Christmas Reading Treasures

DEBORAH CROMBIE: One of my favorite traditions of the holidays is getting out my well-loved Christmas books. Some of them are quite bedraggled! Look at this much-patched copy of Clement C. Moore's THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Other than the dust jacket, the book is in beautiful condition.

And the book plate, with my maiden name in my still loopy schoolgirl handwriting!

Or how about A CHRISTMAS CAROL, 1961 edition, illustrated by Ronald Searle? This one is stamped inside with my parents' name and address.

And this is a replacement copy of my decades old paperback copy of Dylan Thomas's A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES, illustrated with woodcuts by Ellen Raskin. I still have the tattered original, and I have different, newer editions, but none of them have quite the same charm.

There is also a 1984 edition of THE NUTCRACKER illustrated by Maurice Sendak!

Aren't these illustrations fabulous??

But most treasured of all is my copy of the Christmas story published in 1973 by my late uncle, A.C. Greene, A CHRISTMAS TREE, illustrated by the painter Ancel E. Nunn, who was his great friend. It's about his childhood Christmases in west Texas, and one particular year when the Christmas tree didn't quite fit. If ever you can find a copy, snap it up!

Unfortunately, the book was at one time shelved on a lower shelf in one of our bookcases and some puppy or other, I don't remember which one was the culprit, chewed a corner quite thoroughly.

Now the book is kept safely stowed on a top shelf!

All of these have pride of place on our coffee table for the season, just waiting to be read. The only problem is finding the time to sit down and enjoy them!

Dear REDs and readers, do you have treasured Christmas books? And which is your favorite?

Special Sweets: Sugarplums

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: What is more synonymous with Christmas than sugarplums? (Thanks, C.C. Moore and Tchaikovsky!) For some of you, Celia Wakefield's delicious recipe is going to send you hurrying to your local market to collect the ingredients. Others will bookmark it for next November. I hope all of you will enjoy sinking into the pleasant dream of mixing and making that is so much a part of the holiday celebrations.

“While Visions of Sugarplums danced in their heads”

Right now I want you to close your eyes and go back to when you first saw the Nutcracker Ballet. If you didn’t live in a big city maybe it was the local dance school production using records for the music. Or maybe your first experience was the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center with a cast and audience of children, and the NCYB Star dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy - of course with the full orchestra. And away you went into the land of large dangerous mice, dancing snow flakes with cups of coffee or tea, the tallest tree ever, and divine music to feed your soul.

I was twelve when I first saw the Nutcracker ballet. My father took us to the Royal Festival Hall in London to a production which fulfilled all my dreams. I had always wanted to be a ballerina. I had books on the ballerinas of the day, adored Margot Fonteyn, I even had an old pair of toe shoes kindly given to me by a friend of my mother who recognized my hunger for dance. 

 

Well, I couldn’t pursue ballet, but I have danced all my life and would still be happy for a night on the town to go out and shake it (anyone for Zumba?). Still, while we may all need to add some dance to combat Christmas food, I am writing about about sugarplums. Julia, my dear friend, who got me writing and then presented me to you all, wants a recipe for the night before Christmas. Grabbing a cookery book from my pile for inspiration, I noticed a card below it with the heading “Sugarplums”, Courtesy of Eleanor Watson.

 

Goodness, Eleanor Watson one of the best loved and remembered people in Limerick, Maine. We were invited to her Christmas gathering the first year we moved here. She lived in a beautiful old house, pre Victorian I think. Would that make it Empire, Revolutionary or Federal? I’m not much good on the history of architecture. 

 

However there were open fire places with burning logs to warm us, a colonial kitchen and rooms filled with antique furniture which she showed off to me seeing my interest. She is another person I miss and wish I had asked her for stories. But on the kitchen table, along with her delicious food, was this gift of a recipe card for the taking. 

 

Now I have never made Sugarplums, but with a food processor anything is possible. Eleanor said her recipe made a hundred pieces of delicious, so I may half it. I also did a little research online and adding or omitting ingredients seems to be par for the course. I plan to measure the total liquid which will give me an idea of how much liquid is needed for the amount of dry ingredients. I plan to add some dried cranberries and cherries too. This recipe doesn’t have any spices in it so I will add a little of my favorite spices as well. 

SUGARPLUMS - Courtesy of Eleanor Watson

1 lb. chopped figs

1 lb. chopped dates

1 lb. chopped raisins - I am using golden raisins or sultanas (their English name)

1 lb. currents - I am omitting as couldn’t find them but will add cranberries and cherries here

Chop all finely in the Food Processor - set aside

1 lb. chopped blanched almonds

1 lb. chopped unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts (I will not use pistachios but make the weight up with other nuts.)

