December 6, 2011

Stormy Weather. Christmas Cooking.

The Weather Gods are not really smiling on us at present.  I would go so far as to say they are rather cross. We have been trying to harvest but keep getting interrupted by rain.  If it's not rain, it's a harvest ban because it is too hot and windy.  I need to put an order in for no wind and 32 degrees for the next few weeks.  Unfortunately The Weather Gods are renowned for ignoring orders.  Seriously, they are worse than Telstra.  (Actually maybe not, now I think about it - there is a lovely randomness to the weather, at least sometimes it goes your way whereas Telstra is a different story.)

Yesterday we were hit by a huge storm and shut up shop for the day. The headers were parked up and all workmen hightailed it to the pub. The Farmer came home early and we decided there was nothing for it but to sit on the verandah with a nice glass of wine.  Desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that...

This was the view.

Ominous and Un-Harvest Friendly Weather. Take Note Weather Gods.

Oh well.  As always the weather is beyond our control.  Our crop is actually yielding well and we haven't had any major quality issues so if we could just get the rest of it off we would be sorted.

Have you done any Christmas baking yet?  I am at the "thinking about it" stage.  I am hoping this will turn into the "doing something about it" stage in the not too distant future.  But I am not promising anything.

I have two favourite Christmas recipes.  I posted them last December so thought I would pop the links in, just in case anyone wanted to take a peak.  They are both fantastic and dead easy.


Meringue Christmas Cookies - there is a link in this post to the original recipe.  I pretty much go through it anyway though.  Just don't forget to preheat your oven to 150 degrees celsius and cook for about 30-40 mins.

Oh and I will always knock up a pav for Christmas Day.  If you need a recipe for that click here.

If you have any super easy but super impressive recipes for Christmas I would love to here about them.  Feel free to leave a link in your comment.  I would arrange a link up thingy but I think it may be beyond my IT skills.

I hope everyone has had a lovely Tuesday.  Take care.



6 comments:

Virginia said...

Oh dear, sorry about the rain. All through my childhood we were trying to cut and bale hay on our dairy farm in Tas at this time of year. I remember very well the rain coming just as the grass was ready to bale, then it would need to dry again, be re-raked etc etc. Hope it all clears soon!

And I have already planned to make your cake again. Chatting about it just two days ago. I made 2 last year and it was great. Teaching 3 days a week this Nov/Dec has sent the plans a little out of kilter, though. x

Mummaducka said...

I hope you don't get the 10 inches we got! Some very nervous people around here as it just keeps raining. Stay safe!- we watched yesterday afternoon as the rescue truck, a police wagon and an ambulance went up the road to a neighbour's to extract a contractor caught by the leg in an auger. Freakily the neighbour was also badly injured 3 years ago when he too was caught by the leg in an auger!!

Lisa @ Blithe Moments said...

I am considering baking at the moment. How long do those meringues last? I will need to bake in advance of travel over Christmas.

Hope the weather settles. It has been terrible over east. The poor cherry farmers were about to harvest and the rain has split their crop. Lots around the Young area have lost 80%. The same thing happened last year, just devastating.

ANB said...

Hi AFW, thanks for the reminder about the Christmas cake recipe. I wrestled Little E around the supermarket this morning and we are now all stocked up on dried fruit etc and ready to bake! I just wondered whether you have any thoughts about how long the cake will keep for? Do you think I can make it now to give as gifts close to Christmas? I know baked fruit cakes last ages but they usually incorproate an alcohol feed? And incidentally, I hope the rain treats you kindly. It's been much drier in Perth today so fingers crossed it's also ok up your way.

A Farmer's Wife said...

Thanks everyone. I must admit I have never kept a non-boozy version of the cake. If I want to keep it I brush the top with more sherry and wrap it tightly in glad wrap once the sherry has been absorbed. Then it will keep in the fridge (and probably out of it) for ages.

The meringues should last for at least a week in an airtight container. Ours have never lasted that long as they get gobbled up.

The Distressed Mother said...

Hope the weather pulls its head in and behaves for you.

TDM xx