A Traditional Scandinavian Christmas Recipe by A.M.Westerling

 

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2022! May you have time today to sit down and relax with loved ones. 

Every family has their favourite traditions and I'd like to share one of ours. My husband is Danish and this is one of the fun little customs we keep going. We eat our turkey dinner on Christmas Eve and serve rice pudding for dessert. 

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Danish Rice Pudding

1 cup pearl rice

5 cups milk

¼ cup sugar

½ cup slivered almonds

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups whipping cream

Cherry Sauce

 Boil rice in milk over low heat 45 minutes. Cool, then add sugar, almonds and almond extract. Whip cream until stiff and fold into rice mixture. Chill. Turn into bowl and top with Cherry Sauce or spoon into individual dessert dishes and top with sauce. Makes about 12 servings.

 Cherry Sauce

1 16 ounce can dark sweet cherries.

1 teaspoon cornstarch

 Reserve about 1 teaspoon cherry liquid. Turn remaining liquid and cherries into saucepan and heat to boiling. Blend cornstarch with reserved liquid and stir into boiling mixture. Cook and stir until well blended, then cool sauce and chill.

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Now here comes the fun part. Place a whole almond in the pudding and whoever gets the whole almond wins a little prize, usually a marzipan pig. As our family has grown, I now use 2 almonds. But everyone wants to win a coveted pig! Good luck!

How about Evelyn's Beau, a Christmas novella to read and enjoy when you have a moment to put up your feet? 

As a favour to the local vicar, Lady Evelyn Kendall agrees to organize a Christmas pageant involving disadvantaged children, never realizing it would lead to disaster for both her and Lord Oliver Harrington, the man she loves.

Available at your favourite online store HERE. Prefer print? Find that on Amazon.

Find all my books on my page at the BWL Publishing website.

How About a Bird Bath by A.M. Westerling

If you’ve been following my posts, you know I’ve been blogging about the flowers we grow in our garden. This time, I thought I’d talk about another lovely feature – the small pond we have on our back patio that the birds really love. It’s positioned below a Mugo pine so it’s easy for them to hop onto the bar and dip their heads to reach the trickling water. 

The majority of our visitors are sparrows and once we had five of them lined up at the same time! We’ve had chickadees, robins, (both pictured below) and more exotics such as nuthatches and finches. 

The largest bird we’ve had was a magpie that bathed itself and left a heck of a mess behind. We’ve even had squirrels drink from it – the birds didn’t seem to mind sharing. They’re very polite too, waiting their turn in the Mugo. I’ve taken to putting out a smaller dish in early spring until it’s time to take out the larger one as the birds remember where the water is and they come looking for it.   

Our bird bath seems to attract as many birds as a feeder would and it’s a lot less messy! I of course add water every day and my husband will regularly replace the water or add a shock of chlorine to clean it. It’s important to keep the water clean as birds will poop in it. As they get heavier either by bathing or drinking, they instinctively get rid of any useless weight which makes them more efficient flyers.

 We’ve put rocks in it so the birds have a place to stand although they seem to like drinking directly from the fountain feature. As it turns out, birds love dripping water and find the sight and sound of moving irresistible. Also, it’s best to keep the bird bath out of direct sun so the water doesn’t get too hot or evaporate too quickly. Anything can work as a bird bath really, as long as it's not too deep. Or if it is, put lots of rocks in it as we have done. 

Okay, this has nothing to do with bird baths but the trees in our yard attract a lot of other birds, including this peregrine falcon feeding on a robin on the lower branch of our blue spruce several years ago. We live close to downtown - sometimes they nest on the office buildings. Sorry for the picture quality, I took it with my phone as I didn’t want to run into the house to get the camera.

 

I really enjoy bird watching and you’ll find I mention birds of some sort or other in all my books

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Find all my books on the BWL Publishing website HERE. 

My latest release is Leah's Surrender, Book 2 of The Ladies of Harrington House Regency romance series.

Cornish Pasty - A Meal for the Miners by A.M. Westerling

 Today I’m sharing a classic British recipe that originated in Cornwall, the setting for my Regency romance series entitled The Ladies of Harrington House. I'm currently working on the third book Catherine's Passion and the hero in it, Lord Julian Fitzgerald, is reopening a tin mine. It’s thought the pasty originated as a convenient meal for Cornish miners who were unable to return to the surface at lunch time. Their hands would be dirty but the pasty could be held easily by the crust and provided a hearty meal.

Picture from the Spruce Eats website

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 Recipe found here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/classic_cornish_pasty_67037

 

Ingredients

For the pastry

·         5  500g/1lb 1oz strong bread flour

·          120g/4oz vegetable shortening or suet

·         11 tsp salt

·         25g/1oz margarine or butter

·         175ml/6fl oz cold water

·         1 free-range egg, beaten with a little salt (for glazing)

For the filling

·         350g/12oz good-quality beef skirt, rump steak or braising steak

·         350g/12oz waxy potatoes

·         200g/7oz swede/turnip

·         175g/6oz onions

·         ssalt and freshly ground black pepper

·         knob of butter or margarine

 

Method

1.    TTip the flour into the bowl and add the shortening, a pinch of salt, the margarine or butter and all of the water.

