BLOGMAS Day 23: Food Traditionally Eaten On Christmas Day...

I can't believe it's the 23rd of December and I have two more Blogmas posts to write (including today). It's flew by but I've loved taking part and am proud that I've kept up! These last two posts might be short and sweet, but they're personal to my Christmas, so I hope you enjoy them all the same :).

Food is one of the main things people go mad about at Christmas. Whether it's me and Si or my mom doing the shopping, we always make a list and probably buy a little more than we should as we treat ourselves to bits and bobs. It's a fun experience and we get excited about what we're going to eat on Christmas Day for breakfast, dinner and snacks. I love it in a supermarket near Christmas, when you can tell everyone is doing their 'big shop', Christmas songs are playing in the background and everyone is so merry. It's a lovely time to be a part of.

Me and Si are going to my mom and sister's for Christmas this year. It'll just be the four of us so I thought I'd share with you what we traditionally eat on Christmas Day. I'd love to know what you guys eat as I know everyone has their own traditions :)...

Breakfast

When we've finished opening our presents, mom usually makes us some breakfast. When we were younger we used to have a full English breakfast, but came to realise that it filled us up too much, as we have our Christmas dinner about 2/3pm. So now we have bacon or sausage sandwiches.

Dinner

Mom has always made a three course meal for Christmas dinner. Starters usually consist of prawn cocktail for some and pate with toast for others. I love pate on toast! Christmas dinner is of course, turkey! Then we have roast potatoes, sometimes mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, parsnips, sprouts and cauliflower, I think. She differs the vegetables each year, but we all have different preferences, so she cooks a few things and gives us what we all like in terms of veg. We have gravy and then sauces like cranberry sauce. Mom cooks her roast potatoes in goose fat, so they're always sooo tasty! You're probably wondering about the pigs in blankets, but the four of us aren't really bothered about them to be honest, so mom doesn't normally cook them. We usually have a little break after our starter and main meal, to make room for dessert. Again, this differs, none of us like Christmas pudding, so we normally have trifle, fruit salad or a different kind of cake. I know this year we're having Eton mess, which I'm extremely happy about!

Supper/Snacks

At about 6/7pm, we all start getting a bit peckish again, so this is normally when the good stuff comes out, ha ha! Mom will make turkey sandwiches if we want them, but we'll normally have some cheese and crackers. I like shopping for the cheese! All the chocolates, nuts, crisps etc come out during the evening and we all just pick as and when we like as we're watching TV and playing games :).

Ooh, talking about this makes me sooo hungry. I can't wait!

Like I said above, let me know your Christmas Day food traditions, I'd love to know.

Don't forget to like, comment and follow to keep up to date with the rest of my Blogmas posts :).

Thanks so much for reading lovelies!
Gem XxOo

BLOGMAS Day 22: Cooking With Gem: Garlic, Rosemary & Thyme Pork Loin...

I love to cook from scratch at home and one of mine and Si's fave things to eat is garlic, rosemary and thyme pork loin. I cooked it the other day and thought I'd share with you how I make it :). I can't remember when I first discovered a recipe for pork loin or the cut of meat in general, but it was some time ago now as I was making this dish back when we were living at mom's house. The main part of the meal is the pork loin. I always prepare and season this the same every time, as it's just too yummy not to. The sides that I serve it with tend to differ, but you will see what I chose to serve it with this time, below.

Before I start anything, I pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

This is the cut of pork loin after I've removed all the sinew. I'm really fussy with meat, so I like that there is no fat on a pork loin. The way I cook it ensures that it isn't dry either, so it's still really enjoyable. I cook the loin in a ceramic baking dish as I like to scrape off the bits at the bottom after cooking to create a lovely gravy (as you will see later on). Using this ceramic dish to do that means I won't scratch up a normal baking dish/tray.

Here I have massaged garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, a little salt and pepper into both sides of the loin. I add a drizzle of oil (I just use vegetable oil) to the loin to ensure all the seasoning sticks to the loin. I cook it for 50 minutes. When 50 minutes is up, I cut through the thickest part of the loin and if it isn't pink any more then I know it's done.

I peeled and cut up my potatoes for the mash and put them in a saucepan of water, with a little salt, on the hob ready to be boiled, along with the peas (in a separate saucepan of course). I don't put the heat on until there's about 20 minutes to go on the loin. I put them on a medium heat. Obviously when the potatoes are soft, they're done. I drain the potatoes and put them back into the saucepan, adding a little milk, a knob of butter, salt and pepper to taste and then I just mash them with a regular mashing utensil.

Above is the batter mix that I made for home-made Yorkshire puddings. I have a four hole large Yorkshire pudding tin, so wanted to make four. I looked online for the amount of ingredients I'd need. I used 70g of plain flour, 2 eggs, 100ml of milk, salt, pepper and some oil for cooking. I put the flour and eggs into a bowl and mixed them together, then I gradually added the milk until it looked like it does in the image above. I also added some salt and pepper to taste.

