The best Christmas fruit mince pie pastry

Today I made my first (and probably last) batch of Christmas mince pies. They are always so successful, this pastry is short, crispy but melts in your mouth. There is a long story to how I got the recipe as it had been a closely guarded secret by one of Aaron's aunties. My MIL was very put out when I got the recipe as she had been trying to get it for about 30 years!!!

I made my Christmas fruit mince on Tuesday as it is so easy to whip up in the food processor. Today I made one lot of pastry which resulted in 3 1/2 dozen fruit mince pies. yum.

So I have decided to share the recipe:

Aunty Lorraine's Christmas fruit mince pie pastry

3 Cups flour
1 Cup icing sugar
2 Tablespoons custard powder
1 large egg yolk (today I used two yolks just because I felt like it)
375g soft butter

Put all into the food processor and process until it starts forming balls of dough. NB this dough is very soft. Do not add any more flour but flour the bench and rolling pin well.

Roll out fairly thin and cut etc. Bake 180oC for 15-18 minutes. It should be turning golden but NOT brown.

Have a Merry Christmas. I link to these places

What's on my sewing table at the moment

Well there is somehow not as much getting under the sewing machine as I plan. I just don't seem to have the steam after dinner to get things done.

BUT I have started a couple of things and have worked on them for the last few nights. This is after having some full days doing fun school holiday things. We have scooter-ed around Lake Pegasus after a lovely morning tea with friends. That time ended up with swimming in the middle (in our clothes as I did not think to bring togs), dodging the sprinklers and having a generally lovely time.

We have also been on the miniature railway out at Steam Scene, raced on the hydroslides at Jellie Park, the males all went to see the new Hobbit movie and all this in the first week of the school holidays. ( I managed to squeeze some work in today while they were at the movies).

Anyway..... I have started a refashion of this denim jacket.


And started to piece together a big pile of scrappy 60 degree triangles. These triangles have been in the making for a long time. Whenever I have sewn strips leftover from a project I cut triangles from them. Jakob is in need of a few cushion covers so I thought that was a project that killed two birds with one stone. The only things is that I have a LOT more than I realised. So I have started the top of his cushion cover, started another cushion cover for a much bigger cushion but I still have leftovers. Hmmm...

Not sure how to use them up so am thinking of putting a strip between them all, am liking this look so far. 

So still sitting on my sewing table are the cushions, the backing (black with white dot) and the patched triangles. 

I link to these places.

A finished refashion and a new tool

About a year ago I bought this nightie from and Op Shop. It is a really pretty cotton lawn but rather old fashioned in it's style. Gathered from the top with lace it just kind of hangs over you. So I never really wore it. Then one of my nighties got so old the fabric ripped in the wash. I cut it down the middle and used it as a pattern to refashion this.

Old style top the the nightie

I cut the skirt off at a reasonable height and then gathered the material onto some piping that I had made for the bean bag refashion. Then I cut a new top out and sewed with some piping and bias binding. I was halfway through making this and it was sitting on my sewing table when my purchase arrived in the mail.

What excellent timing. A 2.5cm bias binding maker. No more boring shop bought bias for me, funky stuff to come!! (well that is the intention - we will see how it pans out). I tried it out on some matching red fabric and it made lovely bias binding for the shoulder straps.

The whole outfit even looks a bit Christmassy.

Linking up to Finish it up friday as well as many other places - check out the links here.

Grrrrr........

The bare garden

On Tuesday I could have happily chopped the chooks heads off!!! (and perhaps that of my husband).
at 7.30pm Jakob yelled "the chooks are in the garden!!". Boy and were they in the garden. My entire salad area is decimated. Gone is the basil, coriander, lettuce, mizuna, beet and all the things that were just getting reading to be our cutting salad garden for the summer. Now it is bare land.

Aaron had apparently been in the chook enclosure and when he shut the door he heard the click but did not check and the door had not latched properly. Grrrrrr.

Now we will be a month behind in eating from our garden. I was very unhappy and all Aaron could say was "Oh well". Hmphg.

Our Genius

Last night at the school prizegiving three students at the school were given awards for outstanding results in international exams. Our Jakob was one of them. We are so proud. He completed the University of South Wales Global exams earlier in the year. He wanted to do the Mathematics exam. This covered children NZ and the greater pacific region in year 6. (which includes Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand etc. ) He achieved a result in the top 1% and has received a certificate for High Distinction.
When they gave us his exam back we thought we would go through and work out how to calculate the few questions that he did not get right. Neither Aaron or myself could!!!!

Kaiapoi Christmas Santa Parade

Yesterday was our town (Kaiapoi, NZ) Christmas Carnival and Santa Parada. We always try to stay at home for the parade weekend. Had a lovely (albeit rather windy) day. A few snapshots.

The males in my life all patiently waiting

I wanted this trike!

Our local community garden had an amazing float

Santa and the parade had ended.

My Op Shop find

I am super excited with this Op Shop find. Paid more than I usually do $10, but it works really well. Cleaned it up so it sparkles and I am going to wrap it and put it under the Christmas tree as an extra for the boys.

I link to The Op Shop Show off.