Has anyone started to make their cake, mincemeat or puddings yet?

Made a start yesterday & made mincemeat as I have so many cooking apples at the moment & the receipe that I use from Delia's Christmas requires a fair amount of apple. Daughter loved tipping all the ingredients into the bowl & stirring everything.

As have both school & church Christmas fayre coming up decided to make small Christmas cake for both of them which can be used as either raffle prize or guess the weight of the cake competition. Fruit now soaking in brandy for a couple of days.

Also going to have a go at making mini Christmas cakes to sell at both events. Have asked everyone to buy small cans of baked beans as I need 10 tins to make a batch of cakes & there are only so many beans that I can expect hubby & daughter to eat over the next few weeks!!!

For the first time since my husband & I have been together we will be spending Christmas without friends & visiting family.

At last a chance to create a really special meal for just me, hubby & daughter, rather than feeding the masses!!

Whatever I choose mustn't involve loads of leftovers as we will be off to the Isle of Wight for a weeks break on Boxing Day.

We have planned to have our "traditional" Christmas dinner once we get to the IOW & I will be taking Christmas pudding, mincepies etc with me, buying something suitable on the meat front when we get there.

Any ideas for our meal on Christmas Day will be gratefully received.

A couple of years I would definately followed your advice, however the farmer now runs a shoot in the fields adjoining our property. Not content with having acres of fields to roam about in, a number of pheasants & partridges have decided that our garden is the spot for them. As a result I just can't face eating game birds. I know its illogical & they have a great life & as the skills of the so called "guns" seem to be rather limited they have a fairly sporting chance of surviving over the next few months, but I just can't do it.

Indeed both the farmer & game keeper have offered me brace of birds but I have declined. Yet when I lived in Hampshire & had a friend who was a beater I regularly received pheasants & had to dress them myself - in the cold outside on the patio with a bin liner between my legs!!

Think therefore I might opt for lobster as a starter, duck breasts for mains & a Baileys pudding that the "domestic goddess in training" has featured on her blog. Might try the guiness christmas pudding that she has also included.

Fleurblanc x 

Have to say that my Christmas cooking does seem to centre around Delia Smith's Christmas. I have tried various cake receipes over the years but always go back to her classic christmas cake receipe. Have also made her creole cake which is just heavenly if you like a cake without the marizpan & icing. Also use her easy mincemeat as I find that by heating the mincemeat before storing does mean that it doesn't ferment or go mouldy which has happened with other receipes that I have tried. I usually also go for her Christmas pudding but thought I might try the guiness christmas pudding that is on the "domestic goddess in training " blog. She has also included some lovely Christmas tree biscuit decorations that I thought would sell well at the school Christmas fayre. Have checked & the cake & mincemeat are on delia's website. Didn't realise that she is bringing out an updated version of her Christmas book. Might get hubby to get it for me as my current copy is rather dogearred & this is the second one that I'm on so can tell how much i use these receipes at Christmas!!!