Barmaids mince pies

A true (but not often known) fact about me is that I used to work as a barmaid in Soho London. The streets of Soho have a bit of a reputation for *blushing* other things and while there was a lot of that about there was also the pub I used to work in, the (sadly not there any more) Moon & sixpence. I only worked there for a couple of months but during that time I learnt a lot. Working behind a bar also gave me the inspiration to add booze to my mincemeat when making mince pies. So without any further ado I present you with the receipe for Barmaids Mince pies! 

You will need
150g/5oz butter (cut into pieces)
225g/8oz plain flour
50g/2oz ground almonds (don't be tempted to skip these they absolutely make the pastry)
25g/1oz caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon of water
225g/8oz mincemeat
booze of your choice I've used sherry/brandy and rum sucessfuly in the past
a non stick 12 bun tin
*Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6. Rub the butter into the flour. Add the almonds, sugar, egg yolk & water and mix to form a firm dough.
*Knead briefly on a floured surface, then wrap and chill for 30 mins. Roll out thinkly and stamp out 12 rounds (about 7.5 cm/3 inch, I use a mug for this).
*Open your jar of mincemeat and pour a tabkespoon of your chosen booze in, mix thoroughly and put the lid back on till you need it.
*Once your pastry has rested use it to line the 12 bun tins. Spoon in the mincemeat and use the remaining pastry to cut into seasonal shapes such as holly or Christmas trees to place on top of the mincemeat (you can cheat and use cutters if you are pressed for time).
*Bake for 20 mins until golden brown and enjoy.

Wood school Christmas meal

As regular readers to this blog will know since January last year I've been attending wood school on a Thursday night.The class runs from 7pm till 9pm and everyone has their own projects to be getting on with and works pretty seperately unless one of the tutors has something to show us or its break/parish notice time. Brian (seen above with the silly glasses on) is one of the tutors and my favourite, mostly because he is so patient and has never been discouraging about my quite ambitious project plans

We were all rather worried earlier this year when he suffered a minor stroke and was out of action for a few weeks. Wood school wasn't really the same but thankfully a few months later he is back to his fabulous self.  We all trooped along to a local pub (in the rain) and enjoyed some fine eating and some local carol singers. As a bonus I also got a Christmas card from Brian, I've been carving this William De Morgan design (he designed tiles for William Morris) in three layers in a rather large piece of wood since I started. I first saw the design when I was 12 at the Walthamstow William Morris museum & it must have made a big impression as now many years later I still remebered it. Brian has the rule that you can carve whatever you like, but it has to be something that you love, as that way you are more likely to finish it. He told me I was taking on a lot when I first started his namesake (Brian the lion) it is a big job but with three seperate layers (all of which will be rounded to be convex once I've finished)  to the relief carving it was never going to be a walk in the park. He pushed this point home in his Christmas card, it read 'sorry that you haven't finished your first carving yet, maybe next year or the year after, or the year after that...'. I will get there, I have to I've already put my nae down for a large chunk of cherry wood which will be ready in a couple of years time!