Monday

 Good morning, everyone.  It's a cold and frosty start to the day and I was glad to get back inside after taking the Christmas Pudding to the freezer!  Maybe that means another sunny day like yesterday which was gorgeous here.  Very cheering!

Well, Stir Up Sunday lived up to its name here.  I'd set the fruit to soak in Cointreau (not so fond of brandy or rum) on Saturday and I got all the other ingredients together because that's what one is supposed to do, not that I usually follow that rule. 

 After our gourmet lunch of beans on toast, Beth and I did the necessary and here they are, steaming happily.  This was the bit I was most worried about as I've not steamed a pud before although I am very familiar with steaming veg.  I was reassured by a Good Housekeeping online article that said it's actually very hard to over cook a steamed pud.

I had difficulty finding pans that were tall enough.  In the end the larger pud went in the Instant Pot bowl and three little ones fitted nicely in my everyday steamer. something I bought for a fiver ages and ages ago in Matalan and have used regularly since.

And here are the little puds cooled and out of their containers.

The recipe I used was from BBC Good Food magazine, lighter than a conventional pudding, no suet, just breadcrumbs, but it was much easier to do than I had expected and, of course, we both stirred and wished and although we didn't share our wishes, I wouldn't be surprised if they were much the same.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lighter-christmas-pudding

They all smell absolutely amazing!  We will be taste testing one diddy one next weekend (of course) while the others have been carefully wrapped and are now in the freezer as the instructions say keep in a cool dark place for two weeks or in the freezer for three months.

I finished the owly cross stitch yesterday too.  It's very cute; there are a few mistakes but not many and you can't tell unless you know what they are.  I have found my Christmas blog banner, I think.

I'll see if I can take a better photo, with better lighting but, if not, this will be fine.  

I've started the next one now which isn't hard but will take considerably longer.

Today there's two main events, both Zoom related.

The first is an online intro to the most up to date Thermomix.  Yes, I have one but they've updated it and there are loads of new features.  Do I need one?  Of course not.  Do I want one - yup, to my shame.

I can't remember if I said at the time but a while ago now, not long after my gall bladder op, Dave and Beth were round here having coffee and they both spoke very seriously about how I ought to start treating myself a bit more and to 'spend the inheritance'.  It's ended up as a standing joke now - I tell them I've spent more of their inheritance and they both say 'good!'.

Since then, I've made a bit of a dent in the lump sum I got when I retired and, if I do get a new machine, it'll be a slightly bigger dent!
Anyway - after that attempt at self-justification - it will be really nice to see Leonie again and to learn about the new features and so on.

Then, Monday is Chat with Dad day.  That will be later in the afternoon and fingers crossed for the technology.  I'm looking forward to that very much.  

Those two events, plus the usual housework, cooking, etc, should fill the day very pleasantly, I think.  I'm looking forward to it.

Enjoy your day too - stay safe and well.  xx