2.    Use a spoon to gently combine the ingredients. Then use your hands to crush everything together, bringing the ingredients together as a fairly dry dough.

3.    Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface (there’s no need to put flour or oil onto the surface because it’s a tight rather than sticky dough).

4.    Knead the dough to combine the ingredients properly. Use the heel of your hand to stretch the dough. Roll it back up into a ball, then turn it, stretch and roll it up again. Repeat this process for about 5-6 minutes. The dough will start to become smooth as the shortening breaks down. If the dough feels grainy, keep working it until it’s smooth and glossy. Don’t be afraid to be rough – you’ll need to use lots of pressure and work the dough vigorously to get the best results.

5.    When the dough is smooth, wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for 30–60 minutes.

6.    While the dough is resting, peel and cut the potato, swede and onion into cubes about 1cm/½in square. Cut the beef into similar sized chunks. Put all four ingredients into a bowl and mix. Season well with salt and some freshly ground black pepper, then put the filling to one side until the dough is ready.

7.    Lightly grease a baking tray with margarine (or butter) and line with baking or silicone paper (not greaseproof).

8.    Preheat the oven to 170C (150C fan assisted)/325F/Gas 3.

9.    Once the dough has had time to relax, take it out of the fridge. The margarine or butter will have chilled, giving you a tight dough. Divide the dough into four equal-sized pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a disc roughly 25cm/10in wide (roughly the same size as a dinner plate).

10. Spoon a quarter of the filling onto each disc. Spread the filling on one half of the disc, leaving the other half clear. Put a knob of butter or margarine on top of the filling.

11. Carefully fold the pastry over, join the edges and push with your fingers to seal. Crimp the edge to make sure the filling is held inside – either by using a fork, or by making small twists along the sealed edge. Traditionally Cornish pasties have around 20 crimps. When you’ve crimped along the edge, fold the end corners underneath.

12.  Put the pasties onto the baking tray and brush the top of each pasty with the egg and salt mixture. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 45 minutes or until the pasties are golden-brown. If your pasties aren't browning, increase the oven temperature by 10C/25F for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.

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Now that you’ve made your pasties, munch on one while you’re reading the first two books in the series, Sophie's Choice and Leah's Surrender, available on the BWL Publishing website HERE.

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Pleasing Petunias by A.M. Westerling

 

Petunias are some of the most popular bedding out plants and are considered an annual in most areas. I buy them every year as they’re easy to grow, bloom all summer and come in a variety of colours. Mind you, the first year I planted them I had no idea what to do with them so I didn’t pinch them. I ended up with 2 foot long stems with a single bloom at the end! One of my favourite varieties is Wave (pictured below) but pretty much any variety you buy will do nicely. On our front steps we have two barrels, it's a hot and sunny spot, just perfect for petunias. In the past I've leaned towards shades of purple but this year I've gone with red and white.

  

Petunias are South American in origin and the Mayans and Incans believed that the odor of these flowers had the power to chase away underworld spirits and monsters. According to folklore, these flowering plants thrive where there is positive energy and will not grow where there is negativity. If given as a gift, they have two meanings: either the giver is comfortable with someone or conversely, they also represent anger and resentment. I couldn’t find any medicinal purposes for petunias so I suppose their beauty could be considered food for the soul. My local Home Depot had these gems one year but I haven't seen this unusual colour since.   

                        

You can plant petunias anywhere ie in borders, hanging baskets, pots or even as a seasonal groundcover. They like full sun and will become spindly and won’t bloom if the spot is too shady. They can spread anywhere from 18 inches to 4 feet, with a height from 6 to 18 inches. If putting them in a pot, make sure the pot drains well and use a good potting soil. If planting in the ground, add compost to poor soil to promote growth. I fertilize mine every 2 weeks with 20 20 20.  They are fairly heat tolerant and don’t need water every day but keep an eye out for frost! They do well in mixed planter pots. 

 

However, keep the soil moist and when you do water, water thoroughly as shallow watering encourages shallow roots. Also, dead head regularly to encourage new blooms. When they start to get too leggy, I pinch them about halfway down the stem and just above a leaf node. They’ll look a little sad at first but a good dose of water and fertilizer will encourage growth and they’ll rebound nicely. These popular plants have few insect or disease pests although aphids and slugs can be a problem. I live in a dry climate so that’s never been an issue for me. 

If you're looking for an easy to grow annual, try petunias, you can't go wrong!

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Find Barkerville Beginnings, Book 4 of the Canadian Historical Brides Collection, and the rest of my books over at BWL Publishing HERE. Proud to have earned this badge!