Hampers of joy
INVITE FRIENDS ROUND TO FILL FESTIVE BASKETS WITH HOMEMADE FOOD AND CREATIVE GIFTS, AND SHARE A BIT OF CHRISTMAS MAGIC
Recipes & styling: LOUISE GORROD Photography: EMMA CROMAN
Not much beats the bounty of a Christmas hamper. A wicker basket full of wonders becomes an even greater gift when packed with handmade goodies. However, making enough to fill a hamper is no mean feat so ask friends round and turn it into a get-together where you make, create and swap. Not only is it about having a good time, you’ll leave with your own hamper brimming with delights.
Foodie friends might want to make curd, cake or chocolate, while craftier types could create mulled wine bags or printed wrapping. You could either each choose an item to make for the hamper at home and then bring them to share out, or perhaps make it something you all do together, where you get to taste as you go along – all in the name of ‘quality control’, of course. Regardless of whether you give the hamper to a loved one or keep it to enjoy with your own family, getting together with friends to enjoy time out of the Christmas rush is surely always its own treat. »
Allocate a project and gather your favourite people for an evening of swapping hamper goodies. Or better still, set aside an afternoon and make everything together
Gather together
ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT THE
SEASON
IS CELEBRATING WITH OTHERS, THOUGH FOR SOME IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE. BUT THESE GENEROUS PEOPLE HAVE HANDY AND HEART-WARMING IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
Words: RUTH CHANDLER Illustrations: GRACIE DAHL
Transport
The driver
As if working as a firefighter for 42 years wasn’t enough of a service to society, Stephen Brett now voluntarily transports older people and those in need two days a week. While getting behind the wheel of a 16-seater minibus might faze many, the task is dwarfed by the fire engines that he used to drive. “I’m used to handling large vehicles in narrow spaces,” he says. Stephen retired in 2019 and moved from Kent to Aldeburgh in Suffolk,
where he got involved with charity, Coastal Accessible Transport Services (CATS). Not only did it help to integrate Stephen into his new community, but he’s able to take a group of local care home residents for days out every other week, while Helen, Brenda, Sue, Joyce, Joan, Ruby and John – “a great crowd” of 70- to 90-somethings – make their weekly social club, thanks to Stephen.
So, what does he like most about his role? “To be thanked for giving people a few hours of freedom is the best feeling,” says Stephen.
Often, he’ll go the extra mile by taking a detour via a bank or a chemist, and he once loaned one lady the cost of her weekly shop when she forgot her PIN at the supermarket. But getting a woman’s broken hearing aid fixed, just in time for Christmas, tops it all. As the festivities approach, greeting cards from appreciative customers start flooding into the CATS office. There are also several regular events: “Ogilvie Homes in Thorpeness host a lunch, Snape Maltings holds a traditional tea dance in one of the acoustic halls, while some groups go on outings to garden centres and have a special meal,” Stephen says. “To hear them reminisce about the trip on their way home is great – it makes it all worthwhile.”
On the 25th, Stephen is happiest surrounded by his wife Patricia, family, and plenty of Cadbury’s. But don’t offer to give him the day off from behind the wheel. “I hate being driven. Anywhere!” he says, with a hearty laugh. cats-paws.co.uk
“To be thanked for giving people a few hours of freedom is the best feeling”
Should you be feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of preparing the festive feast, spare a thought for Roma Rowland and Barbara Evans. Heading up the 24-strong team of volunteers behind the community Christmas lunch in Cattistock, Dorset, they feed up to 100 people, young and old, a traditional meal with all the trimmings in early December each year.
“We’re good organisers… as in, bossy,” giggles Roma, as the pair prepare to take on 14kg of potatoes, 9kg of parsnips and 5kg of chestnuts. “It’s a military exercise.”
Meanwhile, four local helpers each roast an extra-large ‘monster turkey’ in their kitchens before Roma’s husband Neil and another volunteer collect them in their customary layers of foil and insulating towels. They’re then delivered
back to Savill Hall for 12.15pm sharp, where expert carver Duncan Benge works his magic. There’s also the behind-the-scenes team: four people put up furniture, four more deck out the hall and another two make table centres.
Ex-civil servant Roma, who used to do event catering as a hobby, and IT project manager Barbara cooked up the yuletide custom in 2014 when they decided that, alongside community fund raising, there was a need for an event that simply brought villagers together.
Preparations begin in October when Barbara makes gravy – one chicken, one veggie – then freezes them. “Anything that can be frozen ahead of time, will be,” Roma says. The day before the meal, she hosts a sprout-peeling party, fuelled by Prosecco, carols and plenty of chatter.
