'Tis the Season...

Christmas is my favorite time of the year... I'm sure you've heard me say this every year :) Don't know what it is about this time of the year, but I start getting a warm, excited feeling in the pit of my stomach when the Christmas season starts. So many things to do... lists to make and things to tick off said lists :) It's a planner's dream, especially if she also happens to have a mild case of OCD :) 

The carols have started playing btw, and the house is starting to smell like Christmas because of all the sweet making:) Now if it would only start getting colder! Winter seems to have stalled in Gurgaon and that's not helping with the Christmas spirit :)

Today I started slowly setting the house in order (it's been in a bit of a mess lately)and sorting through the decorations. In the middle of putting up a few decorations, I got a little distracted :) 

Are your decorations up? Or are still waiting to be bitten by the X'Mas bug?

To get everyone in the mood for my favorite time of the year, I thought I'd trying something interesting. Starting from today, I'm going to try and post one Christmassy vignette a day on the All Things Nice Facebook page... nothing too fancy, just using stuff that's probably lying around to create a Christmas themed arrangement. If you don't want to miss any of these ideas, hop on over to the All Things Nice Facebook page, hit like and make sure the notifications are turned on... that way you you won't miss any updates :) 

More soon... 

[All images by Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission]

Cake Mixing & a Brief History of Christmas Cake

Last Friday I attended the annual cake mixing ceremony on the Cafe Uno lawns at Shangri-La's - Eros Hotel. The cake mixing ceremony marks the beginning of the X'Mas festive season, where chopped dried fruit, nuts and spices are mixed together with a heady combination of booze. This mixture is then stored in an airtight container for about a month, allowing the fruit to soak up the alcohol, and then used to make Christmas fruit cake and Christmas pudding.

Executive Chef Martin Braecker, Executive Sous Chef Ravi Kumar 
and Farhat Jamal

Sangeeta and Kavita Bahuguna of Dine Out Club, 

who are also part of the TWCI

Some delicious Fig and goats cheese canapes

Smoked Salmon canapes... sooo good :)

It was a lovely afternoon, made even nicer with some wonderful company and delicious canapes and wine. Looking on while all the mixing was taking place, I started to think about how the tradition of Christmas fruit cake came to be. Avininder Singh whom I was there with as part of The Writers Collective India, seemed to read my mind and he mentioned the same thing to me. So I started doing a little research. And it was really quite interesting.

The TWCI team- Avininder Singh, Sangeeta & Kavita Bahuguna, 

Vicky Vickhram, Ravinder Pratap Singh. 

Also in this pic- Anjori Kumar, Jiggi Verma, Tania Bagai, 

Anupriya Bishnoi, Maneesh Srivastava

The Story of Christmas Fruit Cake 

Even from its humble beginnings, the fruit caked was a symbol of celebration, probably because of the decadence associated with dried fruit and spices. As a result it was traditionally served during Christmas, Easter or wedding celebrations. Fruit cake, in some form, can be traced back to ancient Roman times where pomegranate seeds and pine nuts were mixed into a barley mash. 

The modern fruit cake, as we know it today, can trace its roots back to sometime in the middle ages, when honey, dried fruit and spices were made into a sort of fruit bread in some places and a boiled plum cake in others.

From what I've read, the practice of making Christmas fruit cake comes from two customs that sort of merged during the Victorian era- the Plum Porridge and the Plum Cake. The Plum Porridge, which dates back to ancient Roman times, was in a way the precursor to the Christmas pudding. As the story goes, it was customary to observe a day of fasting on Christmas Eve and the fast was broken with this porridge. Overtime dried fruits, honey and spices were added as a mark of celebration. And eventually this porridge started being boiled after it was wrapped in a cloth... these boiled balls of oatmeal, honey, dried fruit and spices were the first Christmas puddings!

Around the 16^th century butter started to be added and oatmeal was replaced with wheat flour. Eggs were also added to hold the mixture together and the Christmas cake was born!

