Growing up, we always had an iced cake every Christmas, and this has meant my idea of a decorated Christmas cake is a layer of marzipan covered with a layer of icing. Without these two toppings, a Christmas cake becomes just another fruit cake.
Whilst it is still December - in Montreal at least - one last post regarding Christmas! The cake had been maturing for over a month and had been well fed with brandy. All that was left to do was decorating it.
Growing up, we always had an iced cake every Christmas, and this has meant my idea of a decorated Christmas cake is a layer of marzipan covered with a layer of icing. Without these two toppings, a Christmas cake becomes just another fruit cake. Ah, OK, so now I know why that centimeter or so of snow appeared to make no impact on the locals. In twenty-four hours we have had a record-breaking 45cm of snow!!
Although I have thought about it many times before, it was Christmas Day when the time difference between here and home seemed something of a greater deal. Waking up at 7am, one of my first thoughts was that it would be lunch time in Europe, and yet the darkness of night had not yet lifted in Montreal. Getting up at 8.30am we made a cup of tea, took a sip…and then opened a bottle of champagne - a much better drink to accompany the opening of our presents. We had each bought each other a few small bits and pieces, with the plan of hitting the sales after Christmas and buying things we actually need, then – how grown up. Sat amongst these were a couple of presents kindly sent over from family and friends in the UK. (Although the having to write on the packages for customs stopped the contents from being a total surprise. The joys of having always lived in Europe meant the customs issue had never arisen before.)
I will squeeze this post in whilst it is still relevant...
Moving around means the little things we associated with Christmas growing up are not always around us anymore. Gone are the mounds of sugar dusted mince pies, dense plump puddings wrapped in cellophane, and marzipan and icing slathered slabs of dark, rich fruitcake. The once full diary of Christmas parties and get-togethers – lunches catching up with long-distance friends and relatives, the swapping of presents is now empty. The robin doesn’t feature, neither does the red post box. The tree is up…and so far has stayed vertical, despite Albie’s interest in both it and the decorations. We bought him a bow with bells on for his climbing area, which proved to be an inspired purchase as he was so preoccupied by that, he left us free to put up the tree and decorate it.
A quick post as I had to share our excitement that it has finally snowed here!!
With our own car finally parked outside, a road trip called; but where to??
Through a bit of internet searching, we discovered there was a German Christmas market in Quebec City. Pining for a bit of German-flavored nostalgia, as well as wanting to visit the city - one of the oldest cities in North America and a UNESCO heritage sight - our destination was decided. As the journey was nearly three-hours long, an early start was needed. Poor Albie wondered what an earth was going on, blinking hard as I turned on the lights in his room, but any reservations he had was soon put to rest when I gave him his breakfast earlier than normal. He thoroughly approved of that – it was what he had been asking me to do most mornings, after all! T and I ate breakfast and got ready, all the time one of us on duty to tire out the ball of fluff; one hand on the hairbrush and another on one of Albie’s toys so he would play, a mouthful of toast in-between chasing him around the apartment that kind of thing. Then the tired-out kitten was put back in his room and all his toys were shoved in with him, and we hit the road. Once upon a time…
We have been renting a car since we first landed in Montreal. After over two months of this money-draining necessity, the time finally came to buy our own four wheels. But, in a new and unfamiliar country, where do you start? Our kitchen equipment has expanded: we now have a grater, a set of kitchen scales, a mixing bowl, and a can opener. All apart from the can opener - tin opener – (which after a few nights of planned meals being changed at the last minute due to not being able to open a tin of tomatoes or tuna), were bought in a single shopping spree with one purpose in mind: The Christmas Cake. The kitchen scales were an annoying buy, as we already own a very good pair, but they are in Munich, in storage. Apart from them, we weren’t doubling up on many items.
The bit of kit that proved the most difficult to buy was the cake tin – a pretty essential bit of kit really. We visited store after store, from Walmart to local specialist cookery shops; traipsed around downtown and the out of town shopping complexes, as well as endless searching online. We found plenty of tins, but none were the size we required – a deep 8-inch round tin - all were 9-inches in diameter and were way too shallow. In the end, we returned to the local store where we had originally seen one and balked at the price, but it seemed to be the only deep tin in the whole of Montreal, so we had to give in and pay the money. The 1st December. 1/12/12 or 12/1/12 depending on the method you subscribe to. However, you write it, todays date means I can now allow myself to talk ‘Christmas’! I can play carols; we can purchase a tree and decorate the house, and buy Albie his Santa suit (well, maybe not that last one; but I have seen such an outfit for cats in the local shop - whenever he is naughty, I will threaten to buy it).
The trees have been available to buy for the past fortnight, but it feels wrong to even consider buying it before December rolls in. When is it OK to buy one, and for it not to drop all it’s needles before Christmas day? They are already cut I guess, but somehow non-logic tells me the sooner they come in the house, they sooner they will lose all their needles. (And this year, the sooner it will be pulled over due to a mischievous kitten.) |
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December 2015
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