Tag Archive for: Christmas

Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth. Part Three. Christmas Brunch.

Last week, in Part Two of Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth,  we decorated the house with gathered grasses and seed heads, and during the cold snap in part one, we made ice art for the front door. This week, we share some Bridge Cottage recipes with you for making your own Christmas morning brunch of home smoked salmon, homemade cream cheese and freshly baked bannocks.

Christmas Needn't Cost the Earth. Christmas Brunch

Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth. Christmas BrunchLast week, in Part Two of ‘Christmas, Needn’t Cost the Earth’, we decorated the house with gathered grasses and seed heads, and during the cold snap in part one, we made ice art for the front door. This week, we share some Bridge Cottage recipes with you for making your own Christmas brunch of home-smoked salmon, homemade cream cheese and freshly baked bannocks. Vegans look away.

We have a family name for a full English, and that’s a Daddy breakfast – the works, sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, but this is known as a Tommy brunch after our eldest son, who loves the tradition of smoked salmon as a treat on Christmas morning. In the past we’ve wrestled with bagels, proving them overnight and popping in a pan of boiling sugar water to glaze and then baking – quite a phaff! This year, we’re going with bannocks. Easy, cheap and quick to make. Of course, had to do a dummy run to get the photos for you and test that all was delicious.

Christmas Needn't Cost the Earth: homemade bannocks for brunch

Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth: homemade bannocks for brunch

The recipe for bannocks, from the Gaelic bannach comes courtesy of Felicity Cloake who writes for the Guardian.

Felicity Cloake – The Perfect Bannocks.

The bannock recipe calls for buttermilk, but we’ve used the runoff we get from our tub of homemade yoghurt. It’s known as acid whey, and if you make your own yoghurt, you can collect this clear yellowy liquid in a jam jar in the fridge. We make a 3-pint tub of yoghurt every week and use any leftover to make soft cheese.

I’ve shared this in what has become a very popular post: Homemade Yoghurt and Soft Cheese.

Soft cheese is so easy – it’s just a case of hanging yoghurt in a piece of muslin overnight and collecting the drips in a bowl. We like it plain with our smoked salmon, but can have added chives

That’s the bannocks and soft cheese took care of, now to smoke our salmon!

As I said, Vegans look away.

Sustainably Sourced Salmon

Sustainably Sourced Salmon

Farmed salmon is getting a lot of bad press now, and quite rightly so in some cases. You might like to look at a more sustainable fish such as mackerel, but we’ve checked carefully and are assured that our salmon comes from a sustainable source. We have a wonderful old-fashioned butcher/fishmonger/veg shop in Haltwhistle, Belly Bell’s. It’s proper old school. Our granddaughter, Daisy loves a trip on the train (it’s only ten mins up the line) to go to Billy Bell’s for a pie. ‘Good old, Billy Bell’ we all chant.

Making fish stock with the salmon head

Making fish stock with the salmon head

With the salmon collected from Billy Bell’s – you might like to get a smaller fillet, half a salmon perhaps rather than a whole fish, we set about preparing it. This is the point at which I leave the kitchen. I’m not happy around fish heads. The only time in my life I’ve ever fainted was in a Spanish fish market when all the gaping fish mouths, and glassy eyes became too much for the pregnant me.

Tim chops the head off and fillets the salmon, putting the head and bones in a pressure cooker to make fish stock which is frozen in bags when cool and saved for a fishy risotto. If you don’t know how to fillet a fish, head over to YouTube and Gordon Ramsey will show you how.

How to fillet salmon by Gordon Ramsey.

Christmas brunch: Salmon fillets

Christmas brunch: Salmon fillets

Next, we decided on what proportion of the fish will be smoked and what will be chopped into fillets to freeze just as they are for the year ahead. It works out so much cheaper than buying individual fillets. And comes with less packaging.

In the summer months, we hot-smoke salmon on the barbeque and this is another option and another post altogether to be written. The method I’m writing about today is for cold smoked salmon.

You can weigh the piece of salmon you’re about to smoke at this stage. This is so you can work out the moisture content before and after curing and how dry your smoked fish is. I’m not a numbers person so don’t really bother with this. I just go by the feel.

Christmas brunch: curing salmon

Christmas brunch: curing salmon

Using the dry salt method to cure, lay your salmon fillet on a thin layer of cooking salt in a non-metallic container, preferably with a lid. Then rub a good handful of salt and soft brown sugar over the top. You can add juniper or fennel seeds if you have any to hand, although as the moisture is drawn out, I’m not convinced as to how much flavour this imparts. We used fennel seeds this year as we had some growing in the garden. You can also add a small amount of white pepper – just a pinch.