For me Christmas has always been about family traditions- carrying on old ones and making a few new ones of our own. Making sweets with these old family recipes, recipes that have been handed down over generations, makes me feel connected with my history and fills me with such a sense of pride and nostalgia. Like I’m part of something bigger. I know it sounds a bit stupid, and the hubby will read this and roll his eyes, but it is how it is :)

We also had a little cake mixing ceremony of our own:) As per our family tradition, the fruit has been soaked and is waiting for one week before Christmas, which is when it will be added to the cake mix and baked. I won’t be sharing the fruit cake recipe... that’s a closely guarded secret :) Every home seems to have a slightly different recipe, a slightly different proportion of fruit, spices, alcohol, soaking periods... did you know some people soak the fruit for a whole year! The most amusing thing, and what I love most is that everyone thinks that theirs is the best :)   

[All images by Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission] 

The Jujup Experiment

Today is December 1st and in our house it's the day when we start playing X'mas carols. Sort of officially ringing in the X'mas season. So to usher in the festive spirit on the blog, here is my first post of X'mas. Two new flavour combinations for jujups...

Jujup making has been a part of our family's Christmas tradition for years now. My mom is an expert and last year, when we decided to spend Christmas in Gurgaon instead of going home to Baroda, I tried my hand at them for the first time. They turned out pretty well. Personally, I have never been a fan of these jelly sweets, but the hubby is and well it's a tradition... 

This year I decided to experiment with some new flavour combinations. Last year I made strawberry and peppermint, but I find these flavours to taste very synthetic in jujups, although I know that kids, and a lot of grown ups love them :) This time, I wanted to gourmet things up a bit. I tried orange & cinnamon and mulled wine. They came out pretty nicely even if I do say so myself :) Even I found myself popping a few of these jellies into my mouth when no one was looking... These jujups actually taste like Christmas :)

Jujups are not too difficult to make actually, they are just a little messy and you need a little patience. You can see the basic jujup recipe that I made last year, here. 

Orange & Cinnamon Jujups

Follow the basic jujup recipe and when it comes time to add the flavouring, add 1 tsp cinnamon powder that has been sieved, 3 tsps of orange extract or essence and 2 tsps vanilla extract or essence. and for the colouring, I added half a tsp of black food coloring. This will give the mixture an amber color.

Follow the instructions for cooling as mentioned in the basic recipe. When coating with castor sugar, add 2 tsp of sieved cinnamon powder to the castor sugar. 

Mulled Wine Jujups

For the gelatin mixture...
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 water
50 g gelatin granules

For the sugar syrup
400 g sugar
1 cup dry red wine (use a really cheap one)
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon powder (sieved) 
1/4 tsp clove powder (sieved) 
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
4 star anise 

For the sugar coating
Castor sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder (sieved) 
1/4 tsp clove powder (sieved) 
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Follow the instructions for making the gelatin mixture as in the basic recipe, except use the ingredients mentioned here.

For the sugar syrup mixture, add the sugar, wine, orange juice, star anise and water to a pot and heat on a low flame till the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved, raise the heat and let it come to boil. Now add the spice powders and stir well. Strain this mixture and return to pot and reduce the heat to lowest flame. Carefully stir in the gelatin mixture and stir with whisk until the gelatin has dissolved completely. Raise the heat slightly and continue to stir. At this point you must keep watch on this mixture as it may start to boil over. 

Boil and continuously stir this mixture for about 30-45 minutes (this is the part that requires patience). Around the 30-40 minute mark you will notice that when you dip your spoon into the liquid and remove, a string of the syrup will form. If the string is still runny, continue to heat. Once the string starts forming and setting without immediately falling back into the pot, the mixture is ready. Pour into a greased tray as mentioned in the basic recipe and cool for a minimum of 12 hours. 

