A Little Warm in My Heart.

I've just set up and decorated our tree; I feel ready for winter now.

Isn't it amazing how a little ritual can make such a big difference?

Here are a few more snapshots ...

Have a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Midwinter, Yule or whichever holiday(s) you celebrate!

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Rum Nom Nom...

Isn't it beautiful? The essence of summer captured in a stoneware jar. And what better time of the year to open it and savour the aromas of fruits, herbs and spices. If sunlight had a scent, this would be it!

The journey started last spring, when I got a rumtopf (the jar) from my father-in-law. He wasn't using it himself and thought I might. Not entirely an unselfish gift, I suspect, but much appreciated nonetheless.

I started it in late May with the first strawberries from my parents' garden and a few fresh herbs. In the following months I've added raspberries & more strawberries (both grown by my mum & dad), cherries and plums (from our own trees) and peaches and nectarines (store-bought).

The last batch of raspberries were added mid October, and I've let the rumtopf sit and ripen until now. Well, actually until last night, because we had a sneak peak and a quick taste to avoid disappointment during the grand opening today.

Oh yes, the recipe.

Honesty requires me to admit that I haven't followed any recipe religiously. As is usually the case with any of my kitchen or herbal experiments, the types and amounts of ingredients I've added after the start depended more on instinct and availability than on measured amounts. But that was the original idea behind rumtopf anyway, wasn't it?

The only thing I didn't mess with was the strength of the rum. Not only is that a matter of principle, but you need to get 54% vol. alc. or you risk decay.

Typically rum here is around 40%, so I've added food grade ethanol (94%) to get to the desired 54%.

 

Ingredients:

- 1 vanilla pod (sliced in 2 halves & scraped out)

- 1 sprig of rosemary

- 1 sprig of lemon balm

- rum (I used Havana Club Añejo Especial and a 5 year old Barbados Rum)

- cane sugar

- strawberries

- raspberries

- cherries

- plums

- peaches

- nectarines

Process:

- Use a big vessel. Wash it (I used soda + boiling water), rinse and dry.

- Put the herbs & spices in the pot. I'd strongly recommend adding a vanilla pod. You only detect a hint of it in the final result, but it's one of those little things that makes a difference.

- Choose ripe fruit, but not overripe. It's a matter of balance, really: it has to be ripe enough to be full of flavour, but still firm or it will turn soggy in the alcohol and give an unappealing end result.
I started with strawberries (about 500g) and raspberries (about 250g).

- Wash the fruit and clean it up, cutting out the overripe or damaged parts and removing stalks etc.

- For the 750g of fruit, I used 375g of cane sugar. Pour half of that sugar over the fruit and (carefully!) scoop it under. Try not to damage the fruit. Leave it for an hour and add the rest of the sugar.

- Pour ho-ho a bottle of rum (0,7l) over the fruit. It should be fully covered.
You'll find that some of the types of fruit will float to the top. I used two small plates (that just fit through the opening of the jar) and tried to lower them as level as I could onto the fruit. It never worked perfectly, but at least most of the fruit stayed underneath, and the alcohol should take care of the rest.

- For the consecutive layers, the original recipe(s) recommended adding 500g of a different fruit, 250g of sugar and half a bottle of rum each time, but as I've said above, I've played that more by ear, except for the 54% alcohol. There's no need to peel peaches, nectarines, plums, etc, as the skin softens up in the alcohol and adds an interesting bite.

- It's recommended to keep the rumtopf cool, not cold, and properly sealed. I used cling film and then put the lid on top. The jar got a corner of its own on a shelf in the cellar.

- Usually the last layer is added in October, after which it should sit for a while, to be ready for relishing by the darkest days of the year.

How to serve:

So far, we've only just sampled our rumtopf pure. Great, but be warned: it's bloody strong stuff. We had pink champagne biscuits with them (biscuits roses de Reims) and that was a great match. Who says France & Germany don't mix?

I expect it to taste great on different kinds of desserts: ice cream, frozen yoghurt, cake, cheesecake, pancakes, Belgian waffles, etc. I can imagine the drained fruit is also brilliant for fruit crumbles, pies or trifles and with regular, whipped or coconut cream. Apart from coconut cream, that's all stuff I don't have often, but I think I'm going to have to make a few exceptions here.

