(mid-winter) CHRISTMAS!!!

I LOOOOOOVE Christmas. I always feel a bit sad on Christmas day, knowing it's going to be a whole year before the next one, and I never make it much further than June before I start sneaking Christmas songs. This year, I've had Christmas on the brain since May, when we spent an afternoon pine-coning, and went into overdrive when it snowed, and even Jimmy has been singing carols this week (usually he has to regulate me and Christmas, or we'd have a tree up all year). I was never this excited about mid-winter Christmas in Auckland; it seems snow isn't the only benefit of a colder climate! (The southern hemisphere really needs its own carols; neither of us have ever had a white Christmas, yet the suggestion of snow means we immediately go there.) To be honest, I only realised it was the 25th today when I was looking up festive desserts for something else we're doing tonight, but still; it's the 25th of June, so every day from now we're closer to next Christmas than the last, there's a wind up that may blow the house down, snow only an hour or so away (by car), and I'm making pumpkin pie for dessert tonight. Six months to go until the real thing!!!

So instead of looking at clothes, today we're sharing a recipe adventure: mulled wine, and the pumpkin pie recipe I just found online because last time I combined two recipes and have forgotten both (don't judge me; it was a very stressful thanksgiving - and in case you're wondering, my family are not American; we just love special occasions and turkey). It's an adventure because we haven't yet made either; we haven't tweaked them to taste (just according to what we have in the cupboard), and we chose them for weird reasons (the mulled wine because the only alcohol in it is wine, and the pumpkin pie because it's eggless - one of us is allergic - and looks easy).
(Photos from Jamie Oliver and Divine Taste.)

MULLED WINE adapted from Jamie Oliver

2 oranges

1 lemon

1 lime

200g caster sugar

6 whole cloves 

c. 2 tsp cinnamon

3 fresh bay leaves

c. 2 tsp nutmeg

2 bottles red wine

vanilla

Roughly peel the fruit into wide bits, squeeze the oranges, and place in a large pot with spices and vanilla, over a medium heat. Add enough wine to cover the sugar, and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil, and let boil for about 5 minutes, until you have a thick syrup. When the syrup's ready, turn heat down to low, and add the rest of the wine. Mix and heat for about 5 minutes, and serve.

PUMPKIN PIE from Divine Taste

Crust:

1 cup flour

75g butter

1/2 tsp salt

5-7 tbsp water

Filling:

2 cups pumpkin puree

400g (1 can) sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp cornflour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp salt

To make the pastry - Mix the flour and salt, then cut butter into it using your fingers, until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add water, and form into a soft dough (not handling any more than necessary), then chill in the fridge for an hour or two. When the filling is ready, roll out to fit your pie dish, and put in.

To make the filling - Cut a whole pumpkin into wedges, and scoop out the seeds. Place cut-side down on a buttered baking sheet, and bake at 180 for about an hour, until soft. Mash by hand, and maybe finish in a blender to really puree it.

To make the pie - Preheat oven to 180. Add spices, cornflour, salt, and condensed milk to pumpkin, and beat until smooth. Pour into chilled crust, smooth out the top, and bake until filling is set and crust is brown (c 45 minutes). Serve with cream or yoghurt (lady says cold, but I think warm will be right nice.)

I've got the pumpkin in the oven now, and I'm going to squeeze in a nap before I make the crust, so I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow. Happy mid-winter Christmas, everybody!

(update: I realised part-way through that the recipe didn't have any sugar in it so I threw in some brown sugar; I'd guess about 3/4 cup, but I'm not sure, and then I sprinkled more on top before baking, thinking it would caramelise, but it didn't.)