HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2018

Today is Christmas Day, Have a Joyful Day.   I hope you have a delighted celebration with your family and friends. Wishing You All for a Merry and Happy Christmas.
Love and Peace to You.

The best time of the year, the family gets together, to catch up, to Celebrate Christmas by sharing and feasting. Enjoy each other company, take care of love.
 Happy Feasting Everyone!

Peace, Joy and Hope this Christmas and for the coming year.


Have a Joyful Day and Wonderful Day!
Susy

The Season

Christmas Time

Wishing you a happy season, It is a joyful time, to be busy, to care for family and think of others.


At Home
This is what has been happening in my house since early this month, the Christmas Tree is up, the kitchen is life, the garden is celebrating too, beautiful flowers, the fruit trees are laden with the fruit, and the herbs now at their best.

Cooking and Sharing.

 Catching up with friends

Delicious dishes to be created.

The fancy Sponge cake was prepared for a pleasant Sunday afternoon.  Baked cookie for dear friends.

White chocolate, macadamia
cookie dressed with cherries

Pandan Sponge topped with meringue, raspberries, cherry and mango.

 Pretty savoury - rice rolls to share, it was good, even though Rayner was not sure if people would take it.  Rice is the main staple of Javanese people, my heritage. I understand if other people won't like it.

The yellow Graham Thomas rose has the pinkish edging, a big question hereFrom herbs,

flowers, to seedlings. They celebrate the season too.

Meat for The Feast.  Well prepared and ready to reheat for the Christmas Celebration.  Suggest, meat fillet-Turkey or chicken.  Cooking technique 'poaching.'

Other ingredients
have to be prepared is the mousse, to add extra texture chopped almonds and pistachio

Herbs: rosemary and bay leaves

After poaching, leaf it cold in the pot, then wrap it up with foil, keep in an airtight container ready for freezing.  Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before reheat to serve at room temperature.

Frozen Turkey or Duck have to be defrosted in the refrigerator for two nights, before cooking.  If you are lucky enough to get fresh duck or turkey, please get them.  It is easier to work with.

All activities are celebrated during the season, shopping, cleaning, cooking, creating and preparing lovely gifts, decorating the house, and so forth. But don't forget to get in touch with people,  visiting friends who are alone, especially the elderly, we have to make the time.  Stop from being busy, and just do it.  I am glad that I did it.

Have a Beautiful Season.
We all love to do the best, everything has to be perfect, and hopping on the big day is going to be a success.  Keep up the good spirit, and I hope you all are having a lovely time and enjoying the festivity.

Thank you for visiting my blog 

Susy

LAYERS

Layer Upon Layer.

You may remember the Danish pastry advertisement, about the beautiful Pastry-roll it, and roll it again, layer upon layer and so forth.  It's very catchy, I must say.  Here, I am sharing my cooking, which is using the technique of layering.  It could be for my savoury dishes and also the sweet but not always using the pastry.

Meat Loaf Wrapped in Silverbeets-Susy's Way

Mincemeat, nuts, spices and diced chicken

Layering the terrine dish with blanched silverbeet

Filling the dish, first layer-the mincemeat, chicken in the middle
and the last layer is the rest of the spiced minced

Cover the top with the silverbeets to enclose the filling

Beautiful layer Meatloaf

The Meatloaf Wrapped in Silverbeets-Freshly Baked

How good is that, the layer of meatloaf looks lovely.

It's served hot or room temperature, it's ideal for a picnic or served outdoor with garnishes for a pleasant luncheon.

Another variation, fill layers of sauteed mushrooms and carrots for a delicious vegetarian dish.

Feta Creamy Cheese

Savoury bread pudding with Feta Cheese.

A rustic looking savoury pudding-sliced bread pudding with Feta Cheese.

A very versatile cheese Feta is.  Delicious to serve with bread, olive and other small good, but it is tasty to cook as well.  Feta and spinach pie is very popular, it's based on Greek cooking.  Feta cheese served with fresh fig, or dried fig is delicious. Today I am sharing with you the baking of a new dish. Delicious pudding using bread with fig and top it with a layer of creamy Feta cheese and egg.  Indeed it was fun baking and successfully created the dish.

Sweets
Water pastry, an excellent pastry I always make myself.  A day of stay in, water pastry was prepared and baked the fruit strudel successfully.  Apple was not the filling but pineapple instead and to add the pineapple jam which is my homemade, and to stabilise the mixture of the strudel was added some almond meal. The light and the sweet, flaky pastry was the delight of our afternoon tea.

Roll the pastry to make a thin pastry sheet, place the pineapple mixture along on the sheet, cover with the edge of the pastry, and roll it over and over, brush with melted butter in between, this way, you have layers of pastry and when it's baked, you have a light, thin and flaky crispy past.

Look at this pastry, thin, so flaky, layer upon layer, and very light to touch, delicious to taste.

Look the water pastry recipe on an older post!


Bread and butter pudding is evident that it is made out of layer upon layer of bread, butter, dried fruits and egg mixture.  Make the best out of yesterday bread, add the best ingredients to get a decadent pudding.

The preparation of bread and butter pudding is done, and now they are ready to be baked in the oven.

Lapis Legit:  Layer Cake with 12 eggs to make ten thin and delicate layers

Baking the cake by using both the oven and the grill at the same times.  It can be sixteen layers for one cake.  It is a famous cake in Indonesia, the cake based on Speckoek Dutch cake.

Sliced Layer Cake

It was a long time ago to bake this delicate and delicious layer cake; eventually, I would do it again one day.  It is very challenging.

In Java, the spekook or the lapis legit (spiced layer cake) is very popular.  Serve at the weddings or for Sunday best.

Cake or savoury with lots of layers is excellent, the dish looks attractive, and beautiful and also appetising.  Give it a try for this season.
There is no recipe here to follow, lots of ideas, though, do your own, be creative.  I am sure it is fun.

The end of the year is almost here, we are preparing for the big celebrations  Christmas and the New Year.  I understand most of us to watch out for the food taking to avoid overeating.  November is the best time to start to cut down, no food between meals and to focus for the big day.  One has already ten-kilogram overweight, that is no need to indulge oneself.  I observed to my family and friends, they have been doing just that, no extra food to take.

No, we do not to be on a diet, enjoy the delicious food accordingly.

Midweek Post

Susy.