by Leanne Smoliak
Getting ready for the festive season isn’t just about ensuring we have enough Christmas balls and twinkly lights, it’s about planning what we will serve before, on, and after the big day.
We start discussing what we will be making way back in September. We scour magazines and cookbooks—the older, more dog-eared the better—for ideas. Thank goodness we have a big island in the centre of our kitchen because some evenings it is completely covered in research materials. We are not recipe followers by any stretch, but we use the books and mags for ideas, and for the food porn they provide. What will we be having? You will have to wait to find out.
One standby is chicken liver pâté. We make lots and take it to friend’s homes as a host gift. Not everyone appreciates it, but those who do, really do. Put it in a little mason jar with a ribbon and a package of homemade crackers or a slab of dark Christmas cake, and it’s a winner.
Every year we make a different chutney. Some years I make an apple rhubarb chutney if I have frozen some rhubarb. This year I didn’t. We did however freeze lots of blueberries and cherries from our tree; I am thinking this would be a good combo. Equal parts berries, with onion, orange, ginger, mustard, raisins, red pepper flakes, balsamic, honey and perhaps a touch of cardamom. Simmered together on low heat for an hour or so until it is cooked down, has me thinking this will be a fab accompaniment to the pâté or a cheese platter.
Port-marinated Stilton is another great host gift and an impressive offering on a cheese board. Chunk up some good English Stilton and pack it into a small mason jar. Gently pour some decent quality Ruby Port over. Store in the fridge until ready to use (bring out of the fridge an hour prior to serving).
Our grape vines were plentiful this year. We harvested 20 pounds of beautiful purple fruit. We made two litres of grape syrup and I made a dozen jars of pickled grapes. These jars look impressive, and these tart, sweet little bursts of goodness, partnered with cinnamon, pepper and fresh rosemary, taste delicious.
The Smos love mincemeat. We make this in early November and do it the old-fashioned way with suet. If you want to tone it down when making a tart, try adding a dollop of cheesecake mixture on the bottom. Simply mix a softened package of cream cheese, one egg, a quarter cup sugar, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and the zest of one orange. Put two teaspoons on the bottom of an individual tart shell, then fill with the mincemeat. Bake as you normally would. The creamy bottom provides a pleasant surprise. If you want to make a pie, cover the bottom shell with a half inch of the cheesecake filling and top with mincemeat. Bake as you would a mincemeat pie.
This might sound crazy, but we make this year’s Christmas pudding for next year. Brad has been feeding this year’s pudding with rum since last year. It is quite drunk. We use the recipe from St. John in London, simple, but a lot of chopping and stirring.
Christmas baking is streamlined now, shortbread and chocolate ginger cookies. I make many batches of butter and demerara sugar shortbread and people seem to like them. The chocolate ginger cookies are best straight out of the oven. We make dozens and freeze in balls ready for the oven, so when friends drop by, we can pull them out, pop in the oven and serve. The house smells heavenly in a matter of minutes.
We consider the freezer part of the larder. This is Brad’s territory. He spends many hours in November and December making various kinds of verenyky and cabbage rolls. He makes sure that we have lots of good rich stock, both beef and chicken, ready for when we need it.
We stopped giving presents many years ago. Our tree sits happily empty. Frankly, we have too much stuff. We have decided to give what we would normally spend on presents to our charities of choice. We encourage you to think about doing this. It feels great! We do like to take small offerings of food to people’s homes throughout the holidays, perhaps you will find some ideas in this column. Don’t forget the best gift is the gift of love, and it is free.
–Happy Holidays, the Smos
Pickled Grapes
| 6 tight bunches | small purple seedless grapes |
| 2¼ c | apple cider vinegar |
| 1½ | water |
| 1¼ c | sugar |
| 2 | bay leaf |
| ½ t | whole black peppercorns |
| 5 sticks | cinnamon, 3 broken in half |
| 6 sprigs | rosemary |
Wash grapes thoroughly careful to keep the bunches intact. Pack them in 6 small, sanitized mason jars along with ½ cinnamon stick,1 sprig rosemary and 3 peppercorns.
Combine vinegar, water, sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and peppercorns in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Strain the liquid and carefully pour over grapes. Put the lids on the jar and turn upside down on a doubled tea towel until cooled. Store in refrigerator. Pickled grapes will last up to 3 months in the fridge.
Makes 6 jars.