My Advent Calendar – 14 Dec – Planning the Xmas menus and my favourite dessert recipe

Yes, I did say menus. Plural. This year it’s Christmas Day with @frot’s mum, then out to my brother’s in Lower Hutt for Boxing Day with my clan. With less than 2 weeks to go, we need to get organised!

Christmas Day

We go from extreme to the other with our family Christmas celebrations. Christmas Day with @frot’s mum will be a very quiet affair – just the three of us. We’re both eating a bit more sparingly than usual at the moment, and his mum never eats a lot, so the menu will be simple.

We’ll probably start the day as we usually do, with a smoothie. Maybe one of these festive smoothies that I posted about 2 years ago. Because they’re all a bit higher carb than I’m eating now, I started experimenting with a cranberry orange smoothie this morning, so I might have something to share on that in a day or two.

Now, remember that it’s summer here and we won’t want the oven going all day. I often do something like a baked salmon fillet, but I wanted something different this year.

I’m thinking of making up some turkey cranberry burger patties. I haven’t decided yet whether to put the cranberries in the burgers, or make a sauce to go on top. To go with those, my current plan is to stuff some button mushrooms with a cheesy filling, and maybe a light coleslaw.

There is no doubt about what dessert will be though. It’s my favourite dessert of all time. Light, fluffy chocolate mousse made with eggs, cream, melted sugar free chocolate and maybe a dash of Baileys or cointreau. Toss a few fresh berries on top, and what could be better? I’ll share the recipe with you below.

Boxing Day

This is a completely different kettle of fish. There will be nearly 20 of us, covering 4 generations, and the motto of the day is “plenty”. I’ve been on the phone with @andysantics48, mum and my brother and I think we’ve worked out what we’re doing and who’s to bring what. I need to ring my bro tomorrow morning and finalise it. But here’s what we’re looking at:

Starters

• Hot smoked salmon
• Cheese and crackers
• Chippies (crisps) and dips
• Roasted nuts

Mains

Nev will fire up the barbie (BBQ) and there’ll be steak, pork chops, chicken kebabs and maybe a few sausies to throw on. Plus we’ll have:

• Roast lamb
• Stuffed eggs
• Potato salad
• Green salad and other raw veges

Desserts

• A concoction made from berries, jelly, macarons and cream that mum wanted to try out
• Maybe a trifle as well
• Brandy snaps
• Xmas mince pies
• My platter of mini muffins – Xmas cake ones (see tomorrow's post), keto macadamia raspberry ones, and the choc brownies
• Marzipan, truffles, chocolates and sweets of all kinds, no doubt
• Maybe a few fresh berries as well

What do you think?

Is that enough for 20 people? We’ll spread it out over the entire afternoon and early evening, but I don’t think anyone will go hungry. At least, not unless they want to.

Here’s the buffet table from 2014, partway through the dishing up process.

The chocolate mousse recipe

Posted on my recipe blog at http://www.frot.co.nz/design/recipes/chocolate-mousse/ nearly 10 years ago – that’s how long it’s been a favourite.

This recipe is originally from Lois Daish, writing for the NZ Listener. Serves 4-6.

• 120g (4 oz) dark chocolate, preferably 70% cocoa. If you’re on a special diet, choose one and sweetened with rapadura, maltitol, xylitol, or other OK sweeteners. I’ll be using De Spa sugar free
• 4 eggs
• Optional – 1-2 Tbs of your favourite liqueur (orange is especially good, but also experiment with butterscotch, Irish cream, hazelnut or whatever you fancy really)

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, or find a bowl that will fit neatly over a pot. Make sure the bowl is completely dry. If any steam or liquid gets into the chocolate once it has started to melt, it will seize up into hard chunks that can’t be melted. Break the chocolate into squares and put it in the bowl. Bring water to the boil in the pot, then remove from the heat and place the bowl over the pot. Leave for a few minutes, stirring occasionally with a dry spoon, until the chocolate melts.

Meanwhile, separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a cup and the whites in a medium bowl. When the chocolate is melted, lift the bowl off the pot of water and beat in the egg yolks until smooth. Add the alcohol. Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold in. Spoon the mousse into 4-6 small bowls or fancy glasses, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Serve with your choice of:

• fresh berries or other fruit
• whipped or runny cream
• European style thick yoghurt

I was a bit appalled to discover I’ve never taken a photo of my chocolate mousse, but it looks very similar to this one from Pixabay.

At Christmas, I will make this variation – Creamy Mousse:

• After adding the egg whites, gently fold in ¾ cup of softly whipped cream.

With the cream in it, it looks more like this pic, also from Pixabay.

Tomorrow I start baking...

• Day 1 – Carol singing with the NZ Symphony Orchestra
• Day 2 – Kilbirnie Santa Parade
• Day 3 – Posting overseas Xmas cards & a Xmas themed exercise class
• Day 4 – Last minute book buying
• Day 5 – Last choir rehearsal for the year
• Day 6 – Choosing gifts for the Xmas game
• Day 7 – Xmas lunch with my exercise class
• Day 8 – Xmas spiced nuts
• Day 9 – Xmas tree time
• Day 10 – Last arthritis class for the year, and a sugar free brownie recipe
• Day 11 – A choir performance
• Day 12 – Taking marinated chicken wings to the choir Xmas party
• Day 13 – The NZ local xmas cards & some e-cards

Thanks for reading

Photos from Pixabay, except the one by @frot. Number 2 photoshopped by me.

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