Cover and leave your salmon fillet to cure in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Then rinse off the salt and immediately pat dry on a clean tea towel or kitchen paper. Place on a cooling rack so the air reaches the top and underside and leave on a cool place to dry. The outside should look sealed when it is done.

It is at this stage that you can measure your moisture content and repeat the curing process if it isn’t dry enough.

Homemade cold smoker

Homemade cold smoker

You now need two things: a smoke generator and a container with a hole in the top. When we started, we used a strong cardboard box, a wine box, with a punctured hole in the top. Then Tim got clever and used some discarded plywood to build a smoking box. It really is just a box with a door and a hole in the top. He’s put runners in so we can fit three wire cooling racks in. While the salmon is smoking, we add a block of cheap cheddar to make smoked cheese, or chillies or garlic.

Cold smoking coil

Cold smoking coil

The smoke generator isn’t cheap, but it could make a good gift – I bought it for Tim as a Christmas present some years ago from ProQ Smokers. It’s a metal coil container that is filled with sawdust and has a place for a tealight. The coil is placed at the base of the box, with the sawdust burning slowly, with the smoke escaping through a small hole at the top. Tim reckons it takes two rounds of the coil or a few hours, to smoke a large fillet. You then need to leave the fish to mellow overnight. If it’s cool, and another reason why this is a great midwinter make, just leave it in the box outside.

Christmas brunch: cold smoked salmon, bannocks and cream cheese

Christmas brunch: cold smoked salmon, bannocks and cream cheese

All that’s left now is to slice thinly, and once we’ve rushed downstairs to see if ‘he’s been’, and opened our stockings (we’re still very big kids at heart here), then Christmas breakfast brunch can be laid up.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

I’ll leave Tom, of the Tommy brunch fame and his fiancée, Rachel to toast you.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

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Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth. Part 2. Natural Decorations

Natural Decorations

Christmas Needn't Cost the Earth. Natural Decorations

Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth. Natural Decorations

Christmas decorations that are sustainable, homemade and natural have got to be winners in our book, and when they look as good as this Christmas star and are easy to make it’s a no-brainer.

I hear that pampas grass is having a comeback in interior design. I remember when pampas grass in a front garden was code for swingers living there, but we’ll not cast any assertions on our farming neighbour who most generously lets me trim his pampas before winter sets in.

 

Christmas Needn't Cost the Earth. Natural Decorations

Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth. Natural Decorations

I went on a gathering mission earlier in the season and tied bundles in the shed. Gather dried grasses, seed heads and anything you think will look good for decorations when the weather is dry and store them in a dry, cool place ready for use. Make sure you only take what you need, as when the weather gets cold seed heads to provide valuable food for birds.

Natural Christmas decorations

Natural Christmas decorations

We love growing honesty, and its random way of self-seeding guarantees these silver discs are in plentiful supply. We get ours from Ben from Higgledy Garden. Just rub the brown casings off with your thumb and forefinger to reveal the treasure. I love how a small sprig of honesty and a fir cone make this charming little angel. I used a glue gun to stick a ready-made felt ball on top of the fir cone and added either an acorn cup or a small sprig of dried lichen as hair. Suspend with a piece of thread and there you have a very cute, natural tree decoration.

Back to our star!

Natural Christmas decorations

Natural Christmas decorations

The framework for the star is quite simply a block of dry oasis with a garden cane threaded through and then tied onto the window handles. You can experiment in your house to see where it could hang. If it can’t hang, make a standing decoration – place the oasis in a dish and tie it on, taking the string right around the oasis and dish.

Natural Christmas decorations

Natural Christmas decorations

Now it’s just a question of arranging your grasses, teasels and seed heads. I started with teasels to give structure, my memory going back to my mother doing the flower arranging in church. It’s all about balance – Then simply build up your sculpture – make sure you add depth by allowing some to come forwards. The oasis is finally covered using bits of old man’s beard that had gone fluffy in the airing cupboard.

If your finances allow the cost of the electricity, a few soft white lights threaded through to bring this alive at night and make a fantastic window piece. However, it still looks great without the lights.

Easy peasy, making good use of what we have and reducing the drain on our planet’s precious resources.

ice sculpture. natural decorations

ice sculpture. natural decorations

I’ve been loving seeing your ice sculptures. Haven’t we been having the perfect weather for them? It’s forecast to be -8 here tonight. Here’s one from Ann in Northumberland who shared this on Twitter (@suereedwrites) and tells us that she’s getting all her sisters to make them. Apart from the one in Australia!

Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth – Ice Art. 

We are giving lots of homemade gifts this year and Tim has his Papa Elf hat in and is beavering away in the garage, but I can’t tell you what he’s making – walls have ears! I’m off to bottle the sloe gin earlier and boil up some fudge for friends’ gifts – I’ll write more on sustainable gift-giving later. Do let us know what you are making for Christmas, and remember, Christmas really doesn’t need to cost the earth.

