The Watched Pot

by Kathy Humphrey

When I was small, December lasted for six months. On the first of the month, Christmas catalogues were unearthed from where they had been hidden away by my vigilant mother and then distributed for our voracious mullings and musings. Then, the advent calendar was carefully hung and primed for action, and the waiting game began.

My brother, sister and I prowled the house, looking for chores and good deeds to do: we polished the silver, oiled the furniture, and walked the dog, all in a bid to get into the spirit of the season. There was always baking—my mother loves to cook, and we revelled in helping to decorate the sugar cookies, shape the gingerbread and roll out the creamy fillings for the hand-chopped chocolates recipe. Delicious treats and goodies would be assembled in the kitchen, and then, while we were outside watching in vain for snow, stashed away far in the depths of the freezer. We lived by the maxim “when it’s gone, it’s gone.” Woe betide the household insufficiently supplied with shortbread when Christmas Eve finally rolled around! The waiting ended, eventually, of course. The day arrived, as it always did, and the old year gradually rolled into a new one, followed by the never-ending black hole of the next December.

As I get through more of them, Decembers start to speed by like the rest of the year. I throw out whatever hooks and anchors I can, to slow the days a bit, and lodge some of the passing moments in my memory along with special occasions and celebrations.

Every year, I try to have friends and family over to bake some sweet treats, and to spend some time together. We usually make some sort of sweet fruitbread that everyone can share with their families for breakfast sometime over the holidays. We bake batches of old favourites, sample everything, and always try at least one new recipe. The day ends with a light dinner (green salad with pomegranate seeds and satsuma segments, with lamb meatballs on the side) and a much-loved movie. The more special days there are to look forward to, the easier the wait can be—cherish your time!

Grandpa’s Poppycock

2 quarts popped corn
1 1/3 cups pecans
2/3 cup almonds, slivered
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup

Mix popcorn and nuts on cookie sheet. Combine rest of ingredients in saucepan and boil 10-15 minutes, or until light caramel in colour. Pour over mixture on cookie sheet. Mix well, spread to dry.

Cranberry Loaf

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp grated orange peel
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup raisins
1 1/4 cups cranberries, chopped (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and soda. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. In small bowl, beat egg. Stir in orange peel and orange juice. Pour orange juice mixture into dry ingredients and stir gently, until moist. Fold in raisins and cranberries. Spoon into greased loaf pan. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until done. Cool: remove from pan. (Recipe can be doubled, and given away. Freezes well.)

Grandma’s Ginger Shortbread

1 cup butter
1/2 cup fruit sugar
2 cups flour
1/4-1/2 cup chopped candied ginger
(for more ginger flavour, add 1 tsp powdered ginger to the flour)

Cream butter. Add sugar. Blend in flour. Add ginger. Press mixture into ball: knead on lightly floured board until smooth. Pat into ungreased 9" x 9" pan. Prick over top with fork. Bake in preheated 300˚F oven for 45 minutes (until set and lightly browned). Cut into pieces when cool.

Whipped Shortbread

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup superfine sugar
pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup rice flour
1 3/4 cups flour

In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and salt until fluffy and almost white. Stir in vanilla, then rice flour. Stir in all-purpose flour, one-third at a time. Form into 2 flat rectangles. Between waxed paper, roll out rectangles to 1/4" thickness. Cut out 1 1/2" circles; place 1" apart on ungreased pans, re-rolling scraps and chilling dough between cutting. Refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes). Bake in top and bottom thirds of 275˚F oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until bottoms are light golden (about 40 minutes). Let cool for 2 minutes on pans, on racks. Transfer to racks to cool completely. Variations: Mix 1 tsp crushed green tea, or Earl Grey tea, or 1/2 cup white sesame seeds, into dough along with rice flour.

Kathy Humphrey lives in Victoria with her husband and two children. She tries to see cooking for a family not as a chore but as a creative outlet.