Its that time of year

I wish everyone who reads this a super Christmas if they celebrate it,  and a Happy New Year, and I will be back in January. Most people I know will be busy at this time of the year so my entry today will be minimal, and just includes an observation at the end and  3 simplest ever festive recipes to help use the inevitable surplus from the traditional foods most buy at this time of year.

1) Choccy fruit

2) Orange Date and Carrot Salad

3) Stuffed Dates

4)  The coming festivities

1) CHOCCY FRUIT

Simplest way of creating a sweet everyone will want and welcome change from Christmas Pudding

You need: 1 block of decent dark chocolate

Segments of tangerines/satusmas/grapes/bananas of whatever comes to hand.

Carefully melt the chocolate in microwave or on stove top, and dip at least half of each piece of fruit in the melted chocolate.  Even immerse it and retrieve with a spoon. Place the fruit on non stick paper on a plate and put in the fridge to set. Of course there are some people who will never actually get it into the fridge as they cannot resist the temptation to try them immediately.  

2) ORANGE DATE AND CARROT SALAD

Ingredients:

Half of a crisp lettuce shredded (Iceberg will do – but don't expect me think what to do with the other half!)

2 carrots - grated

2 oranges – peeled and segmented – messy but unavoidable

4 oz dates – stoned and chopped (if you don't take the stones out first it will play havoc with your kitchen knife)

Some shelled walnuts would be a nice addition if to hand

Dressing:

2 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

Now don't panic because you can get this from the chemist – 1 tbs rosewater. Actually the chemist won't sell you 1 tbs you will have to buy a bottle.

Combine lettuce, carrot, oranges and dates

Combine ingredients for the dressing and sprinkle the dressing over the salad. I mean sprinkle, this salad does not need to be drenched to make it palatable. It is very aromatic.

3) STUFFED DATES

You need all the dates that haven’t been eaten, and a block of marzipan.

Just remove the stone from each date and replace it with a piece of marzipan

4) THE COMING FESTIVITIES

It was with interest  that I read on a blog I follow: http://musingsofaseniledelinquent.blogspot.com/   the entry “I don’t really “do” Christmas, because  as my friends know I also don’t “do” Christmas.  I have become disillusioned with the commercialism and the fact that the reason for the festival has become lost in a materialistic overkill.  I do not begrudge anyone a really happy Christmas, but it is with immense relief that I have “opted out” and am no longer on the stressful treadmill that this time of year had bought.