 

 

 

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or on our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

You might enjoy some of the writing and ideas in other sections of this website, as we look towards leading more sustainable lives by growing our own food and creating dishes in line with seasonal eating, or head to our handy ‘Month by Month’ guides to find out what we have been doing here at Bridge Cottage as the months go by:

Many thanks for reading.

With Facebook and Instagram algorithms being fickle friends at times, be sure to get all new posts from The Bridge Cottage Way by signing up for the mailing list by this link:

Newsletter sign-up form link.

This will go out four times a year, with the seasons in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We, of course, will not share your details with third parties, and you have the right to unsubscribe at any time.

You can use the link above or the form below to ask us to sign you up for the newsletter, or just a message or comment on this post. We’d love to hear from you!

 

Christmas Needn’t Cost The Earth: Eco-friendly Makes for Yule.

Christmas Needn’t Cost the Earth.

Christmas really does not need to cost the earth. In this article, I’d like to share some eco-friendly ways to decorate your home, welcome guests and make presents without a glimpse of plastic, imported crap or throwaway junk.

Just like the Blue Peter advent crown, I’m going to add to this article a week at a time. There’s far too much to share in one sitting and besides, I’m busy sewing little cerise corduroy frocks for the grandchildren and getting ahead with Christmas baking. Evenings are spent knitting and Tim’s out in the garage like one of Santa’s elves making gifts. Of course, I can’t share these makes with you just yet. Walls have ears you know.

Christmas Ice Sculpture

Christmas Ice Sculpture

Let’s start with this ice sculpture to hang from the front porch, a tree, over a flat balcony, or a railing. It’s easily made and costs nothing apart from a bit of time and freezer energy.

You will need:

  • a tray of some description – a sandwich cake tin would be fine, a foil tray, a tea tray – anything with shallow sides that will withstand being frozen. We have a circular metal tray that’s quite big, but any size will do.
  • Secateurs
  • Garden foliage, greenery and berries
  • Length of string 30-40cm
  • A flat space in the freezer
Christmas Ice Sculpture

Christmas Ice Sculpture

Method

Gather greenery – some berries add colour – and arrange it in your tray or tin.

Add a small length string to the top and lay it so the loop is hanging over the edge. This will freeze in the water and give you a hanging loop

Fill with water and lay flat in the freezer being careful not to spill. You might want to sort out a flat space in your freezer first.

When the weather is frosty, remove it from the tray and hang it outside to welcome your guests into your home. I find running the base of the tray under a cold tap for a couple of minutes is enough to loosen the ice.

Of course, as soon as the weather goes above freezing your ice sculpture will melt. We have the dubious fortune to live in a frost pocket in Northumberland, so ice sculptures tend to last for several weeks!

Tea Light Ice Sculptures

Tea Light Ice Sculptures

Tea Light Sculptures

Another idea is to make tea light holders once using the same method and the bottom 20-30cms of two plastic bottles.

Tea Light Ice Sculptures

Tea Light Ice Sculptures

You’ll need one that is smaller than the other so that when suspended with tape there is a gap at the sides and underneath. See photo.

Then it’s the same as for the tray method – fill the gaps with Christmas greenery and berries, fill with water, leaving the centre cavity clear. This is where your tea light will go. Freeze and then remove them from the plastic bottles before you place them outside on a frosty evening. So pretty!

Tea Light Ice Sculptures

Tea Light Ice Sculptures

 

 

 

 

Let us know how your ice sculptures go or share any inventions on this theme on social media.

Next week we’ll look at natural Christmas decorations from gathered seed heads and grasses.

Part 2 Natural Christmas Decorations

 

 

 

As ever, we’d love you to share your thoughts, either by leaving a comment here or on our social media pages, where this article will be shared.

You can find the Bridge Cottage Way on Facebook Twitter and Instagram.

You might enjoy some of the writing and ideas in other sections of this website, as we look towards leading more sustainable lives by growing our own food and creating dishes in line with seasonal eating, or head to our handy ‘Month by Month’ guides to find out what we have been doing here at Bridge Cottage as the months go by:

Many thanks for reading.

With Facebook and Instagram algorithms being fickle friends at times, be sure to get all new posts from The Bridge Cottage Way by signing up for the mailing list by this link:

Newsletter sign-up form link.

This will go out four times a year, with the seasons in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We, of course, will not share your details with third parties, and you have the right to unsubscribe at any time.

You can use the link above or the form below to ask us to sign you up for the newsletter, or just a message or comment on this post. We’d love to hear from you!

 

Tim & Sue in the Bridge Cottage Way garden