Mission: Christmas

I'm lucky enough to have finished work now until 2016 and so Mission: Christmas well and truly began this weekend.

Alongside a trip to Ikea to buy more dining chairs, the weekend has involved furniture being rearranged to make room for more beds, a final check of the festive recipes to ensure the ingredients are either already in the house or on the shopping list, ensuring that all guests eat at least most things on the menu, the purchase of a Christmas tree, the putting up of Christmas decorations, and the bathroom being reassembled - the toilet and sink have been sitting in the bath for the past two months as new flooring has been laid, a new bath panel constructed, and the whole room painted.

Amongst all this activity I decided that I may need a few mince pies to hand to keep me going and to offer anyone dropping in to say hello or to exchange presents. Since these would have to be gluten-free for me to enjoy and gluten-free pastry is one of the most fragile materials on the planet (or so it seems), I felt that a traditional mince pie recipe may not be the best bet.

You may have noticed last week that I made Chocolate Brownie Mince Pies for my colleagues. These work well since the brownie and mincemeat mixture seems to hold the pastry base together pretty well. I was therefore on the lookout for something similar and found a gluten-free Frangipane Mince Pie recipe. Essentially, this is like a mini Bakewell Tart with mincemeat in place of the jam.

They are looking good so far, perhaps with the addition of a dusting of icing sugar once they are cool?

So, with the mince pies cooling I decided to finish making the Limoncello, which involved diluting and bottling it. A satisfying and pleasant job as the smell of lemons met my nose.

Yes, bottom left, that's a sneaky tot for the chef!

And, if I'm to get the presents wrapped this evening, I'd also need the accompanying Moroccan Spiced Roast Nuts, which needed to be - er, spiced and roasted!

So, the Christmas preparations are well and truly underway and, happily, that's a few things crossed off the list. My two big questions now are, will I get the rest done before The Clan arrive on Wednesday, and what on earth am I going to have for dinner tonight? Other than a Frangipane Mince Pie!