To cut and coat the jujups, once again follow the basic recipe, except instead of plain castor sugar, use ingredients mentioned in this recipe. Here are some pics to give you an idea of the coating process. Remember that you will need to keep the sugar coated jujups open in a plate for at least 12 hours so that they get a chance to dry a little more. Once this is done, pack in an airtight container. 

I use a brownie tin to set the jujups

Cut the set jelly into strips and coat with sugar like in the pic. 

The cut this sugar coated strip into squares and make sure 

to coat every surface with the sugar mixture. 

[All images by Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission]

'Tis The Season....Christmas Inspired Jujups

OK, so firstly I have to apologize for being a bit irregular in my posts. The last few weeks have been hectic and stressful for a number of reasons. But December is here now... And that means gearing up for Christmas! 

Christmas for me means many things- friends & family, sharing & giving, fun, laughter, joy and delicious goodies! For me, a really important part of Christmas are the traditional (and yummy) sweets that the family makes. Sweet making is a huge family tradition, with some of the recipes being passed down over several generations. And they all taste so good! 

Now I have to admit that usually sweet making for me has always involved watching my mum making the sweets and then eating a lot of them! That's because Christmas is always with my folks, back in Baroda. This year however we are here (in Gurgaon) for Christmas, so it will be me doing all the sweet making, much to the amusement of my mum! 

I started the sweet making process a little early this year, just in case my first attempts at sweet making were a disaster! (at least there would be time for me to have another go) So the first thing I made is something we call Jujups, a sugar coated jelly candy that's a little softer than jelly beans, and a lot bigger in size. Now if I were to be really honest, I am not a big fan. But it is a family favorite- my mum loves it and so does the hubby and its part of Christmas tradition.

Aren't they pretty?

All green & red & Christmassy!

A kid's delight...

And something that makes a lot of grown ups act like 

gleeful little kids :)

This is my mum's recipe, one she has been using for years. And now it's mine too! A recipe that is part of Christmas tradition, and one that I hope to hand down to my kids one day. That's another thing about X'mas- tradition and that sense of connection you get from being part of a tradition. Its a really special feeling.

Warning- Attempt this recipe only if you really love to cook and are a little bit crazy! Although the recipe is pretty straight forward, and doesn't need a lot of fancy ingredients, it's quite a pain to make. It involves a lot of standing around and stirring till you achieve just the right consistency, and then the process of cutting and sugar coating is very messy! But the end result was pretty wonderful- jujups my mum would be proud of! 

My mum's Jujup recipe

500g sugar

50g gelatin

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup + 2 cups water

food coloring

preferred flavorings 

butter for greasing

lots of castor sugar

a brownie tray or a thali

I made two batches- peppermint & strawberry

Instructions

Grease a brownie tray or a thali with butter.

In a bowl, mix the lemon juice with 1/2 up of water and sprinkle the gelatin over this. Mix it together and set aside for 45 minutes. 

After 45 minutes dissolve sugar with 2 cups of water in a large saucepan over low heat. Once the sugar dissolves, raise heat and bring to boil. Boil for about a minute and then once again lower the heat. By now the gelatin mixture will be quite firm and solid. Carefully add this to the sugar syrup and stir until all the gelatin has dissolved. Raise the heat and boil for 30 minutes. You will need to carefully watch the the mixture as it boils. Stir it regularly so that it doesn't overflow. After 30 minutes you will notice that a thickish string will start to form when a spoon dipped into the syrup is raised. Some of it will still cling onto the spoon. If it doesn't keep boiling till this happens. 

Once the string forms, add the flavoring and the color. You will need to do this by taste since the strength of flavorings vary. Be careful when you taste, the syrup is VERY hot. So to taste, drop some syrup onto a cool plate and allow to cool slightly before tasting. 

Once color and flavor is added, boil for about 15 mins. Pour into the greased tray (the jelly mixture should be at least 12mm deep) and cool for at least 24 hours. I cooled mine for 26 hours under a low speed ceiling fan. 

