Reasons to be CHEERFUL about Christmas

Shave the sides off and the apricot jam sticking the marzipan on will do the rest. And yes, definitely give it lots to drink. It's worked for me several times as I've a mind like a sieve and have often forgotten to take the cake out.

thanks stansgran and NFK. I have done those tricks in the past - and will have another go

Just a suggestion, Iam64, but maybe you need an oven thermometer. I was having similar problems with a new cooker ( cakes turning out like burnt offerings). My son ( who is a chef) bought me a thermometer and it turns out that my oven is a lot hotter than it should be. I realise it won't help your Christmas cake, but for future reference it might be worth a try.

I was disappointed when I bought my first fan oven as cakes were unevenly cooked and some were burned round the edges. It took me a while experimenting with temperatures to get them right. I found they needed a much cooler setting.

I found that my fan oven, which was supposd to cook things more evenly, did no such thing. i have to move things around at halftime to get them even.

In the past I worked for British Gas and had a desk near the Home Service staff in a big open office. They had an irate customer contact them because she had bought a new cooker just before Christmas and on Christmas day the turkey had been uncooked, despite following approved cooking methods.

Over the next few months there was a lot tooing and froing, thermostats were checked, test bakes of cakes and other items to standard recipes took place, everything worked perfectly. Everybody was bemused, then an Advisor asked to see the tin the turkey was cooked in and all was revealed. The turkey tin was large and when placed in the oven more or less touched the sides of the oven all round, so all the heat was confined to the area under the tin and very little got round the sides to heat the top. I was left wondering how often oversized tins might be the reason turkeys do not cook properly

So when cooking your turkey make sure the tin is small enough for oven heat to circulate freely around your oven!

thanks to everyone for such helpful comments. I didn't use the fan bit of the new oven, in an attempt to avoid over cooking. But - I agree, it seems to me that the temperature given of 140 on the lowest shelf, should probably be 110. My previous oven was a gas Stoves, and was great but the new electric oven does cook more evenly and heats up just as efficiently. This bit of this jolly christmas thread is morphing into another domestic jolly isn't it. I suppose that's inevitable given the season to be jolly. One of our lanes was cut back recently, with the result that the holly and hawthorn berries are now all gone. Poor birds, I've added to my array of Christmas treats for the birds in the garden as some compensation for the devastation of the hedge row.

I have a list of temps for ovens as mine is fan and convector. If I can scan AND upload I will do so onthe picture thread. It also lists oven temps equivalents for gas. I consult it daily.

thanks stansgran, that'd be great. I googled and found that for my oven 140 should be 120, which explains a lot. Maybe reading the instructions would be useful, now which safe place are they in?

Reason no. 36:
You can drink Bailey's all day - if you put it in a mug, you can pass it off as cold coffee if anybody asks.

Unless they sniff it, of course, Soutra!

Or the breath, it is a fallacy to think you can"t smell wine OR BAILEYS^ for that matter !
Laugh!!

We visited my aunt who is in a care home today. Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree already up, although I think they will be sick of the Christmas CD that was playing continuously when we were there long before Christmas.

I am currently riffling through my Christmas decorations deciding what to take to the antiques market on Sunday to decorate my stall, probably just a wreath round the table top and little lapel sized Christmas decorations to scatter among my stock.

Reason no. 40 Salvation Army Band playing real carols in the shopping centre cutting through the glitz, razzmatazz and hardcore consumerism.

(Anybody getting close enough to smell Bailey's would have to ba a close enough friend for me not to mind. I was thinking more if the vicar called........)

Some vicars have a very good nose for alcohol...!

All that communion wine I expect!

Reason No 41. The Hairy Bikers' Christmas Pudding Vodka is made, sampled and in the freezer.

Just been forwarded a link to the BBC News Cambridgeshire page which has a piece about a letter sent to John Lewis in Cambridge which reads as follows (written in a child's handwriting).

To John Lewis Cambridge

I'm sorry I broke a Christmas bauble in John Lewis on Saturday. It cost two pounds. Here is the money for it. Sorry again. Faith aged 5. (Two pound coins were sellotaped to her letter along with a drawing of herself with a bauble in her hand. How lovely is that ! (I would have put a link but not good at those).

What a well brought-up child. I like to think my GC would do the same.

Mine too Anno

Reasons NOT to be quite so cheerful 1,2,3

1. Looked at the bank online and noticed £90 went out to our local Garden Centre on Monday instead of £9.
It was due to the bank meltdown thingy and has now been sorted but thank goodness I looked.

2. Parcel of Body Shop fragrance and hand creams arrived. No protective packaging or bubble wrap inside the box so the three bottles of Fragrance Mist were rolling about and completely crushed the two tubes of hand cream
Body Shop can only replace one of them because the other one is out of stock!!

3. The recycling wasn't collected AGAIN. This is the sixth time since we went over to blue and green bins. I rang the council for the umpteenth time and told the man that I'd had enough and if they didn't do something I'd ring Environmental Health. He said, 'Madam, I AM Environmental Health!'

Tidings of comfort and joy?