The Week In-Between...

 

The week in between Christmas and New Year is a funny week  or is it just me?... The presents are all unwrapped, the Turkey eaten the decorations are down, the excited build up to Christmas is gone and it seems like...... well.....a bit of a ANTICLIMAX really ...... A sort of a In-Between week!

 

Now unfortunately for me, I am not the kind of person that can sit around all day doing nothing, I really wish I could but I just cannot! I had read my wonderful new Christmas present, the New Nigella Lawson book Nigellisima(LSO makes me soooo HAPPY) from cover to cover and even managed to churn out our Christmas pudding from it! I wondered into the kitchen and picked up my favourite book GIFTS FROM THE KITCHEN and began to page through....   

 

 

My Favourite Book!

 

When my little fingers stopped dead on a recipe I had been trying to muster up the courage  to make for months...... Nougat - now I know its not everyone's cup of tea, but I just love it - it is soft, white and full of yummy scrummy Nuts and Cherry's! What more could a girl want? Why had I not tried it yet? I hear you ask ... well... it looks complicated and YES..... I can all hear you scream out the answer  in unison..... I only do SIMPLE!!! I had gathered all the ingredients over the last few months, all everyday things, except for rice paper..... I had scoured every baking shop,cooking shop and Chinese shop in our  little fishing village but not a piece was in sight( so that had been the excuse up to now) but a few days before Christmas, a small Indian Deli in our local mall had totally delighted me by having piles and piles of edible rice paper - So, no more excuses......

 

 

The Recipe

So on a Hot and Humid Boxing Day,  feeling very brave, I got stuck in. Nuts were roasted, ruby red Cherry's chopped(Not a good job for me, as I ate more Cherry's than I chopped) Dried apricots chopped, Eggs whisked and honey syrup made. Now one thing I must tell you, but I think you a;ready  know... I often try to find the quickest route to the end, but in this recipe, I followed instructions closely, the only thing I did not do was used the electric beat, which I should have (It was the one recommend tip but  HONESTLY ... I was just too lazy to get it out of the cupboard - learned my lesson!!) Luckily my mother was on hand when I started to yell and panic because I needed more hands!  

Nuts and Cherry's

I must admit that up to the point where I added the syrup to the egg white I was feeling like it was all just too much effort..... you know me ....  keep it EASY and SIMPLE! BUT then we added the two together and it was like a wonderful science experiment, while my mother added the syrup in a thin and steady stream, I manned the hand beater and before our eye the dreary looking egg white transformed into a thick,sticky ,molten goo, that was creamy and rich looking and the smell was Heavenly..... I think if my mother wasn't with me I might have sat down on our kitchen floor and devoured the entire bowl of yummyness!!  I kid you not!! The rest of the ingredients were added and VOILA and TA DAH we had Nougat!!!

Such Concentration!

Mom Stirring The Syrup

All Mixed

After the whole family tasting the nougat, it was decided by general consensus that I could sell it, it was that GOOD! There was not much Nougat left by six that evening, I managed to put a bar into the freezer for LSO as he  was away..... And I do have to admit at this point that the major culprit of eating it was.... little ole me.... well every time I walked into the kitchen is screamed to me...  EAT ME! EAT ME! And I did what any self respecting girl would do ....  ,I HAPPILY and WILLINGLY obliged!

SO YUMMMMMMYYY!!!

Delicious and Delightful Nougat

So the in -between- week has now sort of become a making pickle week for me... because  I didn't stop at Nougat, I made Brinjal/Eggplant Pickle, more Chunky Beetroot, Mango Pickle and a delightful little Sweet pickle I found on the Net, called Sweet Cherry Pickle - apparently it tastes like Cherry Pie.... will have to report back to you on that! (and give you all those recipes)And I Have Picture of all of the yummy Pickles but for some unknown reason my computer refuses to upload them! Oh Well......

Brinjal Awaiting Pickling

The rest of my week was taken up with Little Madame, she has become quiet the tent/fort builder and we have made a tent to go to sleep in every night! It is such fun as we both creep into a small space cuddle up and wait for Mr Sandman..... I probably love watching her go to sleep best of all! As little eyelids get heavy and finally shut, it reminds me of her baby days! I often watch her and wonder how did LSO and I created such a perfect little person...... so full of Love, Joy and Wonder. The innocence of childhood is such a blessing! xxx

Tent Built

Sleeping Angel!