Happy Winter Solstice!

This morning Autumn officially bowed out and ushered in Winter. Today is the shortest day/longest night of the year. The sun rose this morning at 08h05 and bid us farewell at 15h54 this afternoon. The good news is is that as from tomorrow – it starts to swing and our days begin to get longer again! By boxing day our days will be 3 minutes longer already – LOL

Solstice candles – in honor of the returning light :o)

To brighten up our afternoon, I have lit some little ‘solstice candles’. I had some great intentions on making some ‘dedicated’ candle jars – but today we have been busy in the kitchen baking up a storm.

Mince pies are just one of those things at Christmas time that are in constant demand in our family. I’m baking a dozen every second day! I have finally run out of fruit mince so this latest batch will need to last until I can get to the store again :o)

We are going to be having lots of ex-South Africans in our home over Christmas, so I thought that I would treat them to some good old South African buttermilk rusks – something that you cannot buy here. It’s a question of make it yourself or go without. I feel a little guilty as they take about 4 hours to dry in an oven that is set at about 100 degrees C! All that energy! But it is Christmas and the recipe does make allot :o)

South African ‘crunchies’ were next on the list. They are known as ‘flapjacks’ here in England, although I find the English version is rather more sticky and soft than our crunchier, nuttier version. Delicious! I’m not sure if they are going to last until Christmas though – they are far to popular in our home!

After all that baking I am off to grab a quiet cup of coffee – a Nescafe Cappuccino – before starting supper, which is a simple roast root veg and cheesy chicken rice bake – yum!