There’s not much sign of a white Christmas around here at the moment and I’m hoping for even a little sprinkling of frost to transform the autumnal greens and browns of the garden into something a more wintry white. Maybe it’s something to do with my Viking ancestry, but it doesn’t really feel like Christmas to me without the cold!
At this time of year I do tend to become obsessed with food as well as with the weather. My grandmother always makes Yorkshire Moggy, which is traditionally served at breakfast on Christmas Eve. Since it mainly consists of ingredients such as lard, sugar and golden syrup I can’t really recommend it as a healthy eating option. It does, however, seem equally as edible or inedible as the cowheel soup that was apparently taken at Christmas country balls during the Georgian and Regency period! Given that you would be wearing your flimsy muslin gown and travelling in a draughty carriage, I suppose you needed something warming to greet you on arrival. A soup containing shin of beef, onions, mushroom ketchup, eggs and walnuts plus half a pint of Madeira wine sounds just the job.
A very happy festive season to everyone!
Nicola
4 comments:
You can't leave it like that! What's the recipe for Yorkshire Moggy?
Despite having grown up in Yorkshire, and despite having eaten Yorkshire fat rascals as well as Yoskhire pudding (of course!) and Yorkshire curd tart, I've never come across Yorkshire Moggy.
Okay, Amanda, here it is!I'm going to ask my grandma for the recipe for Fat Rascals now!
350g (12oz) Self-raising Flour
110g (4oz) Sugar
75g (3oz) Lard
75g (3oz) Butter
75ml (3 floz) Milk
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
1½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
Preheat the oven to 170°C/ 325°F/ Gas mark 3.
Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together. Rub the lard and butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and syrup and stir it all in well. Mix in enough milk to make a fairly stiff dough. Roll out to 1.5cm (1½ inch) thickness. Place on a large greased baking tray. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Before the Moggy is quite cool, cut it into segments shaped like the traditional rays of the rising sun.
Enjoy!
Ooooo so it's like a kind of shortcake. Fat rascals are nice - reminds of many trips to Betty's Tea Shop when I lived in York.
I'm with you, I want snow for Christmas, too. In fact, I want lots of snow and cold from December to March but never get it. *sniff* Should move back to Sweden.
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