Once the jelly is set (after 24 hours), run a very sharp knife around the edges of the tray. Keep a large plate of  castor sugar ready. My mum managed to un-mold the entire jelly unto the castor sugar. I was nervous about doing this so I cut out about 20-25mm strips then proceeded to coat them in castor sugar. Then you need to cut each strip into cubes of about 25mm x 25mm and coat the sticky edges with more castor sugar. 

Once you have done this to the entire solidified jelly strips, leave in the castor sugar overnight. They will firm up some more. Then pack them in an airtight container lined with parchment paper and they should be fine till Christmas. 

psst! A little word of advice, hide the box somewhere safe, especially if you have little elves that may slyly eat them when no one's looking, or they may be gone before X'mas!

What X'mas goodies are you making? Would love to know!

[All images- Shalini Pereira]

A Candlelit Christmas

Candles are a great way to bring a sense of warmth and merriment into the home over the Christmas holidays. Here are some ideas on how to use candles to decorate the home for the Christmas season.

This is a great way to use up all those old wine bottle corks, or a great

reason to start collecting them

(From www.funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com )

 

A great way decorate plain vases, this would look great on a buffet or bar cabinet.

For step by step instructions on how to create this take a look at BHG.

Some more ideas...

This is a really easy way to create rustic looking candle holders.

For instructions on how to create this take a look at Shelterness.

Make hanging lanterns from empty old jars by

creating handles out of wire. They would look great in a balcony.

(From Pottery Barn)

This arrangement is perfect for a holiday mantel or for a table centerpiece.

You will find complete instructions on how to create this is on SAS interiors.

Bringing in that Festive Feeling

My home has now in full Christmas mode. The carols are playing, the lights are up and so is the tree. I’ve also been looking for other small ways in which to really bring in the festive spirit. Small touches that make all the difference. In my search, I happened to come across a few really nice ideas on the internet and thought I’d share them.

Make use of old silver or wooden trays

(Image courtesy Pottery Barn)

This would look fabulous on a console, buffet or bar cabinet

(From www.goodhousekeeping.com ) 

These centerpieces can be very easily replicated. All you need is a nice glass vase or tray and some good quality candles. Try replacing the chestnuts with the following

- Cinnamon sticks which would also fill your home with the aroma

  of cinnamon.
 

- Some wonderful vanilla scented potpourri will really usher in

     the festive mood.

- Walnuts that are still in the shell

- Dried twigs

If you want that bling factor, consider spraying the nuts or twigs gold or silver.

Some more ideas…

Some freshly cut red or white Poinsettia stems in a glass vase would make a great table centerpiece (From www.freshhomeideas.com )

Fill glass vases or bowls with candies of different colors

(From www.freshhomeideas.com )

Over the next 2 weeks I will be posting several easy to do decoration ideas that I have come across and that I find interesting. I hope they will help you to get into the festive spirit. More ideas coming soon.

 

Christmas is coming!!!

It’s the 1^st of December and Christmas is just 25 days away! I love Christmas. It is absolutely my most favorite time of year. The very word Christmas conjures up the aromas of allspice and vanilla wafting through the house and John Denver Christmas songs playing in the background, all of this enveloping the home in comforting warmth.

To kick off the Christmas season, here are the words to my all time favorite X’mas song, originally sung by Nat King Cole.

The Christmas Song

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Jack Frost nipping on your nose,
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like Eskimos.

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe,
Help to make the season bright.
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow,
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

They know that Santa's on his way;
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh.
And every mother's child is going to spy,
To see if reindeer really know how to fly.

And so I'm offering this simple phrase,
To kids from one to ninety-two,
Although its been said many times, many ways,
A very Merry Christmas to you.

Here’s the link to the Video. It has some real nice images as well… that will help get you in the festive spirit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khWvxVEhcMQ

More posts on christmas soon.