Things I made this week

This week concluded my preserving marathon when I made (for the first time) some pickled onions, Christmas mincemeat and onion marmalade.

The pickled onions were really easy and I know they will taste amazing. The vinegar in which they are being pickled was flavoured by some lovely stuff, including ginger, allspice berries, mace blades and mustard seeds. They look really authentic too... I am thinking of doing some more this week as Christmas presents (they can't be eaten yet for 6-8 weeks... so I have no idea how good/bad they are...)

The mincemeat was a pleasure to make.. I used Delia's recipe and the house smelled of Christmas for a couple of days! The mincemeat is now in jars, allowing the flavours to seep, ready for mince pie making in couple of months!

The onion marmalade was a challenge to say the least. 2kg of onions which needed peeling and slicing. I used a slicer on the food processor but still the house was filled with onions smells and my eyes were watering 24 hours later! But the end result was so so worth it.. it is gorgeously tasty and a worthy effort!

I have also made parkin this week, which I have frozen, ready to take with us on holiday during the October half term (and my wheat-free diet will temporarily end!) and a number of loaves, including brioche and 100% spelt. I show my dedication to the wheat-free cause by making brioche yet not tasting it. My children and husband contest to the fact that the brioche tasted authentically brioche-esk and it smelled divine!

I bought the Good House-Keeping Christmas Cook Book this week and I have so many things planned.. what a great buy!