Winter hugs

 

Dear big toons, 

Remember to look after the little toons and keep them nice and warm this winter!

Mauve belongs to @mauvetoon.bsky.social

Festive recipes

In my special Christmas edition of The Belugatoons Podcast, I read out some of my favourite holiday recipes. Here I am going to put down in words the methods that I use as they are a little different to the original recipes.


Mince pies (source)

1 large jar mincemeat (about 600g)
1 apple
zest 1 lemon
Icing sugar, for dusting
For the pastry
375g plain flour
260g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 large egg, plus 1 beaten egg for glazing

Place the flour and butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency. Add the sugar and the egg, and mix together. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10 mins.

Scoop the mincemeat into a bowl and add the lemon zest. Dice apple into small chunks and add to the mixture.

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick. Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into greased muffin trays. Put 11⁄2 tbsp mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg. Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the rest of the egg, sprinkle with caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.

Bake mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with icing sugar. Serve.


Eggnog (source 1, source 2)

5 eggs, separated
3 cups (700ml) milk
1 cup (240ml) heavy or double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 (130g) cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (100ml) Rum or Whisky
Nutmeg for garnish (optional)

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites making sure you put the yolk into a large bowl. Blend the yolk with the milk, cream, vanilla and whisky using a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.

In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar while continuing to whip until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, and pour into a punch bowl or large pitcher.

Serve in mugs or cups garnished with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Happy Holidays from me and my cool friends!

Holiday Dragons (Live stream)

Skating Polar Bears

Christmas Live Stream #1

Tune in today at 6pm (UK) to see some festive magic in progress.

Christmas Tree Ornaments

It's getting real cold down here in hell

OK, so I backed the campaign. You know the one. But I'm not an enemy of the country, I just felt it was time for a change. I'm not a fan of Rage Against the Machine, but I'd rather hear the sound of Killing in the Name, than the sound of Simon Cowell stuffing yet another 100k into his wallet. And let's face it, Joe Mcelderry would have sold the same number of copies had we not virally tampered with the chart. I'm glad I did it. I did also donate some money to the Shelter charity. So don't hate me because I don't buy the records the rest of the nation does. I didn't buy any of the previous X-factor singles either.

Don't hate me, please!

Andrew

Beluga Weekly #51

By Andrew Mortimer

Download Killing In the Name right now!

Download the Killing In the Name by Rage Against the Machine right now. Don't ask me why, just download it from iTunes or payable music web sites (7digital, HMV.com etc.). Even if you already own a copy. You don't have to listen to it, ever, but you MUST download it now. If you want to know more, click here.

Beluga Weekly #50

By Andrew Mortimer