Sunday 17 November 2019

Sunday

Good morning.  I'm up with the lark today which means that I have plenty of time before Open House starts at two and no need for any panic - not that I would anyway as all is ready apart from shifting one chair and getting the coffee making stuff ready.

I made some flapjacks first thing yesterday.  It's a remarkably simple recipe (like all flapjacks really) and comes from a book that means a lot to me.

While I was off at college, my mum, being new into the area, got involved in some social 'helping out' kind of stuff as soon as she got her driving licence.  One of the things she did was drive people to and from the local hospital, either for appointments or to visit loved ones.  She regularly took one elderly gentleman there and back to visit his very poorly wife for quite a while and got to know him quite well so he heard all about the arrangements for my forthcoming wedding, etc.

When his wife passed on, he gave Mum one of her old cookery books, saying that it was for me because she had said it was the best book for a new wife to have (in the days before Delia, of course).  That book was the 'Good Housekeeping's Cookery Compendium', actually three Good Housekeeping books in one:  Basic Cookery, Picture Cookery and Cake Making.  It was in a 'used' state then but that made no difference and it's been used by me quite a lot since.  It's a bit dated now (it's as old as I am) but there are still some great recipes and the demerara flapjack recipe is one of them.  Mum used
 the same recipe too.

So it was rather lovely using the recipe again yesterday - and the flapjacks it makes are always lovely!

I was rootling through the freezer yesterday and, to my delight, found some puff pastry that I forgot was there.  That means I won't have to buy any to make Delia's vegetarian sausage rolls, another family tradition.  We like them better than the meat ones.
Here's the recipe but forget about making the pastry unless you really, really want to.  Even St Delia said 'use shop bought puff pastry'.  The filling is wonderful;.
https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/vegetarian-food/vegetarian-sausage-rolls

I've started my list of Things To Do on my scheduled Christmas Prep Day.  It's going to be long so I'll do some stuff beforehand, I think, keeping the real fun stuff for that day.

Beth and I worked hard to get downstairs ready for this afternoon.  Here's a few photos.

 Bags galore.
 Lovely cot quilts watched over by four cute mice.
 Prehugged dolls and lots and lots of clothes plus felt Christmas tree decorations.
 Loadsa cushions.
And two boxes of Christmas cards.


















Lovely home made biscuits . . .





And a comfortable area to sit and chat in between biscuits.














How I hope people will come.  xx

14 comments:

  1. Everything looks wonderful, I'm as always in awe of the creativity you and Beth both display. Sadly my gifts only extend to admiring the results of your hard work!

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    1. Thanks, Chrissie. It represents a lot of hard work from Beth.
      xx

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  2. Oh my word, you've both worked SO hard! As long as plenty of people come, Beth will have no trouble selling lots of her stuff....it's all just so beautiful, and so beautifully made. Your biscuits look wonderful, Joy. How lovely to have been gifted that precious book. I hope the afternoon is a success, I'm quite sure it will be - if I lived nearby I'd be there buying! xx

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    1. It really means a lot to me, that book.
      And thanks. Fingers crossed, eh?
      xx

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  3. Wow, that all looks so good, I hope you have crowds visiting and buying

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    1. and I forgot to say thank you for that chocolate/malty drink mix idea it will feature in my hamper gifts I think.

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    2. It really is a delicious chocolate drink and should make a lovely hamper addition.
      xx

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  4. Good luck today. I hope you have lots of lovely buyers!

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    1. Thanks, Ali. I'm feeling just a bit nervous but there's three hours to go still before the door opens!
      xx

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  5. It all looks so very welcoming. I hope it's gone well for you both. I might just have to try the sausage roll recipe this week. X

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    1. I hope you love it as much as we all do. It's so delicious!
      xx

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  6. I'm a bit late in commenting so I'll say that I hope the sale went well and you had lots of people turn up. xx

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  7. Wow that looks wonderful! Thanks for the vegetarian sausage roll recipe! I might just try that. I hope all your hard work paid off!

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