Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

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Joan
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Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Joan » 5 years ago

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Flavours

Post by Joan » 5 years ago

I'm having Christmas Day with friends, and they have asked me to bring a pavlova. I've shared one with them before and they loved it. If you don't know, it's a soft, dinner plate sized meringue, covered with cream. Do not ask about it's origins: Australians and New Zealandish can come to blows.

So, after the cream you put a topping. The classic Australian version is passionfruit pulp, but kiwifruit, strawberry of course, chocolate and mint (like a grated After Eights) <shudder>, banana <double shudder> are also common. But I am trying to think of something that might be a little more Christmassy than that, but I am struggling.

Any suggestions? The pavlova has been requested, so that's not going to change.

(I pulled a recipe book! down from the shelf last time, but it turns out that book is all available free online. This is the excellent recipe I used.)
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by LowlifeDes » 5 years ago

Cranberries, to offset the sweetness of the meringue?
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Colours

Post by Joan » 5 years ago

Now I have cropped my hair, I've decided to revert to my inner punk and dye it a colour that does not occur in nature. And then another. And later another.

What shade do you think I should start with?

Yet another aside: I'm glad my hair wasn't long and straight, or I might regret having cut it off!
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Regulator
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Regulator » 5 years ago

Purple... you know in your heart it has to be purple. :)
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Dunckel
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Dunckel » 5 years ago

Flavour: In Iceland we had a wonderful chocolate and hazelnut merangue gateau, so I would suggest nutella and crushed hazelnuts, with perhaps a few dried cranberries to give sharpness.
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Rocky » 5 years ago

I think you should ask Classic, Reiver, Pale Rider, Lynch Pin, Derrick et al about your hair style and colour......you know you will be able to trust their judgement.
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Iris » 5 years ago

Hair colour should always be natural, which isn't the answer you want, so I'll shut up.
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Iris » 5 years ago

On the other hand, on pavlovas...

My first memories of pavlova were of those made by a schoolfriend's mum, where she put kiwi fruit on top and mixed in angelica with the cream. She was a kiwi.

But sticking with the angelica idea, how about that plus raisins and vanilla in the cream, topped with some really good candied peel, chopped quite small. A riff on panettone.

Or for something more British, mixed spice, rum and a little mixed dried fruit in the cream and topped with toasted almonds - Christmas cake and marzipan.
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Sonic Budgie » 5 years ago

I think you should ask each friend what they would prefer and then do individual pavlovas, plus a few spare, and a huge one to share too. It's what a true friend would do.
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Joan » 5 years ago

Regulator wrote:
5 years ago
Purple... you know in your heart it has to be purple. :)
I thought, is that a Christmas colour? Being a nerd, I was off to wikipedia . Not in modern times, it's Lenten now, but pre-Vatican II, when they knew how to put on a show, it (well, violet) was a Christmas colour. Also, the colour of inferior bishops, so that works too.

Then @Iris added this:
Iris wrote:
5 years ago
Hair colour should always be natural, which isn't the answer you want, so I'll shut up.
I can read the text well enough, but I've read Darren Brown** so I understand how to read the secret messages; in this case it's the username. What colour are irises?

Purple it is!

Sadly, I blinked in the face of danger; when it said leave it on for 20-30 minutes I wimped out and only did 20. It's not as startling as I hoped.
IMG_20181221_130517021_HDR_1.jpg

**No, I haven't
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Rocky » 5 years ago

Looks good to me, Joan but I’m not sure my judgment on such matters is particularly valid (see Reg’s earlier comments about my dress sense).
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Joan » 5 years ago

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
Sonic Budgie wrote:
5 years ago
I think you should ask each friend what they would prefer and then do individual pavlovas, plus a few spare, and a huge one to share too. It's what a true friend would do.
I am actually going to do a variant of this. Pavlova should be served soon after it is assembled, and after reading the suggestion I think I will just spread the cream accompany it with bowls of various topping alternatives and let people dress their own slices. I'll be using some the suggestions above.

Don't worry, it's still pretty indulgent; there are only going to be 3 of us and the recipe is for 6-8 people.
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Dunckel » 5 years ago

Joan wrote:
5 years ago
I thought, is that a Christmas colour? Being a nerd, I was off to wikipedia . Not in modern times, it's Lenten now, but pre-Vatican II, when they knew how to put on a show, it (well, violet) was a Christmas colour. Also, the colour of inferior bishops, so that works too.

Then @Iris added this:

I can read the text well enough, but I've read Darren Brown** so I understand how to read the secret messages; in this case it's the username. What colour are irises?

Purple it is!

Sadly, I blinked in the face of danger; when it said leave it on for 20-30 minutes I wimped out and only did 20. It's not as startling as I hoped.
IMG_20181221_130517021_HDR_1.jpg


**No, I haven't
Right, just your avatar to colour now.


Individual diy pavlovas are an excellent idea, I might try that next time I'm organising a gathering.
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Re: Advice wanted: Christmas colours and flavours

Post by Iris » 5 years ago

Joan wrote:
5 years ago


What colour are irises?

Purple
Up to a point, Lord Copper.

Apparently the official description of my eponym is "Standards rich lavender pink, center veined violet; style arms lavender pink, turquoise band either side of pink midrib; Falls deep wine red (near RHS 77A), bright violet halo around darkly veined gold signal", although I would say "mainly purple". But they do come in all kinds of yellows, pinks, reds, blues and purples, and the most common wild British variety is probably the yellow flag.
http://wiki.irises.org

Then there's the Greek goddess of the rainbow...
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