FN's Ponstastic Christmas Thread part Trois....

[FellatioNelson]

....will be officially open for business on September 24th. I am just firing up the engines and dusting down the control room ready for action in case I forget to do it on the 24th

Do not post yet. Do not. Sit on your hands, ladies.

On your marks........................

lindsell are you making gift tags or decorations with your wooden hearts and trees. I may have to purchase some. We don't have a printer to print off music sheets though. I may have to visit the llibrary and print some there.

Dosey ikea have some brown wrapping paper with music notes printed on to look like sheet music. If you're near an ikea, may be easier than trying to print some?

I'm making decorations - think they're too nice to use for gift tags which are just going to be chucked out.

The tree/heart blanks (and they had other shapes available) could be decorated with something else instead of the music - paint/Christmas stamp/silhouette images/cut out pictures etc - in fact I may have to try some other styles too

Thank you I have very limited imagination so I need ideas

Got my home-made mincemeat in the oven at the moment. The house smells like Christmas!

This is the second year I have lurked on this thread, last year I achieved zilch!

I'm aiming for a least 3 things out of this thread!

What are your top three?

I like the homemade soap idea, and wreaths etc... Any pointers?!

Liddell, glad to have helped. Am very excited about it already- just hoping I don't peak too early

My plan today is to collect Delia book from the library for perusal tonight and maybe purchase a Christmas magazine. I made the mistake of buying good housekeeping in the iPad, but its just not the same

ARGH! I made my rag wreath and it was looking great, I just finished trimming it up and the wire frame snapped
I'm going to have to undo it all now and get another frame.

Off to make banana muffins to south my sorrows.

If I had to give only one poncestastic tip it would be to brine your turkey. I am a complete and total convert. It is sooooooo much better, and so succulent.

We always had to have chicken when I was a child because my father hated turkey.

First Christmas at home alone this year and I'm considering turkey. I would brine it but with only 2 adults, a 5 year old and a super picky 3 year old, I'm not sure I need more than a crown

Fellatio - do you think brining makes an ok bird taste great?
We spent ££££ on a Kelly bronze organic job which was amazingly succulent and lovely. But I don't think with the expense of moving in dec I can justify that much money on a bird!

Well I must admit when I spent a fortune on Kelly bronzes (fellow Essex bird are you? ) I was reluctant to try it as it seemed silly to rick messing around with an expensive turkey, but due to my own drunken incompetence I did cook it way too dry one year.

but now I live somewhere where I can only get frozen mass produced Butterball turkeys and I brined it last year thinking it couldn't possible make it worse and I can honestly say it was the nicest turkey I've ever cooked!

risk not rick

Do you use Nigella's brining technique? Also what do you brine in? Turkeys are huge and I assume they need to be covered?

Fellatio - not Essex just somewhere with a fairly poncy butchers nearby! :)
I think we'll probably end up with something fresh but not a Kelly bronze.

Titsalina - I'm guessing a large (new) bucket (like the cheap that's been scrubbed and had plenty of boiling water sloshed over it should be ok? Or maybe put in some Milton then rinse well?

@fellatio how to you fit a bucket containing a turkey in the fridge?

Sorry mean to say a cheap bucket like in b&q ? Not very poncy tho! :)

I always keep my turkey in the boot of the car on Christmas Eve due to space constraints. I expect one actually needs a thermostatically controlled, walk in, larder cupboard to achieve Poncetasticness.

I keep stuff in the garage in the run up to Christmas. It's sometimes colder in there that my fridge anyway!

I use a bucket with a sealed lid from the wine making section of Wilkinsons. I find it easy to control the temperature as you can always chuck a few ice cubes in to cool the brining solution.

I swear it's easier than the car boot/porch option where you have less control.

My hairy bikers christmas book has arrived

You don't put the bucket in the fridge - you can stand it outside overnight so long as you weigh the lid down with something so foxes don't get it. Or as Al0uise said, in the car, on the doorstep, in an unheated room - anywhere cool.

Voldemort Sorry it's taken a couple of days, here's the chutney recipe I promised:

River Cottage chutney (makes 6-7 500g jars)

1kg marrows or overgrown courgettes
1kg green tomatoes, peeled an diced
500g cooking apples, peeled, cored and diced
00g onions, diced
500g sultanas
500g light soft brown sugar
600ml white wine vinegar
2 tsp dried chill flakes
a pinch of salt

For the spice bag
25g dried ginger pieces
12 cloves
2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds

1. Tie up spice bag ingredients in a spice bag or piece of muslin.
2. Put spice bag and all other ingredients in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.
3. Simmer gently for 2-3 hours, uncovered. Stir occasionally to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

Once in jars leave for 2 weeks, ideally 2 months before using.

I've had a bizarre experience in pickling this week when some garlic slices in a pickle turned bright blue. Dr. Google tells me this is harmless any one else ever seen this happen?

Ha! That reminds me of when I tried to make pear and ginger sorbet. The pears oxidized before my eyes and the whole thing ended up as the most revolting looking dark brown sludge - it looked so awful I couldn't even bring myself to bother putting it in the ice cream machine - I just binned the lot!

Got that Sarah Raven book today and it doesn't bloody have a picture for every recipe or idea. I fucking HATE that. The reason I bought the bastard thing is because I have no imagination, if I had, I wouldn't need her bastard book, would I.