Balls

Show me a bored housewife who says she doesn't like to spend an afternoon playing with balls, and I'll show you a liar... Another tick on the festive 'to do' list and sausagemeat under my fingernails. Whoop whoop!

Soon to be frozen balls

Cranberry apple sausagemeat balls

Gather together:

A 450g packet of sausagemeat
An onion
A couple of cloves of garlic, crushed
75g dried cranberries
An apple, grated
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped

Chop the onion finely and fry it in a knob of butter until soft. Add the crushed garlic and cook for another minute. Set aside. Meanwhile, combine all the other ingredients in a bowl and add the onion/garlic when cool. Season, then squish everything together and shape into balls of your favourite size. Put them on a baking tray covered with clingfilm in the freezer. When they have frozen solid you can prise them off the tray and bag them up. Remember to defrost them in plenty of time, and bake them in a hot oven (about 200/gas 6) for about 30 minutes.

35 days to go...

I'm getting ready for Christmas: I've bought two packets of tissues in festive boxes, some brandy snaps and some sausagemeat. All impulse buys. I have also purchased a small chest (titter titter) freezer for the garage which I am going to fill with festive food. Starting with a delectable cranberry compote to accompany your hot turkey and cold leftovers.

Cranberry compote

Cranberry compote

150g dried cranberries

grated rind and juice of 2 oranges

half a pint of ginger wine

1 teaspoon ground ginger

4 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons arrowroot

Place everything except the arrowroot in a pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until the cranberries are tender but not mushy. Meanwhile, mix the arrowroot with a little water, tip it into the pan and keep stirring until the mixture thickens. 

Next time: Gravy. Make it ahead to save you time and last minute lumpy gravy disaster.