Winter Solstice

Hello
It's nice to know the days will be gradually getting longer and warmer. We live in hope.
For the present though it is lovely keeping warm with hot showers, hot drinks and plenty of warm clothes and yummy hot winter meals. 

This week I made a different snack for hubby to take to work.  I found a recipe where you just melted dark chocolate, poured it into blobs on baking paper and decorated with nuts, dried fruit and seeds. They are delicious. They would be different every time you made them as you could use what you had in the pantry. 

We desperately needed some sauce or something to put on eggs, quiche etc. You know what I mean. I did not want to go and buy some so I pulled out an old recipe that we have enjoyed in the past and I tweaked it a little. I replaced the brown sugar with molasses.
I remember when I first made this I could not imagine how it would taste. It has a weird mix of ingredients. We loved it.

Here is the recipe:

Cashmere Chutney
1 kg green apples
450g raisins
450g dates
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Litre apple cider vinegar
1 Tb salt
1/4 cup molasses

Wash, core and dice apples. Place all ingredients in large pot. Cut dates in half to make sure there isn't a stone. (I have found one on most occasions). Bring to boil and simmer for 1 hour. It will change colour to a dark brown. We prefer it not to be chunky, so I blend with my stick blender before bottling. I think it is nicer blended.  I keep it in the fridge and it made about 6 good sized jars. 

We served our chutney with deep fried Camembert over the weekend. Yum. 
You could also make this with fresh ginger and replace the molasses with honey. First time around I would only put 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, then younger mouths might enjoy it too. 

Our dining table is a little messy again. I decided to recycle some magazines in the event of cleaning up a few and am in the process of making up a couple of scrapbooks for my grand-girls. Very therapeutic. 

Whoohoo! I finished my yarn bag. It is huge, so it will hold a lot of projects, hee hee. I am going to make another and make it much smaller. But not just yet as I have a few UFO's to do this week. 

Hot shower calls ... Dot