I wiped some vegetable oil around each hole in my tin to stop the Yorkshire puddings from sticking. I then popped the tin in the oven, so the oil heated up whilst I was making the mix. Leave the tin in the oven until you are ready to cook the Yorkshire puddings.

The Yorkshire puddings take about 20 minutes to cook, so I put the Yorkshire pudding mix into the holes in the tin and start cooking them five minutes before I start cooking the potatoes and peas. This will mean that the meat, potatoes and peas will be cooked at around the same time and the Yorkshire puddings will have a few more minutes whilst you're preparing the meat. They are fine to be cooked at the same temperature as the pork loin.

This was the first time I'd made Yorkshire puddings this big and by using my own ingredients, instead of a packet mix. They soon puffed up. I took them out at just the right time, when they were nice and browned on top. They look quite dark in the image, but they weren't burnt. They were the perfect size to fit all the other parts of the meal in.

When the pork loin is done, turn the heat for the potatoes and peas down to the minimum, whilst you're preparing the meat. The image above shows the pork loin when it's cooked, after 50 minutes. The bottom of the dish looks burnt but it's actually gooey, gorgeous flavour that makes for a flavoursome gravy!

I normally leave the pork loin to rest for a couple of minutes (with foil on the top) and then cut it up. I use a knife to hold the meat down and a fork to cut and pull away at the meat. It's so succulent and cuts really easily. I boiled the kettle with fresh water, sprinkled some gravy granules into the dish and poured a little boiled water on top. Add the water gradually until the gravy reaches your preferred consistency. You can then let the meat soak up some of the juices and scrape away at the bottom of the dish to add the extra flavour to the gravy. I love doing gravy this way, it's just so tasty! Whilst I'm preparing the mashed potatoes, I put the foil back on top of the pork, which keeps the heat in.

Mmmm! Succulent, gravy soaked pork loin!

This is how I served up our meal. The Yorkshire puddings are on the bottom, filled with mashed potatoes, peas and the gorgeous pork loin. I poured over any gravy left in the baking dish.

Like I said, me and Si love this meal and I've been making it for some time now. Sometimes I leave the Yorkshire puddings out completely and sometimes I serve with boiled potatoes instead of mashed potatoes and wilted garlic spinach instead of peas. It just depends what we have in or what we fancy. Any of these combinations are lovely though!

If you have a go at making this meal, let me know in the comments section below or on Twitter @GemsGemz86 :). I'd love to see pictures too!

Don't forget to like, comment and follow to keep up to date with the rest of my Blogmas posts :).

Thanks for reading lovelies!

Gem XxOo

BLOGMAS Day 12: BBC Good Food Show Winter...

I've been going to the BBC Good Food Show Winter in Birmingham since I was in high school. I studied food technology and I remember the teacher organising a day trip to the show. It was so much fun and since then I've been numerous times with my mom, my husband and sometimes my sister too. Since I've been blogging, I've had the opportunity to attend the show as press, which is lovely considering I've been going there for years! If you love food and drink then you'll love this show :). We went on the 30th of November this year, which was the last day of the show.

Me and mom having a jolly good time!

Me and my sister, resting our legs.

The BBC Good Food Show Winter is usually held over four days, in a huge hall at The NEC in Birmingham. The show is full of exhibitors that sell food, drink, cooking accessories and appliances and there are a few general home-ware stands thrown in in-between. There are also a lot of appliance and cooking demonstrations going on around the show and you can just stop and watch as you like. The food and drink exhibitors tend to offer samples, so that you can try before you buy and some of them are quite generous. You can also get better deals on some products within the show, rather than if you were to buy them outside of the show. There are live stages around the show, where celebrity chefs carry out cooking demonstrations. You can get a show guide as you go into the show (free of charge), so you can see where the live stages are and who is going to be on at certain times. The only live performance you have to book for (included within the admission ticket price), is the Supertheatre performance. This is for large audiences and when you book your admission ticket you can choose who you'd like to see and at what time.

We had a lovely day and Si (bless him) was snapping away so that I had some good pictures for my blog :). We also bought a few things, so I thought I'd share them with you too...

Arkay Sales 'Intelligent' Soup Maker. This was a demonstration that we watched where you can make hot smooth or chunky soup in minutes, using this one machine! Find out more here.

I tend to get the pre-prepared garlic in a jar because I hate the smell on my fingers when chopping it up! This Garlic Twist is something that I've seen time and time again at this show and it would make a lovely gift if you know someone who loves garlic, but doesn't like chopping it up. This little gadget minces garlic to perfection! Find out more here.

My mom bought this Lakeland Compact Chopper and I probably would have too but she has actually bought me something similar for Christmas from QVC, that I said I liked. It's normally £22.99 on the Lakeland website, but it was only £9.99 at the show, so it was a right bargain! Find out more here.

Rachel Allen carrying out a live cooking demonstration.

