Friday, December 22, 2006

DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF HOLLY, TRA LA LA LA, LA. LA. LA TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY, TRA LA LA LA LA
Well folks, its only two days to Christmas and I have a huge number of things to do, presents to wrap, mince pies to bake, glasses of bubbly to drink, carols to sing, friends to see, etc etc etc; So I am declaring the next week a blogging free zone, and instead of my usual reading and ranting and whilst filled with the feelings of peace and harmony appropriate to the season I will leave you with this excellent recipe for Smoking Bishop. I always have a big bowl of it ready to drink late on Christmas Eve when family and friends come back from Midnight Mass chilly but happy and needing something very cheering before bed. This had been a tradition of ours for many years, the recipe coming from a great aunt,imagine his surprise when re-reading Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", my DH came across a reference to Smoking Bishop. It comes right at the end of the tale, when Ebenezer Scrooge has seen the error of his ways - "A Merry Christmas, Bob!" said Scrooge with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavor to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a bowl of Smoking Bishop, Bob!"

SMOKING BISHOP [aka THE BISHOP]

Makes 12 glasses


2 large unwaxed lemons (or 3 Seville oranges)

8 cloves
1 ½ bottles inexpensive port
50g sugar
550ml water
½ teaspoon mixed spice

Pre-heat oven to 180°C

Stick the cloves into one lemon, place it in a baking dish and roast it in the oven until it is soft, collapsing and starting to go brown – about 30 minutes.
Put the sugar and juice of the other lemon into a large heat-proof glass or ceramic serving bowl.
Pour the port into a large saucepan and bring it almost to the boil. DO NOT LET IT BOIL.
In another saucepan bring the water with the spice to the boil. Add the boiling spicy water to the hot port, and pour the whole lot into the serving bowl. Add the roasted lemon, stir and serve as hot as possible.

I wish you all a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas, and hope to see you again in 2007 !

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

We wish you a happy Christmas, too :)

skeet said...

Hope your Christmas has been a happy one May the new year bring bountiful blessings!

DavetheF said...

Dear H,
Happy New Year from Fish Hoek. It's been lovely here; I holidayed in Hermanus with family (see post) then had the whole lot in at my house over the new year. Hope this is a good one for you (and me).

Anonymous said...

It was on the newspaper when he saw the watch again. How time flies! 50 years had passed since he saw it the last time. He never stopped finding it during the 50 years. He was too old to remember too many things. However, everything about her was still engraved in his mind and never disappeared.[url=http://www.good4shopper.com/others_rolex-watches.html]replica Rolex Others[/url] [url=http://www.luxucenter.com/]Louis Vuitton handbags[/url] [url=http://www.sunglassescool.com/chanel-sunglasses.html]chanel glasses[/url] It values at $235,000. The Italian luxury watch brand Panerai was acquired by Richemont in 1997. Its watches are always in the chic and vogue styles that most Hollywood stars are fond of them. In the 2010 Watch Fair in Geneva, they launched this kind of commemorative watches Galileo above. The dial can display the time of sunrise and sunset time of the city. The limited 30 pieces released were all booked the same day.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I begin on internet with a directory

Anonymous said...

top [url=http://www.c-online-casino.co.uk/]online casino[/url] coincide the latest [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com/]online casino[/url] autonomous no set aside perk at the chief [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]laid-back bonus casino
[/url].