Mincemeat, Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce

Every Thursday night since Halloween I've been heading along to an evening class run by the local community education centre. It's held in the Home Economics department of a local secondary where the facilities and equipment are somewhat retro. It reminds me very much of my own Food & Nutrition classroom at school. Our tutor is the lovely Julie Lawrence who runs Julie's Coffee Shop. It's the second of her courses that I've attended the first being Feast of Fish. I'm not very good at sticking to recipes so over the weeks I've used those provided as a starter point and added my own twist. I suspect Julie has me down as the class trouble maker as I'm always turning up with extra ingredients. Here's a taste of what we've made so far. I'll be twiddling my thumbs come December at this rate.

MINCEMEAT

175g Rasins

100g Sultanas

275g Currants

100g Mixed Peel

150g Dried Cranberries

175g Suet

250g Dark Brown Sugar

50g Whole Almonds, sliced into slivers

Half a Freshly Grated Nutmeg

2 Tsp Mixed Spice

1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

Grated Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon and 1 Orange

450g Apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

4 Tbsp Brandy

Mix together all the ingredients, except the brandy in a large ovenproof bowl.

Cover with foil and bake in a low oven, 110c for 2 hours 30 minutes

Stir well, mix through the Brandy and leave to cool slightly.

Fill sterilised jars, cover with a waxed disk and seal.

Sausagemeat Stuffing

1kg pork sausagemeat

4 heaped Tbsp fresh breadcrumbs

1 Large onion finely chopped

Small bunch of fresh Sage or 2 Tsp dried

1 beaten egg

Salt & Pepper

Finely chopped dried Prunes & Apricots

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Use your hands to form into balls. Open freeze on a tray then store in the freezer in a plastic bag/box. Defrost before baking alongside your Christmas Dinner.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

350g Fresh Cranberries

200g Caster Sugar

50ml Port

Zest & Juice of 2 Oranges

Cinnamon Stick

Put all the ingredients into a pan and let them simmer until the berries begin to pop. This should only take 10 minutes. Leave to cool and store in the freezer until Christmas

I'm feeling quite virtuous having these three made already. How's your Christmas prep going? Anything else I should be making now to freeze or jar for later? Rest assured I've already put the sprouts on to boil.