Cranberry pistachio shortbread

A bigger batch of these cranberry-studded biscuits with the addition of pistachios. I love the gold, green, and deep red together. These are my favourite holiday cookies because I find them well-balanced and not too sweet. Sweet-tart dried cranberries and fragrant clementines always evoke the holidays for me, and here they perfectly brighten up a rich shortbread. A handful of pistachios … Continue reading →

Mincemeat loaf cake

I hope you’ve all had excellent winter holidays, celebrated in all the ways which made your hearts sing and your bellies full. Tell me what you ate and what you made. I celebrated Christmas up in Sheffield with my friend Mary, a large ginger striped housecat called Whiskers, and Mr. Pear. For the main meal … Continue reading →

Christmas 2012: All of the food. All of it.

It’s been really very busy for me to the point that I have no idea what to do with my free time now–except to turn some photos and thoughts into a blog post, perhaps. I hope the holidays are treating you all well, or at least, not any worse than usual. This year I have … Continue reading →

Cranberry Chocolate Orange Shortbread Biscuits

This is a good biscuit to make if you’re bored by the ubiquity of saccharine goods–the dough itself is just barely sugar-sweet, carrying the flavour of orange zest, chocolate and dried cranberries very well. They also have a good crunch and crumble to them before melting in the mouth. To add to these virtues, the … Continue reading →

Nigella Lawson’s Cranberry Mincemeat (No Alcohol) – Further Thoughts

I think it’s time for an update on those cranberry mince pies I made 3 years ago. This is the mincemeat I’ve used for the past few years and nothing will persuade me to part from it (yet!), but I have grown out of the phase where I think public figures are infallible, their creations … Continue reading →

Nigella Lawson’s Star-Topped Cranberry Mince Pies

(For links to the mince pie and mincemeat recipes, scroll right to the end of the post.) UPDATE 2nd December 2013: My own no alcohol version of this cranberry mincemeat is here, plus a recipe for ground almond pastry. It’s a small amount so scale up as needed. Firstly, thank you so much for your … Continue reading →