The push for Christmas perfection

I'm just back from enjoying a friend's Christmas ale (brewed with nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and cloves) and home-baked bread, including another guest's Christmas fruity walnut and beer bread. This was a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, (this version made with a mix of Red Stripe and coconut porter, apparently) and was absolutely delicious. No kneading or rising time required - I'll be making it myself as soon as I get a chance.

Image: Freefoto.com

On the subject of Christmas television cookery programmes, I always have a burst of initial enthusiasm, only to start feeling slightly exhausted by them at some point in December.

Last week I was watching the Great British Bake-Off Christmas special, which sternly told me that the Christmas cake must be made at least three weeks in advance. Well, it was already a bit late by then, wasn't it. According to Mary Berry, you should soak the dried fruit in booze for three days. (Three days? Even my hundred-year-old gran, who's probably made more cakes in her time than even Mary Berry, said she's always found that soaking overnight does the job.) Then you have to leave the cake three days between doing the marzipan and the icing. I can assure you I've done both on Christmas Eve before now and no-one's noticed the difference. But perhaps that's why I'm not Mary Berry.

The final straw was the Christmas pudding. I confess I've never made my own Christmas pudding. Now I've learned you're supposed to boil it for eight hours, I'm not about to start. (You can't go out during this time, the voiceover informed us - you have to keep checking on it and topping it up with water as necessary). And then you have a further two hours reheating time on Christmas Day.

As for Nigel Slater, I love his programmes, but if I hear him utter the words "the big day" one more time, I might throw a saucepan at the television. It's not a wedding, it's just December 25th, for goodness sake. 

I'm off to the out-laws for Christmas, so I'm hoping to find that someone else has made a Christmas pudding. But just sometimes, I feel like the drive for Christmas perfection can get a bit much, and feel like a recipe for exhaustion. So a supermarket Christmas pudding will do just fine.

Merry Christmas, everyone.