It is finally feeling and looking a lot like Christmas. This morning I awoke to the wonderful vision of snowflakes falling outside my window…IN TEXAS!!! No, it didn’t stick, but I did manage to take a couple of pictures of the snow which had settled on the roof and shrubs. And then – POOF!! – it was gone, just like that! Oh, well! I was at least able to make the first fire of the season in our fireplace tonight…it crackles at my feet as I type. And I have a tradition of drinking a Manhattan with the first fire of the season, so I did that instead of roasting chestnuts on the open fire. One, I did not have chestnuts. Two, I did have bourbon and vermouth…
Last night I made 2 of my 3 batches of fruitcakes…tonight I will bake the final batch. Each recipe yields 12 small fruitcakes. I will let them dry out for a couple of days, and then I will ‘marinate’ them with a sugar syrup/bourbon/Grand Marnier mixture. It will take a good 3 weeks for them to ‘cure’ and then those babies are ready to eat!
I am a bit ahead of schedule this year with my decorating and Christmas shopping due to our upcoming London trip. This has been one of the busiest seasons I remember, but I have most of my tasks out of the way and can (hopefully)thoroughly enjoy London and the rest of the holiday season. I’ll have to remember to do this again next year…