Christmas Spice Mix

Christmas Spice Mix Blog
 
I couldn’t resist. It’s that time of the year so I just felt compelled to introduce our Christmas Spice Mix to the table.
 
You all get it by now… I am a Christmas fiend. I love this time of the year. I love preparing my menu for Christmas Day, wrapping presents, writing out my Christmas cards (yes, I still post Christmas cards), then spending hours upon hours in my kitchen preparing for our Christmas Feast.
 
This Christmas Spice Mix is an old family recipe and one that my late mum handed down to me many years ago.  This spice mix is very dear to my heart and since my mum has passed away every Christmas (which was her favourite holiday) I use this in my baking. I only ever pull it out of my spice cupboard, very late at night when everyone is asleep. It just reminds me of my mum and every year since her passing I have cried whilst using this spice mix. Sigh…
 
When I think about Christmas the first thing that springs to my mind is the “smells” of Christmas spices.  I actually started to investigate why some people associate certain things with smells. I found that the stronger the emotional memory connection with odour than other sensory experiences appears to be due to access of the central brain structures to the amygdala and hippocampus which are involved in regulating our emotion and emotional memories. So how I interpret that, is Christmas time has always been about a happy joyous time when all our family and friends were around us celebrating this holiday and, in my household, it was all associated around good food. How wild is that? 
 
Our Christmas Spice Mix is packed with cinnamon, star anise, allspice, peppercorns, cloves, coriander, caraway seeds, nutmeg, ginger and cardamon and I mill them into a fine powder. These spices evoke the feeling of Christmas and I guess they are synonymous with Christmas.
 
It is the perfect addition not only at Christmas time but any time of the year. It is magnificent and has been tested in my kitchen in muffins, cookies/biscuits, custard, fruit loaf, and I have mixed some up with a dash of icing sugar and sprinkled on top of my home made Greek loukoumades (Greek donuts).
 
I think this would work really well sprinkled on top of a chai latte, as well as in homemade mince pies, in mulled wine (but rest easy I have Mulled Wine Mix coming to you soon so keep your eyes on our socials) on rice pudding, in hot chocolate, and I think it would be spectacular in gingerbread people and or gingerbread houses. 
 
It will honestly bring the “Festive Cheer” to many of your dishes and drinks. What’s even better the combination of these spices will help boost your immunity, and your house will smell amazing to boot!
 
The aroma will be sure to put you in a festive mood, and hopefully for many of you it will induce a degree of nostalgia that not many other spices can match.
 
From our kitchen to yours! 
 
Bon Appetit