We're definitely going to try the liqueur in sparkling wine, white wine and experiment with different cocktails.

A few concluding thoughts:

It's so easy to do, and more fun than I'd anticipated, knowing that you're saving a bit of summer for the times when you'll need it most. Also, the fact that you've 'worked' on it over a period of 6 months, makes it quite special and symbolic.

I have a feeling that, providing you start of with a clean jar, firm fruit and you stick to the minimum alcohol percentage, it can't really go wrong. Mind, as this was my first try, that feeling might not correspond with scientific reality.

I've kept the most important bit for the end: when you serve your rumtopf, don't forget to toast to everything you've harvested over the past year: what you have accomplished, the people you've met, the lessons you've learnt and the joy and wonder you've felt.

Whatever the new year will bring, we'll be stronger to deal with it when we're grateful and aware about what we have right now. Cheers!



Rumtopf and pink champagne biscuits.



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Om Nom Nom... More Inspiration for the Holidays!

A few days of blog silence usually means the novel is going well, and I'm glad to say it is. After a few weeks of rethinking backstory, plot and final outcome, I'm finally writing again. It took some perseverance, but the end result, if I dare say, will be much better for it.

In the past few days, my street, house and garden have turned into a gorgeous cotton candy Winter Wonderland. The darkest time of the year is near, and you can see and feel it everywhere. To compensate, I allow myself a bit of comfort food while I'm huddled up with my laptop in our warm and cosy living room, surrounded by lots of candles.

The sweet treat that - to me - is most typical for this season is gingerbread, in all its forms: there's our Belgian variety called 'peperkoek', there's the French 'pain d'épices' or the German 'Lebkuchen', each with its own particular texture, flavour and aromas.

I actually love the scent of gingerbread more than its taste, and I tend to use the typical spices in many other dishes: apple crumble, nut bread and several types of hot drinks, like tea, hot chocolate and of course mulled wine. It's a great way to make sugar-free (or sugar-reduced) desserts seem just that little bit sweeter.

A few days ago, I found the best gingerbread shape I've ever seen. Seriously, how cute is this:



Photo credit: Megan of notmartha.org


These gingerbread houses were made by Megan of http://www.notmartha.org/, and you can find the full instructions + more gorgeous photographs here.

She's also come up with several variations, like these, with tiny chimneys on snowy rooftops:

Photo credit: Megan of notmartha.org

I'm sure they will require some practice before they'll be anything like the ones on the pictures, but looking at the instructions, it actually looks feasible! And there are so many ways in which you can add your own touch, in the recipe as well as the decorations.

Actually, you can probably make these to fit on a glass of sweet wine as well. Gingerbread would be a great match for a sweet Muscat, a Sauternes, a dessert Riesling or a Macvin du Jura!

My heartfelt thanks to Megan for this great idea and the kind photo permission.

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Ideas for the Holidays - party themes!

Have you considered throwing a themed Midwinter, Christmas or New Year's Eve party?

Just in case, I've collected a few ideas for you:

- For aspiring writers (or accomplished authors - we're inclusive here): write your own paranormal, period or murder mystery scenario, get a few of your friends or family enlisted as actors, ask your guests to dress the part and host your very own Mystery Party.

- Tattoo chic. The tattoos can be real, but don't have to be. This party will however require heavy rock music for that little something extra! Can you think of ways to tattoo your food and drinks?

One of the gypsy caravans at our wedding
Picture (c) Dirk De Kegel

- Go Gypsy! Find some Django Reinhardt, Rosenberg Trio or Fapy Lapertin Quintet music, lots of candles, fringed shawls, colourful quilts, rugs and pillows, tarot cards and - why not - a gypsy caravan. Lots of inspiration in the links in this previous article or directly at Jeanne Bayol's website.

- Nerdy board games. Dress up like nerds and bring out the dice! Pick games that don't take too long to explain, and keep a few simple kids' games as backup for the wee hours' buffoonery...

