Fudge...

At the weekend all the Buckets went to a small food and craft fair. It was a lovely day, some of our friends had a stall there and we got back in time for Mr Bucket to see the Grand Prix.

On the way out we stopped at a fudge stall (which was delicious and didn't last long at all). As we were eating Mr Bucket casually said "you should make some of this" to which I naively replied "I think I will".

But first, let's go back....way back.... to about 1990 when I first made fudge - total disaster!!!

The recipe said to use Carnation condensed milk but I didn't read the recipe properly and instead of using a small can I used a big one. So the fudge didn't set, no matter what I did so I eventually put it in the freezer in the hope that it would harden even a little bit.

Nope, didn't seem to work although I started to notice that it wasn't all there, as if someone was sneakily eating it. I finally caught my mum in the act, her head in the freezer and spoon in hand, scoffing it. She said it was delicious and it was....it just wasn't fudge.

Back to now....

I read the recipe VERY carefully, it used Carnation condensed milk (I think I was trying to re-do the original recipe), everything went in the pan. So far so good.

Only it didn't seem to want to get firmer and after stirring it for ages, I fudged the fudge - I added some icing sugar to firm it up, whipped it for ages (my arm was killing me) and put it in a bowl.

And ta-da!!

It's still a bit soft and gooey but I'm getting there - the kids really love it, Miss Bucket wanted it before bed and for breakfast this morning (not a chance).

I'm definitely going to have another go, making sure all measurements are exact and I might even treat myself to a sugar thermometer. We'll see. Sam xx

Turkey...

Following on from my previous post (I'm on a roll now that I'm feeling a bit better), I was just thinking about turkeys.

Yep, that's right, turkeys.

My mum died when I was 20 and she was a good cook. In fact, she was probably more fabulous than I knew. But, unfortunately, I never knew how little time we would have together so I didn't show any attention to how she cooked/baked/made things. Silly, silly me.

I'm not getting into the ins and outs today but because of this and a few other factors, I was the one that was going to be cooking Christmas dinner.

I remember looking in countless cookery books and I can proudly say that the only thing that was a bit iffy was the roast potatoes which eventually were made into mash. But noone complained and the food was completely finished off.

But I'm wandering a bit. I was thinking of some 'small' errors that made some Christmases memorable for all the wrong reasons. I've had a couple of interesting turkey moments:

One year I was defrosting the turkey on the counter. I came downstairs Christmas Eve morning to find a half-gnawed turkey - bite marks on the breast and legs. I should mention that I had a cat at this time, who had decided to help himself although the turkey must have still been rock-hard and I can just imagine him trying to chew on the frozen leg and getting nowhere.

The funniest one though was early on in my cooking experience. I'd let the bird defrost and I went down nice and early Christmas morning to wash my turkey.

Now being quite a novice I still knew that the neck should be removed and the giblet bag taken out. So I pulled the neck out and very pleased with myself, turned the turkey over looking for its bottom end.

THERE WAS NO BOTTOM!!!!

I looked and looked again and I started to panic as I was really worried about the giblets that I knew had to come out. Eventually I figured it out - the skin was just stuck to the turkey. But this took me about an hour to find this out.

I did laugh later.....much, much later. Sam xx

Quiet time...

I'm sitting all by myself tonight.

The kids are in bed, Mr Bucket is in bed too with the start of flu and I'm sitting here looking at the computer with just the Christmas tree decorations for company. It's actually quite nice.

I let the kids decorate the tree this year which was kind of hard for me as I've decorated the family tree since I was a kid (not even my brother or sister got a look-in). It's something I like to do as I like to get all the baubles and little treasures in just the right place (I know, control freak again).

It was hard for me not to interfere and move some of the baubles into better positions but I stopped myself and let them get on with it. The only thing I was really worried about is that a lot of the decorations are really old and from when I was a child (yes, really old!!!) and they might have broke them, accidentally of course.

But they didn't and they were really proud of themselves and the job they did.

And so am I.

Some of the blogs I follow have been showing Christmas songs that they love (yes Anne, I love Michael Buble too) so I thought I'd share one of my favourites.

I love this man's singing and this song always gives me that warm, fuzzy Christmassy feeling. Sam xx



A big bowl of nostalgia

Feeling a bit nostalgic again, don't know why....maybe it's the early nights closing in or the colder weather making me want to snuggle into all things comfortable, including things from the past. Right, where's my cardigan and slippers.

So Sunday I decided to make something that I remember my mum making, although I didn't realise that it took so long to cook - 2 hours. It had better be good!!!

I took the recipe from my Tana Ramsey's Family Kitchen book. It's one of those cookbooks that I could sit and just look at (also like Hairy Bikers).

I was almost tempted just to drink the evaporated milk - I used to love this poured over tinned fruit. And the nutmeg that I need to grate over it gives off gorgeous Christmassy smells.

And it was... Rice Pudding.

My mum used to make hers with sultanas but I've been told by Mr Bucket 'no'. He's a bit of a puritan when it comes to food, I think, and hates to meddle with traditional recipes too much. Maybe I'll make a big bowl of it (with sultanas) for myself next time although, if I eat the WHOLE bowl, I won't be able to eat anything else for the rest of the day.

And here it is...

And the verdict? Welllllll, not great actually.

The first problem was probably my fault as I tried to be a bit frugal and used some pudding rice that was a long way beyond its best before date. But I thought that as it's rice, it would keep fairly well. Obviously not.

I cooked the pudding for the 2 (long) hours and when I went to check there was still loads of liquid sloshing around. Not to be put off, I drained some off and put it back into the oven for a further hour.

The second problem was that it was brown, well a caramel colour actually, due to the nutmeg. Now I didn't mind this too much but unfortunately the kids weren't that impressed and even though Miss Bucket tried some, she still wouldn't budge. I think they have been influenced by the creamy whiteness of Ambrosia creamed rice pots.

So there you are, after all my joking earlier in the post about eating the whole bowl - I may just have to do that. Sam x

Days gone by

I heard a song on the radio and sang along to it, remembering it from when I was younger. Then it hit me - the song was nearly 30 years old!!!! The funny thing is, it sounds better now than it did then for me.

And the song was..... Karma Chameleon by Culture Club

Brilliant song and after the initial shock, I continued to sing along to it merrily.

Then I started to think about other things I remembered from my 'youth':

Silver Jubilee 1977 (yes, I'm the one in the hat eating)

Wagon Wheels

Remember these? Wagon Wheels were absolutely HUGE but like most things have shrunk with age.

And not forgetting...

the haircuts (luckily not too many pictures),

brown clothes (70's) / fluorescent and power dressing (80's) / goth and

Doc Martens (90's)

raleigh chopper (I had a red one, inherited from my brother),

roller boots (rainbow ones),

leg warmers...

Lots of good memories.