. ½ tsp ground allspice

7. ½ tsp ground cloves

8. ½ tsp ground ginger

9. 10 fl oz/275 ml double cream

method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2. Use a shop bought sweet crust pastry case, about 9 inch/23 cm diameter and 1½ inches/4 cm deep.

3. To make the filling, steam the pumpkin then place in a coarse sieve and press lightly to extract any excess water.

4. Then lightly whisk the eggs and extra yolk together in a large bowl.

5. Place the sugar, spices and the cream in a pan, bring to simmering point, giving it a whisk to mix everything together. Then pour it over the eggs and whisk it again briefly.

6. Now add the pumpkin pureé, still whisking to combine everything thoroughly.

7. Pour the filling into your pastry case and bake for 35-40 minutes, by which time it will puff up round the edges but still feel slightly wobbly in the centre.

8. Remove the pie from the oven and place the tin on a wire cooling rack. Serve chilled (stored loosely covered in foil in the fridge) with some equally chilled créme fraïche, but warm or at room temperature would be fine.

Now to finish with a bewitching note, here I present you a Halloween joke that's sure to make your friends drop their jaw.

Do you know what happened to the boy and girl vampires?
They loved... in vein.

HAVE A DREADFULLY GOOD HALLOWEEN.

creepy and yummy

Hi, Halloweenies!

Here we go into scrumptious details as promised. I have time for one recipe today, but it’s tested and gobbled up so be brave and try your hand. It’s worth it, said she with a satisfied grin. And a full stomach.

PEANUT BUTTER POPCORN aka Rotten Teeth

ingredients --------

• 1 large bag of popcorn
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

directions ----------

Mix the honey and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Let is simmer for a couple of minutes, then remove from the heat and add the peanut butter.

Stir vigorously until all the peanut butter is melted.

Immediately pour the peanut butter caramel over the popcorn and stir with a long-handled wooden spoon until it’s all coated.

Once it’s mixed you can put it in an appropriately scary serving bowl.

Cover tightly after it’s cooled.

Bon appétit!

BOOOOOOOOOOO

 Halloween is here again to spook us all for one TERRIBLE night.

If you are hard put to dig up new ideas to celebrate this old, old custom, do not despair. Or then again, do despair! It’s the right mood for this celebration after all.

Les us do all the bloody work for you as we offer inspiration to create a truly frightening yet stylish Halloween party.

Here we go with some spooktacular suggestions:

• What about a comfy movie night with your best friends and a bowl of devilish popcorn? (popcorn sprayed with ketchup and nuts)
• Dare to become a chef from Hell with recipes of SPIDER CAKES, SCREAM COOKIES & EYEBALL SOUP. (link)
• Challenge your DIY powers with this creepy-cute tree decked with pumpkins and spider web as a centerpiece or this spidery candle that will light you through a pitch-black night.  (link, link2)
• Create a costume with a simple box and a bit of imagination. (link)
• Tell ghoulish jokes to your friends or total strangers! (link)
• SOUND EFFECTS.

You can record several scary sounds and play it back during the festivities. A very large sheet of poster board or sheet metal makes great thunder. Uncooked rice poured onto a cookie sheet sounds like rain. Crinkle a handful of cellophane for a roaring fire. Snap carrots in half for the sound of breaking bones. To get a good scream you can, well -- scream.

Halloween is one of the year’s biggest holidays for taking pictures – whether snapping shots of that perfect, homemade costume or a panic-inducing fancy dress bought at a shop. So we dare you to send a photo during this week. Photographers of all ages and skill levels are encouraged to submit Halloween-themed photos. The winner of this year’s contest will receive a monster prize… in the flesh.

MUUUUUUHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAMUAHAAHAHAHAHHA MUAHAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA (translation: evil laughter).

And soon to come, loads of photos from the real event. Check out our website and this very blog in the next few days.

HAVE A SPOOKY HALLOWEEN!

 

 

BACK ON THE HORSE

Welcome everyone!

 Yes, it’s that time of the year when summer is still on our heels but growing thin by the second. Even though we reject the idea of going back to duty (school or work or just daily drudgery), we can find the strength to admit it is for our own good.

Once we believe that, it’s almost fun to come back. Hard, tiring, heart-wrenching fun. Let’s smile then. If we have to start all over again, let’s do it with debonair.

So let me welcome all of you. Let me welcome the children, the mothers, the fathers, the grannies and grandpas, the aunties and uncles, the cousins, the friends, the good, the bad and the ugly, the queens and kings who would rather stay late in bed enjoying breakfast on a silver plate, the sporty and brave who have time to go jogging and do the ironing and read the newspaper before 8 o’clock, the busy who push their baby in their prams rushing through streets like racing tracks, welcome to you and to the tanned turtles on the beach, the lazy who couldn’t finish that hundredth book in a row, the blind bats who spent the whole summer watching Lost recaps, welcome to you all.

LCT IDIOMAS is back! So are you. Let’s rejoice.