Yesterday I hinted that I was making Christmas Cakes as a throw away at the end of my post. They had just gone in the oven and I was still hurting from all the mixing - as you add more and more chopped fruit, it gets harder and harder to break up the lumps and get it all well mixed in. Then there is getting about 5 pounds of mix into two cake tins that have been lined and padded to avoid burning, and smoothing and damping down the top so you don't get burning and a split cap. Then once in the oven, they need regular turning and checking, but at 8:45pm last night, I decreed them done. Here is one in its tin, before being wrapped and put away to mature.
Today marks the start of my personal New Year, so we went to feed the Boys in the Country and I was able to sow a row of broad beans to provide some food next year. As ever, the soil was claggy and damp, but I am told that broad beans like that and their roots are a good way to break down clay, so we'll see. They did fine last year after all and in a worse bit of soil.
It is a beautiful day here, so we sat out with Fergus and Clause and did some solid Vitamin D capture. We did the same this afternoon with Nibbles and Zola in our garden. The skin on my face feels a bit tight, so we may have slightly overdone the Vitamin D thing, on the other hand, you have to keep Covid at bay somehow! And it would be fun, if a little mad, to say I got sunburn in the garden in late November in north west France!
We sat out in the garden with mugs of The Coffee from Guadeloupe and honey and almond pastries from our Moroccan friends - normally we would go out for a meal, but it's not possible this year, and while I have to cook our dinner (maximum garlic chicken, also known as Béarnaise chicken with mash), the materials I have to work with are wonderful, so it will only be my fault if it's no good!
Personal New Year resolutions? As every year, eat less, drink less, lose weight, do more exercise, eat better, earn a bit of money, be happy, don't sweat the small stuff. Chances of keeping any of them? 50/50 at best!
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