Baked Ham

  

This is just so tasty that I think I'll do this for Sunday dinner this week, I make this every Christmas to go with my turkey and crunchy roast potatoes and it is beautiful. The sweetness of the ham and the tangy glaze is the perfect combination, now I am not a fan of marmalade but you cannot taste it here, just the malty sweetness of the brown sugar. This is not just for Christmas, it can be enjoyed any day of the year!!

Jamie Oliver's Best Turkey in the World!

I'm am by no means an expert at cooking a turkey (in fact this is my second time!) so in sheer panic last year, I combed the television for a fairly simple turkey recipe and this is the result, Jamie Oliver's best turkey in the world (well with a name like that how could it fail!!). This is a brilliant recipe and I have a moist turkey every time. I don't stuff my bird so it isn't included in the pictures below and I have included a cooking times calculator from Safe Food Ireland, so you can be extra sure the times is correct.

Homemade Turkey Gravy

This turkey gravy recipe is, literally, all gravy. Most of us don't often have the time to do this, but it isn't difficult at all and the results are very tasty indeed. If you're short of time you can make this in under half an hour using chicken stock.

Cranberry and Port Relish

This is delicious, I've doubled the quaintly that I made last year because it was so popular. I gave a jar of this to my parents last year as part of a Christmas hamper and my mother's praised even up until recently. Now don't take her word for it, try it for yourself.

How to Decorate a Christmas Cake

  

Is the prospect of covering your first Christmas Cake a bit daunting, if so then this the post for you! This is the first time I have properly iced a Christmas Cake and I found it very enjoyable, you do however need some time to do this. It took me from start to finish about 90 minutes, but it's so satisfying and I was really proud bringing it out for my family on Christmas day. I used Delia's Classic Christmas Cake recipe, and it's a beautiful rich cake.

Nigella's Sweet and Salty Crunchy Nut Bars

This is my favourite Christmas treat, so much so that I've quit buying tins of sweets. I make alarmingly large batches of this and chop into various sizes. My sister just loves it and last year I sent her home with lunch boxes full of it! This is another of my scribbled down recipes in my now very tattered note book, but I'm very sure it is a Nigella recipe. I suspect it is from a Christmas special. This is part of my edible Christmas gifts posts, Enjoy.

Delia's Classic Christmas Cake

I just couldn't be without Delia Smiths Complete Cookery Course book. When I got married first, I could just about boil an egg and even at that I wasn't always successful. So when I decided to become a stay at home mother I knew I had to brush up on my culinary skills. I still had my old home economics book but I needed a lot more help that it could offer, so I bought Delia's book. You know when the first chapter starts with how to boil an egg that you're onto a winner :)

This fruit cake has been taken from that book and although the cake is now commercially available in a pretty pre-weighted ingredients box in my local supermarket, I still think it's a worthy post. When you've baked this beauty then I suggest to try this post: How To Decorate A Christmas Cake

Festive Stollen

This is a very detailed recipe, not because it is difficult but because it needs care and attention. Stollen is a German bread baked at Christmas time. It has a  rich buttery crust and the marzipan in the centre is a real surprise. I suggest that you time the rising to coincide with school runs or a large basket of ironing! Two jobs at once.

Traditional Christmas Pudding

  

If your are looking for a light Christmas pudding then I can recommend this recipe. I have for many years avoided the shop bought puddings because they are usually too dark, too short on fruit and too big on price, I this prefer lighter textured, non suet pudding for Christmas day, however, if this is too light for you, it will do perfectly for a St. Stephens Day or Boxing day Pudding. I found this recipe in the RTE Guide a couple of years ago, which I cut out and kept, it was a recipe from Stork Margarine and it is delicious, now a family tradition (well they have to start sometime!!)

It may seem like a lot of effort but, if you plan it out and steam on a day that nothing much else is going on, you might as well have two delicious puddings for your trouble. Make two and if you don't eat the second, well it will keep until next year, no problem. My original love for a light pudding came from my grandmother Kate Heffernan, which my mother made every year, so perhaps next year I might post up that recipe, I hope you enjoy this one for many years ahead.