Tickets for the three-course lunch cost just £8, with every penny ploughed into
the food itself – they sell out from the local shop quicker than you can say Cattistock Community Fund. (which donates wine and runs a raffle).
Naturally, there’s room for jeopardy: should someone forget to feed the hall’s hungry meter, everything simply stops (there’s a mountain of pound coins to try and avoid it); if an oven isn’t switched on in time, a vital ingredient may be late; then there was the time when Barbara and Roma set fire to their own eyebrows while lighting the Christmas pudding. Not to mention the couple who, every year, insist on turning up an hour early to bag the best seats in the house. So, do these ladies have any leftovers of energy or enthusiasm for the Big Day itself? “We try to avoid the whole thing by going away to family and making it someone else’s problem,” smiles Barbara. cattistockvillage.co.uk
Food
The cooks
Merry and bites
WELCOME TO KITSCHMAS! WHERE OLD-SCHOOL TIPPLES AND NIBBLES ARE BACK IN STYLE
Recipes & photography: CATHERINE FRAWLEY
Drinks to mix and things on sticks. Embrace the fun side of the festivities with retro nibbles and drinkies. Hostess trolleys at the ready!
SOMETH W O V E R
Once upon a time, Christmas turkeys wore boots and wheeled pies were all the rage. Whether pigs in blankets or flaming puddings, there’s history in every bite of our traditional fare. Indulge in some favourite foodie stories as you reach for another Quality Street
Words:
SIAN
MEADES-WILLIAMS & LAURA BROWN
FILL YOUR BOOTS
The now-ubiquitous turkey began ruffling feathers as a Christmas meat in the 16th century. It became so popular that eventually, hundreds of thousands of turkeys were being walked to the markets of London from farms in Norfolk every year. These turkey drives took several weeks, and some birds had their feet dipped in tar to help them endure the long walk, while others, rather more stylishly, wore tiny leather boots.
Causing
a bit of a stir
Stir-up Sunday – the traditional day when our beloved Christmas puds get made – can be as much of a joy of Christmas as the day itself. However, the name doesn’t come from the stirring of the pudding ingredients, but rather the Book of Common Prayer, which begins ‘Stir up, we beseech thee.’
Didyou
know 80 million mince pies everyDece . Thatadds up to around 11.5 per person.
Not-so-humble pie
A three-bird roast, more catchily known as a turducken, isn’t a patch on its predecessor, the Yorkshire Christmas Pie. Particularly elaborate examples of this gluttonous genre could contain as many as two dozen birds (as well as ham, rabbit and tongue), all lurking inside a huge pastry crust. Some pies were so substantial they needed wheels!
An act of quality
The two figures in the Quality Street logo are depictions of Valentine Brown and Phoebe Throssel – characters from the play by J.M. Barrie that gives the tin of festive chocolates its name.
GET STUFFED!
Butcher John Crampton invented Paxo sage and onion packet stuffing mix in 1901.
STALEMATE
One of the oldest dishes on the Christmas dinner table is bread sauce – in medieval times, an old loaf was often put to good use thickening sauces.
HOME ECONOMICS
FINDING FRESH WAYS FOR FESTIVE FEAST LEFTOVERS, RACHEL DE THAMPLE MAKES GOOD USE OF A TRADITIONAL TURKEY AND ALL THE TRIMMINGS Christmas
Recipes and words: RACHEL DE THAMPLE Photography: ALI ALLEN
Let the feasting begin…
A well thought-out Christmas menu can keep you feasting for days with minimal effort yet full of flavours and variety. These ideas will keep you well-fed right through Boxing Day walks to New Year and beyond, and give you a few goodies to tuck away in the pantry and freezer.
Investing time, money and effort in a thoughtfully reared turkey will pay dividends. A bird that had more exercise and was grown more slowly will be richer in flavour and juicier – a world away from dry, flavourless mass-produced birds. More expensive for sure, which is why it’s important to not let any of it go to waste.
On the day of the big dinner itself using both oven and hob at the same time makes it less stressful, as dishes aren’t competing for space or time. And in the days that follow there’s a joy in spending leisurely time in the kitchen to use up leftovers well and wisely.
Home economics needn’t mean stretching the monthly budget while being tied to the stove – but it can mean a new approach to the way we plan our meals, as well as sharpening up our kitchen skills to avoid unnecessary waste. Reviving age-old wisdom about household management means deeply valuing all our resources: our time, our ingredients and the money we invest in them. And it makes us feel good, too.
