More Kitchen Antics ....

Yesterday morning, I decided that yes - I would make Christmas Puddings.  According to Delia, I'm way behind schedule but hey ho. So there I am yesterday, dutifully following dear Delia's recipe (having had to nip up to the Village Shop for an apple and a bottle of stout - and deciding to forgo the barley wine and add more brandy instead - lol) and putting all the ingredients in the order she prescribed into a big 5 litre mixing bowl.  I didn't use the Kitchen Aid this time and something tells me this was a good move because the pile of dry ingredients in said mixing bowl was mountainous.

Then I got to the stage where you added the eggs and the alcohol - and just like that the liquid started to be absorbed.  After much stirring and huffing and puffing, this was what was in the bowl ....

Once again, it smelt delicious - all that dried fruit, orange and lemon zest, apple and alcohol.  Here I have to say that the stout I bought was made locally and was stunning - in fact I felt a bit 'wey hey' after I finished what was left in the bottle - lol.

Before I went to work this morning, I visited the local hardware store which opens really early.  The visit being necessary to buy 'proper' pudding basins.  Basins purchased and home at lunchtime to steam the puddings for eight hours ...

Then the fun started - which pudding basin was which size.  I say this because they are of a certain make which only measures them in diameter - not literage.  I don't care how wide they are - I need to know how much they hold.  So there I am washing up said bowls and mucking about with a measuring jug - it was like being at playschool - lol.

Having established which ones I was using, I set to - greasing them and spooning yummy mixture in.  I laid buttered greaseproof circles on the top and made a pleated foil covering and then on to the next drama - the string.  I used yards and yards - could I get it right - could I hell.  I sort of did the first one and then promptly forgot how I'd done it when it came to the second.  For someone who is reasonably intelligent, I was a total idiot about this.  One ball of string later and feeling quite bad tempered, I ended up with these ....

They both now look pretty much the same.

Then came the final drama of the evening - saucepan.  I have one really, really big pan with steam holes and a locking lid - ideal.  The next biggest one I have is just a bit to small - not a lot of room to put water in.  So the steaming will have to take place over two days - which is a bit of a pain cos' the kitchen windows are all steamed up and I've had to open one just a fraction - and it's getting cold - lol.  

So I ended up almost two hours behind schedule and won't be going to bed until midnight to give Pudding One Delia's preferred time - 8 hours - and up early to do Pudding Two 'cos I'm off to see The Gorgeous One aka Finly William in his Nativity tomorrow afternoon - Delia might have to make do with what all the other recipes say - six hours - lol.  And now I'm thinking - how do I know if it's cooked?

I phoned my mate from work to share my adventure - and he said 'Wouldn't it have been easier to buy one' - NOT the right answer - lol ....