1/2 lb. chopped walnuts

1/2 lb. chopped pecans

Chop nuts in Food Processor - set aside

1/2 lb. shredded coconut

1/2 lb. crystallized ginger

Juice & grated rind of 1 orange

Juice & grated rind of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp - good sherry***

1 oz.    - orange or peach brandy

Granulated sugar for rolling - let the deliciousness commence

MY CHANGED RECIPE WITH ALL THE WEIGHTS THAT I USED

I am weighing my dried fruit based on the total amount in Eleanor’s recipe which is 4 pounds of fruit. My measurements are not exactly halved as I changed them while I was prepping.

My ingredients are:

2 3/4 lb. mixed dried fruit -approximate

1/4 lb. figs

1/4 lb. dates

1 1/2 lb. Mixed raisins and golden raisins (sultanas)

1/2 lb. cranberries

1 oz + dried orange slices (optional)

1/4 lb. cherries

1 1/2 lb. Mixed nuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans - I used what I had. Just check none are rancid

8 oz shredded coconut 

4 oz.    crystallized ginger

1 tsp. cardamom 

1/2 tsp. each nutmeg and mace

Juice and grated rind of one orange and one lemon = about 1/3 cup, just enough to moisten

1/4 Cup Cointreau or other liquor

I shall make some with extra fruit juice as not everyone likes alcohol but I shall do some with Grand Marnier or Cointreau added in place of the sherry and fruit brandies. 

 

I have simplified Eleanor’s process by adding the spices, coconut and ginger to the nuts, and grating the rind onto the pile of dried fruit. 

METHOD:

Measure all the ingredients but keep the fruit and nuts separate, see below. If you don’t have a scale I suggest you buy the fruits and use the measurements on the bag to approximate the amounts. I don’t think an extra oz or so will hurt the recipe

Put the nuts, coconut and crystallized ginger together with any spices you like in the Food Processor and pulse several times to chop finely

Scrape into a bowl

Add and pulse the dried fruits and grated orange and lemon rind in the FP. 

Add the chopped nuts and pulse to mix

Even though I have a 12 cup bowel on my FP and my Ninja cup is a little smaller, I had to half the quantities again before being able to mix the fruit, nuts mix and liquid together. This is where a digital scale comes in handy as you can place an empty bowl on the scale, adjust the weight back to zero then add ingredients. To finish I had two bowls weighing about one and a half pounds each to role into the sugarplums.

Depending on your quantity, now is the time to divide in half before mixing together and adding in the liquid through the funnel. I added a little at a time until the mix gathered on the blade. I don’t think it should be too wet.

Now for the fun part. Set up a plate with sugar on it and a plate with waxed paper to place the candies. Wet your hands and take a melon sized amount or slightly larger and roll into a ball, then roll in the sugar for that sparkle and set on a plate. If giving as gifts pack into a wax paper lined box with wax paper between the layers of sugarplums.

The final note: allow to sit in the fridge or a cold place for several days for the flavors to blend and add to the joy of eating a sugarplum. Plus, it’s Gluten Free!

 

What We're Writing--Deborah Crombie and the Unexpected Path

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I don't want to say too much about the things I thought I would be focusing on in the WIP (Kincaid/James#19), because there are still some existing threads that it might be a spoiler to mention. But I knew I wanted to write about Bloomsbury and Russell Square and the British Museum, and that the primary case would be Duncan's, at least at the outset.

But one of the most wonderful things about writing fiction is that things can take unexpected turns or detours and you cannot anticipate them! My fancy was taken by a ceramics gallery I chanced upon in Bloomsbury, and out of that grew a character, a ceramist, who works there part time. In real life, I'd come to know a young, very talented artist and potter, Alex Macias, who sells her work at local galleries and at our farmer's market. When I was asked if I would participate in making a bowl for our community Empty Bowls fundraising event, I asked if I could do it with Alex.

Check out some of Alex's work here--it is fabulous! And yes, my collection is growing... I have my eye on the lidded honey jar...

Here we are yesterday at the studio Alex shares with six other artists!

(Apologies for the weird perspective! I am not really a midget and Alex is not twice my size!)

And here's my bowl, ready for Alex to trim, then fire in a week or so, and then I can help with the glaze which will be a gorgeous robin's egg blue.

Now I know what a studio should look like.

I know how the clay feels, and how the smell lingers on your hands long after you wash them. I know a little bit of the terminology!

All grist for the character-building mill.

And then there is The Nutcracker. I knew I wanted this book to be set in November. What would Toby, Gemma and Duncan's seven-year-old dancer, be doing in November? Dancing in The Nutcracker, of course! So I am deep into YouTube videos (this one from the New York City Ballet's 2011 production  is wonderful) and I've been rereading my very battered copy of the Maurice Sendak illustrated edition of E.T. A. Hoffmann's THE NUTCRACKER. 

I didn't remember how weird the story was, but it puts the ballet in a different perspective.

So we have two very unrelated elements going into the book mix, and who knows what sort of sausage we will end up with? I don't, yet, but I'm looking forward to finding out. (And there is still a murder.)

Readers, do you like learning about things (along with the author!) in a book?