Memories of Sticky Date & Fig Pudding….

Yule or Christmas Pudding

There are so many recipes out there for Christmas puddings – I won’t even try reinventing the wheel however, I will say….I have made sugar free versions of absolutely everything and these are just as good as something with sugar.

Especially when it comes to puddings such as this. There are a lot of sweet ingredients that go into such a dessert but that is just the point isn’t it? A Christmas feast is not the time or place to be counting the calories!

My favourite Christmas pudding last year was one I made with pecans….or was it the one I made with sticky dates and toffee! Can’t remember, they were all so good and when served later, long after the heaviness of the meal has been digested, a pudding is quite a nice way to end any festive day.

But, the single most important thing to say about any Yule or Christmas pudding – is this – you have to be making it now! LOL

Now is the perfect time to set aside an afternoon and assemble your pudding. Get each of your ingredients ready (soaking the dried fruit is often a good idea too) and then follow your favourite recipe to your hearts delight.

Making the pudding is easy. I always find steaming it for 6 to 8 hours the more difficult part because I am always watching little ones around the stove and making sure the pot doesn’t run out of water. 

But, eventually the pudding is steamed enough to cool down and store or freeze until Christmas. I do believe that some of those made with rum or whiskey as well as all that sugar and fruit, will continue to age and develop in texture and flavour no matter where they are! LOL

This week – start getting ready for your special day. Choose a pudding recipe, make a ritual of gathering the ingredients, spend an afternoon making it and then store it in a special place to age. 

One of the most wonderful traditions of this time of year is the opening of all these little packages when the time comes. An aromatic Christmas pudding in one of them is a lovely gift indeed.

April

Sticky date & fig pudding ready to freeze

How to Approach a Feast

Some of the more popular topics to be discussing these days seems to be along the lines of how to avoid overeating during the holidays as well as choosing the wrong kinds of foods....one person I know was busy coming up with a strategy to distract herself from all the sugar...

Of course I have one question - Why on earth would you bring it into the house in the first place? I mean if it's not there, how can you possibly eat it? And to be honest, what kind of person buys pure rubbish for the family but refuses to eat it themselves?

That all sounds like a twisted form of torture to me...

When you have looked at as many recipes as I have over the years, you also get to see the tricks used to make food taste so addictive. How about apples fried in butter and then made into a cobbler (what's wrong with cooking the apples in water?) or adding salt to counter-balance all the sugar?

The bottom line here is that you don't know how these things were prepared, yes they probably look good and even smell good, but are these foods good for you as well. Now that's another story. I would tend to think anything coming from a shop would not be the best nutrition. 

If you want to keep those pounds off, stay on some sort of a healthy eating plan, and enjoy your feast days at the same time - your plan this time of year has to be simple. Make as much of these foods yourself as you can, don't use sugar when honey, agave, maple syrup, treacle, date syrup or apple sauce will do...

But wait, there's more! It's not only the sugar - what about preservatives, additives or unnecessary ingredients? Otherwise known as fillers, bulking agents, extenders and flavour enhancers - we can just refer to much of this as chemicals and not part of the food realm.

Besides, why fill up the cupboards with sugary junk that leaves you feeling sick and low when you can bake a few cookies or a cake that will be thoroughly enjoyed. Not only will you feel good while you eat it, but as you digest it too.

I remember those days well - it tasted good going in, but after about an hour, everything in the world looked dark, my body felt heavy and my stomach took years to get over it. It's just not worth all the aggregation of doing that to my body.

So, instead my eating plan this holiday season is to not watch calories, not count anything - just eat as much as I want of the foods I have prepared and plan to make. That's why it's called a feast time, these seasons are the right time for feasting...

Of course, when it is over, you must stop, take yourself in hand and get that eating under control. A few days fasting to clear out your system would then help ease you back into normal food days of healthy meals....

This is the only healthy way I have found to have my cake and eat it too! I eat it at the right time....

April

Making cinnamon cakes today...