- Pick your favourite book, film, computer game, fairytale or TV show and ask your guests to be one of the characters for the evening. More fun ensured if they act accordingly!
A few book suggestions: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Alice in Wonderland, Animal Farm, The Picture of Dorian Gray or anything by Terry Pratchett.
On screen: e.g. Ghostbusters, Will and Grace, Jurassic Park, Toy Story, X-Men or True Blood. Be aware that if you pick Pirates of the Caribbean you're likely to end up with a party full of Jack Sparrows.

- Polka Dot Party! It might be the perfect opportunity to wear that itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow bikini!

- Choose a funky colour and get creative with your decoration, clothes, food and drinks. As an extra challenge: ban artificial food colourings!

- A missed opportunities party where everybody dresses up in the work outfit of who their child-selves wanted to be when they grew up. It's bound to spark interesting conversation and a lot of 'Well, that didn't work out, did it's!

- Or you could ignore winter altogether and have an indoor tropical party. Maybe you can rent a local pool, sauna or wellness center and with the right music and a well-stocked cocktail bar, you'll imagine yourself in the Caribbean in no time!

Here are a few more classics:

• Tacky Tourist party
• Tarts & Vicars (as featured in Bridget Jones)
• Arthur's Court of Camelot (or Round Table), possibly in the Monty Python version.
• Cyberpunk
• And of course: Pirates and Ninjas!

I'm still considering whether it would be a good idea to organise a musical party, where your guests would promise to sing at least a third of the conversation. It sounds like fun in theory, but the reality of it might be a boiled down version of hell.

Do you want to share some of your favourite party ideas with us?

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Ideas for the Holidays.

Amazing how time flies... we're nearly halfway into November! Less than a month from now, many of us will be preparing for the holidays and thinking about presents to put under the Christmas / Yule / Hanukkah tree.
In order to get myself in the right mindset, in the next couple of weeks I'm going to try and post a bunch of party, decoration, food & drink and gift ideas.

(c) christmasstockimages.com

First of all: the tree. I have to admit: I love the smell of a real tree. Still, I hate the thought of slaying it just to decorate the house for a while.
Therefore, many years ago, I decided to buy a tree with roots and plant it out in the garden afterwards for reuse the next year. Unfortunately that didn't work out. By the time I got around to putting it outside, it was too far gone.

After three years of miserable failure, I finally succeeded to save one. I planted it in my herb garden (where it really didn't fit in), didn't dig it out for the following holiday seasons and eventually moved it to another part of the garden where it died anyway. In my defense, I did cut it up and compost it.

In the meantime I've found a compromise: I wait until a couple of days before Christmas, when all normal people have long got their tree and the only ones left are the poor little ugly trees nobody wanted. That's when I come in, a superhero with wool mittens, offering that little, despairing, cut-down tree an opportunity to fulfil its final purpose: to bring beauty and joy to a living room. And every year I'm surprised what a bit of careful pruning, lots of sparkly lights and lavish gold-coloured decoration can achieve.

But as perceivers go (another not-so-covert MBTI reference), I'm always open to consider alternatives for the classic tree, and a few of these certainly hold potential:

Last year, on a champagne tasting trip to France, I saw this at the Mercier house:

Wouldn't that make a brilliant, bubbling Christmas tree? I swear, if anyone wants to get me one of those, I'll take good care of it! I might even share.

Just in case you're not a millionaire, here are a few other, more budget friendly suggestions:

A tree made with your favourite chocolates:

Or your best-loved books:

And I just love these:

• My absolute favourite from All the luck in the world.
• Actually, this sushi tree might be even better, if you don't mind having to make a new one each day. Great idea for a seasonal party though!
• Clever Karen's vintage card tree.
• The wooden possibiliTree®: a frame you can decorate any which way you like.
• Get creative with the content of your bookshelves and see how observant your visitors are.
• Got a hammer and nails? Find a couple of pieces of wood to recycle and make one of these, or get one at Wood & Wool Stool.

And now for something completely different, but not entirely: if you'd consider getting someone a pet for a present, see how to wrap it below. Buffoonery, I say!

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