Food Fight Friday - Flaky Christmas Pies
Kisses sweeter than wine...
Now that tax season is over I can focus on the sweeter things in life; families have started arriving at Lily's Cottage for the Christmas holidays. Some of the little ones have already crept into our hearts like one real charmer with a snazzy new hairstyle:)
Christmas decorations were fetched from the store room bringing back the nostalgia of this special time with family and friends
The cookie jars still need filling as our sons and a special girlfriend will soon be arriving so I had to dig into the deepest depths of the pantry cupboard for the good old rolling pin and pans.
Homemade Mince Pies and Christmas go hand in hand - I made my own fruit mince by steeping candied peel, raisins & sultanas in a spicy brandy mix, adding grated apples just before using it.
A crispy flaky homemade pastry made with butter makes the most scrumptious pastry blanket for the Mince Pies - I can guarantee there'll be none left long before Christmas arrives so will definitely be making another batch to be put away!
Mince Pies
Flaky Pastry
- 200 gram ice cold Butter
- 2 cups Cake Flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 egg yolk + 2 Tbsp Vinegar or Lemon Juice + enough iced water to make 1/2 cup liquid
Grate butter into sifted flour & salt, work through with a knife using cutting motions
Add liquid and knead to a firm dough
Store in refrigerator till ready to use
Roll out thinly, cut into circles
Place a spoonful of fruit mince filling in centre
Cut smaller circles to top the mince pies
Seal edges with a fork or pastry sealer and brush with an egg wash
Bake at 180C till golden brown for approx 20 min
Nothing fancy, nothing grand; real rustic and real good homemade Christmas Mince Pies
These also make excellent gifts so why not make up a special gift box and fill it with homemade mince pies for someone who may be too busy or may not be well enough to bake this year.
Talking about gifts, I'm currently writing a series on Gifts from the Kitchen, Gifts from the Heart, so if you enjoy creating in the kitchen, take a peek at that and start making treats for the special people in your lives who will be more than delighted to receive a hamper of delectable homemade treats!
This is my contribution for this week's Food Fight Friday overseen by our judges Mr RockballInSpaceInConciousness @idig, Mr Splatz Linetrash @jlsplatts and dear Mr @dandays, who also is a hot-shot Champion Fighter; look forward to seeing what you’re all bringing to the table!
A huge thank you to @appreciator who really has ignited our weekly #fff with a generous sponsorship, much appreciated by all our contenders I'm sure!
Connecting the people of #STEEM across South Africa. #steemsa
Thank you for stopping by
Copyright @lizelle - All Rights Reserved
I refuse to say goodbye to @thesteemengine,
hope to see you at The Whistle Stop one of these fine days.
Your Food Fight Friday Contender has been entered into Round 72
May your contender make it out alive and not be placed in a permanent
Food Coma
source
Good Luck
and
Have a
!BEER
Thank you so much!
Posted using Partiko Android
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account.
If you are a community leader and/or contest organizer, please join the Discord and let us know you if you would like to promote the posting of your community or contest.
@c-squared runs a community witness. Please consider using one of your witness votes on us here
Thank you so very much @c-squared!
Posted using Partiko Android
What a wonderful post. Homemade gifts, received or given, are always so special. For someone to take the time to make a gift, rather than pop some $$$ on the desk of a cashier is always very special.
My mom would spend weeks in the kitchen prior to the holidays. Her homemade candies, jellies and cookies were to kill for.
Her apple jelly is a topic of conversation till this day. My all time favorite was her butter cookies, and her chocolate covered raisins. A holiday does not go by without our children talking about Gram and her wonderful homemade goodies that she created with so much love in her heart.
Boy do I miss her.😢
Your Mom sounds like she was a wonderfully kind lady; you're so right, a homemade gift certainly means so much more! I'm actually busy writing a series on homemade gifts for ADSactly; there's a whole lot of magical stuff one can make with simple ingredients. Thank you so much for your heart-warming reply, it's great to have good memories like that not so!
As we continue to decorate our home for the holidays, we will be breaking out all of the homemade gifts that mom made for us. I will also be doing something along this line, as I share all of the wonderful homemade gifts she has given to us over the years.
Those mincemeat pies look so good, @lizelle!
Homemade mincemeat pies are always delicious, wish I could send some your way, thanks Eric;)
I’ve never tried it but would like to someday!
that is a lot of baking, all looks good! especially those mini pies
They're really delicious and worth the effort, thank you @doitvoluntarily!
Hi @lizelle, those little pies look so good. I think homemade baked goods make such great gifts. My mother-in=law would make chocolate nut and fruit clusters that were to die for. I always felt it was such a special gift, you could feel the love that went into those beautiful, delicious candies.
Have fun with your family!
Homemade is just so much nicer, choc nut & fruit clusters sound really yummy! Thank you my friend, keep warm!
There is no comparison between homemade and store bought. Ya know why? It's all that love that goes into it. When I look at some of the food you prepare, it gets me motivated to try new recipes.
Be cool!!
Fruity mince pies always a hit, (reminds me of home with Mum who would make the most scrumptious pies), your ones look great and no I don't bake @lizelle
Good luck in the contest and have a wonderful weekend, with and without electricity!
Nothing beats homemade mince pies not so! A friend's mom used to make the fruit mince the old fashioned way wuth suet, it was really scrumptious! We somehow did not have any loadshedding today, really not complaining;)
Thanks for your nice comments!
Posted using Partiko Android
Hey, @lizelle.
That all looks very tasty. :) I don't think I've ever had a mince pie before. I'd remember that, right?
Maybe my grandmother made some long ago for Christmas, but we're talking over 40 years, probably, if it even happened.
It figures that you would have a special kitchen tool to put the ridges on the crust. :)
Gosh we find mince pies all over the food stores long before Christmas, but nothing beats homemade ones! That little gadget is ancient, belonged to my mother in law, works like a bomb!
Thanks for your nice feedback @glenalbrethsen:)
Posted using Partiko Android
I can only imagine how festive Christmas must be at your place, Lily. Good luck in the food fight.
Thank you @dandays, it's actually quite a bittersweet time for us, as I lost two brothers close to Christmas, especially hard for Mom Lily...
!tip
My pleasure, @lizelle. Coming from a dude who has only a wife in this world, I’m familiar with what it feels like to lack family. You’re blessed to still have a mother—mine was the last of my family and I buried her when I was 37.
Much love, Lily, God bless you and yours. I hope you’re having a great weekend.
edit
I promise I was trying to cheer you up.... I read it back and it’s a little heavy on depressing. My bad!
Oh no that's so sad, I am truly blessed to still have my mom plus two brothers, hubby and two sons and cousins and aunts and loads of off-spring and inlaws, yep a big happy family that all know how to laugh when we get together, yep truly blessed!
Thank you @dandays you made me realize just how lucky I am:)
God bless you and your dearest Pura as well!
Posted using Partiko Android
🎁 Hi @dandays! You have received 0.1 STEEM tip from @lizelle!
@lizelle wrote lately about: Steemit Fruits And Veggies Monday - Minted Marinated Tomatoes & Din-Dins Feel free to follow @lizelle if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
They look delicious, I wish I have the patience to do pies...
I enjoy working with pastry so find it relaxing as crazy as that may sound;) Thanks @joelai!
Not crazy at all!