MAKING MEALS OF IT
MAIN EVENT: Upside-down turkey, Parsnip roasties, Whipped caraway carrots, Clementine-glazed shallots, Turkey gravy
NEXT DAY: Winter Waldorf, Turkey, lemon & thyme risotto, Turkey skin crackling, Parsnip skin crisps
FREEZER: Boxing Day pasties, Carrot & caraway soup, Turkey stock
PANTRY: Christmas kraut
Pantry
CHRISTMAS KRAUT
It’s worth taking time early in the month to make this good-for-your-gut sauerkraut with a festive twist.
MAKES APPROX 1kg
1 red cabbage, quartered then finely shredded
1 thumb fresh ginger, grated Zest and juice of 1 orange or 2 clementines
150g fresh or dried cranberries
2 tsp mixed spice
2g sea salt for every 100g 12 fresh bay leaves
1 Put the cabbage and ginger in a large bowl, then grate in the zest of your orange or clementines. Halve the fruit and squeeze in the juice. Next, add the cranberries and spices.
2 Weigh the mixture and add 2g sea salt per 100g veg/fruit mix. Fold the salt through to distribute. Then, scrunch together to help soften the cabbage and massage the salt in.
3 Spoon the juicy cabbage mix into a 1kg jar, or a mixture of smaller jars, adding it little by little and packing down each layer as you go. It’s important to exclude as much air as possible. Pour any leftover brine in the bowl over the cabbage.
4 Use the bay leaves (overlapping them) to fully cover the compacted cabbage. Add a pinch of salt to the leafy cap and fill the jar right to the top with water. Screw an airtight lid on and place it on a plate (to catch any juices that bubble over during fermentation). Transfer it to a dry spot, at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
5 Let the kraut ferment for two weeks at room temperature, then eat straightaway, or store at room temperature in a dark, cool place for up to 1 year (check occasionally and top up with an added pinch of salt and water to come right to the top of the jar, if needed).
Cook’s note: Refrigerate once open. This kraut will happily keep for weeks in the fridge.
»
INTO THE LIGHT
CANDLES, FIRES, NATURAL MATERIALS – AND RECLAIMED BARN WOOD – MAKE THIS FAMILY HOME IN THE NETHERLANDS A COSY COCOON AT THIS TIME OF YEAR
Words: INGE VAN LIESHOUT Styling: BABS DOLS Production: INSIDEHOMEPAGE Photography : LOUIS LEMAIRE
At Christmas time, the centrepiece is always a “delicious-smelling” real tree, decked with lights and ornaments
MY PLOT
Farm to front door
WINTER IS A TIME FOR GATHERING FOLIAGE FROM THE FIELDS AND MAKING WREATHS AT STOWFORD FLOWERS IN DEVON
Words & photography: OLIVIA CARTER
Olivia Carter created her flower business on her family’s farm in Devon. She grows flowers for weddings in the summer, and in the winter, she gathers foliage from the farm to create Christmas wreaths. She also hosts wreath workshops in the farm’s barn, where she helps her customers make decorations for their homes and front doors from greenery, seedheads, berries and cones. stowfordflowers.co.uk, @stowford.flowers
The story so far
My dad has farmed here his whole life, and his way of life has had a huge influence on me. Growing up, I was happiest roaming country lanes, milking the cows, feeding the pigs and spending time in the garden. I became fascinated with growing seeds on returning to the UK after working abroad and realised how lucky I was to spend every day in such beautiful surroundings. I spent a lot of time experimenting with growing flowers, and was surprised by the amount I grew: cosmos, larkspur, sweet peas, cornflowers, calendula – they germinate quickly, don’t require too much care and bloom for
months. I now grow perennials, too: bulbs, including narcissi and tulips, corms such as ranunculus and anemones, and dahlias. I started putting together posies. One day, an old school friend asked if I could make flower arrangements for her wedding, and that’s where it all began. Now I’ve lots of loyal customers who receive my bouquet subscription service, trust me to create their wedding flowers and come to flowerbased workshops at the farm. As well as growing in my polytunnels, I’m slowly taking over more of a field my dad used to grow sunflowers in. I can’t do everything at once, but each winter I grow my plot ever so slightly by adding more flower beds.
When the growing season ends and the polytunnels go quiet for a while, Olivia’s wreath workshop business blossoms again
LOUISE GORROD
Time to hang the stockings, peel an orange, wrap yourself in a blanket, make a hot chocolate (or pour a sherry) and wait for Father Christmas – no lighting the fire until he’s been though...
> £45; Archive print > from £40; Blanket > £199, all printsistersarchive.com
