I hope you have a very happy new year! Actually, I am still in Christmas recovery mode and can’t even begin to think about the New Year. I am going to lay low and read books this weekend. After I pick up the detritus and flotsam and jetsam that the Christmas revelers have abandoned or used for festooning. Then I can think about the end of the year, And what a year it has been! We should all take a page from Scotland, and consider celebrating Hogmany.
Hogmany is how the Scots celebrate the end of the old year, and the beginning of the New Year. They take to the streets and stretch the celebration over a couple of days, which may only be for the most hardy. There are outdoor concerts, fireworks, bonfires, street parties and lots of traditional food and drink. A Winter Festival sounds like a lot of good old-fashioned pagan fun. https://www.hogmanay.net/history/faq#hogmanay
Traditional Hogmanay foods include haggis (of course), shortbread and Tipsy Laird Trifle made with Scotch Whisky instead of the usual sherry. I like a holiday that isn’t shy about its sweets. On Christmas Eve our neighbor made her annual Sticky Toffee Pudding for us. I am a complete convert. I cannot imagine Christmas Eve without it! What a delight! For Christmas dinner we had a family fave – flourless chocolate cake. And on New Year’s Day we will be celebrating a friend’s birthday by baking a Brooklyn Blackout Cake. Obviously we are not thinking about any diets yet.
I just read Nigel Slater’s book “Eating for England”. It is a frothy little book of short essays that describes some fascinating English food eccentricities. He dwells with some affection over desserts and sweets. It must be the time of the year – I am longing for sweets. Read it when you want to blow your diet (or your New Year’s resolutions): https://www.nigelslater.com/books_view.asp?nBook_ID={A69E1743-399C-48E2-AA16-848E724D9A77}
We love Scottish shortbread any time of the year. Luckily we made a plethora of it for Christmas, so should have a good supply of it left if you want to stop by and wish us a “Guid New Year” on your way during the Torchlight Processional. We will all be dressed up in our new Christmas finery and daring one another to dive into the River Forth during the Queensferry Loony Dook. (Actually, I will probably be in my jimjams and ready for bed around 10:00, but I wish you all the best!)
Shortbread
3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Mix the butter and 1 cup of sugar together until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a another bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Roll the dough out on a surface dusted with flour, and shape into a flat disk. Cool in the fridge for about half an hour.
Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a pizza cutter or a knife. Prick the dough with a fork to make lovely little pointillistic designs. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow them to cool before gobbling.
Prosecco or Champagne for New Year’s Eve? Such a dilemma!
Here is the recipe for Tipsy Laid Trifle. Yumsters!
https://britishfood.about.com/od/dessert/r/tipsylaird.htm
https://www.scotland.org/celebrate-scotland/hogmanay
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!
Chorus.For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
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