#JusJoJan … Kitchen creativity

One of the benefits of being the host over Christmas was being able to play in my new kitchen. Having space to work in as well as great equipment spurred me on to trying a host of new recipes – well new to me!

Fuelled by fresh coffee, instead of my usual work-a-day instant variety, here are some of the things I tried –

• hot-water crust pastry to make a pie with the Christmas feast left-overs
• Sweet mincemeat pies (rum-soaked homemade filling)
• Pizza dough to use up continental meat selection

I will definitely do all of them again. At least now I know how tricky hot-water pastry is… it’s bloomin’ hot to handle and extremely wobbly once you have rolled it out to the required thickness. To be honest, I think I’d substitute coffee for a stiff Gin and Tonic in order to handle this pastry! Too much coffee gave me the jitters. I needed a steadier hand to persuade the pastry into the pie mould!!

Inspired by the success of these new recipes, I am going to have a go at choux pastry and sourdough bread! I’ll let you know how it goes! Oh, and I won’t be coffee-fueled this time. I’m going to need a steady hand for piping.