from scratch

Mince pies do not exist in this part of the world and neither does mincemeat. There are one or two devoted die-hards who will do the entire thing from scratch, including making their own candied peel to go into the mincemeat, but this involves starting preparations at least 12 months in advance, storing half prepared ingredients and remembering where they are. This is not me.

I have invented my own take on fig rolls and this is the only sweet baking I do during the course of the year. The figgy filling lives in small tubs in the freezer and I can't remember exactly what goes into it but most likely it is a lot of figs, allowed to dry out a bit and perhaps neglected so that they have become a wee bit too dry, some lemon juice to counteract over-drying, some sugar to counteract the lemony tartness and a splash of Metaxa to make it all seem intentionally Christmassy. The pastry actually comes from a recipe book! It includes ground almonds and since we grow figs, almonds and lemons on our smallholding, these fig rolls include very little that is sourced off-site.

Whilst recipes in English tend to be written in the imperative [Do this! Do that! Don't forget to . . .] Greek recipes are all written in the first person plural, which makes them feel very much as though granny is with you in the kitchen [First we break the almond shells, then we blanch the kernels, next we grind the nuts into flour . . .]

And of course the pastry is bound together with a home-laid egg :-)

Happy Solstice!