These little tubs are full of edible, crunchy bugs. Si was brave and tried a few of them but I was having none of it! I suppose if you're thinking of having a bush tucker challenge party, then these Crunchy Critters would be great. You can see what kind of bugs they have to offer here, you can even buy edible tarantula's :/.

Si trying a crunchy cricket! He didn't seem that fazed by it to be honest, he just kept mentioning that it was stuck in his teeth...nice!

This was the Jack And Gill Crafts stand. They specialise in embossing rolling pins (usually used with icing), and workshops. We had a good look at this stand as my mom loves making cakes, she bought one of their embossing rolling pins. See what they have to offer here.

This is the result of the embossing rolling pin that my mom bought. You can buy it here.

Here are some examples of cakes that were decorated using Jack And Gill Crafts products.

A Smeg fridge that I love the look of! I'd love one of these fridges, maybe in a different colour but I just love how retro it looks!

I picked this up at the show and remembered to take a snap of it before I finished it off! B Fresh make fresh, cold, pressed juices in Shropshire, England. They had many samples to try and they were sooo fresh! They have juices made with ingredients such as, carrot, beetroot, kale and spinach to name a few. I chose this one because it was the sweetest, it contains the most apple juice out of their range. Some of the others aren't sweet at all, but are good for different reasons. Find out more about their juices here.

We saw The Hairy Bikers in the Supertheatre.

They showed us how to make three recipes: scallops with coral sauce & cauliflower purée, turkey chilli with cauliflower rice and baked peaches. The chilli and peaches really appealed to me and I'll probably make them for me and Si :). I can only find two of the recipes online, but I've linked them for you anyway!

This stand was a favourite, especially for Si. Curry Dave specialise in making naan bread curry pizza! We got to this stand as the show was close to finishing, so we were given a couple of samples to try. It was delicious! You can see what they have to offer here.

Our sample of Curry Dave's naan bread pizza.

Here are the products that me and Si bought from the show, to take home...

I love it when a decision isn't hard to make and as soon as I had a sample of this, I knew I had to get it! It was £10 for a 500ml bottle, which I thought was a great deal! I love strawberries and vodka drinks, especially cocktails, so this appealed to me straight away! XUXU Strawberry Vodka is made with fresh strawberry pulp, crystal clear vodka and a squeeze of lime (also a favourite of mine). I'm looking forward to drinking it with sparkling wine at Christmas! It is made with 66% fruit and you can find ways of using it within drinks/cocktails here. You can purchase it here.

I thought I'd show you the drink within a glass. You can see that it coats the glass slightly, which shows you the fruit pulp and that it isn't just a pure vodka liquid, if you know what I mean :).

We came across the Suhana stand towards the end of the show, so we were pulled in by their offering of potato and curry sauce samples. Me and Si love curry and prefer to make our own the majority of the time, rather than get a takeaway. When we got there, they had a deal on where you could get 20 curry spice packets for £10. My mom asked if we wanted to go halves, so we both had 10 curry spice packets for £5 each. We love butter chicken (we've tried their Suhana Butter Chicken Mix before, we found it in B&M's and when I made it, it was delicious) so we chose a few of those, along with the Suhana Chicken Tikka Masala Mix and the Suhana Chicken Tandoori Mix. Just because it says 'chicken' on the ones I've mentioned, it doesn't mean you can't use vegetables instead. You can see their range of spice mixes here. I love their homepage, it looks like steam is coming off of the curry!

Here are the spice mixes we bought from the Suhana stand.

This Bekaert's Biscuit Butter is something that Si spotted before me and advised me to try it. It's a caramelised biscuit spread with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. One thing I will say is that it is very moreish, so if you initially like it, you'll want more and more. They had a crunchy option, but we opted for smooth. We actually bought some biscuits whilst we were in Birmingham to have with this, back in our hotel room, ha ha! As soon as you taste it, you get the biscuit taste and then the cinnamon comes through, mmm. I'm actually having more of it now, so I can try and describe it to you :), blogging purposes and all that! You can order, check out recipes and more on the website.

Excuse the state of it, but this is what the Biscuit Butter looks like :), it's really smooth and velvety!

I only have a couple of squares of this left! I love Eton Mess, so when I saw this chocolate bar, I had to have it. It is made with Hanley's luxury white chocolate, natural strawberry flavour, freeze dried strawberries and meringue pieces. I paid £3 for this at the show. You can buy this and find out more about Hanley's Premium Confectionery here.

The BBC Good Food Show, Birmingham is also on in the summer, but I've only ever been to the winter one. If you've been to the summer show, feel free to share your experiences in the comments section below :). BBC Good Food also have other shows that you can attend. Find out more and book tickets here.

Have you ever been to a BBC Good Food Show?

Don't forget to like, comment and follow to keep up to date with the rest of my Blogmas posts :).

Thanks for reading lovelies!

Gem XxOo

* I was able to attend the show free of charge, as press. Me and Si took a lot of our own pictures and it was my own choice to feature the above on my blog. Also, I was not gifted any of the items mentioned above.