christmas crumble

The boy patiently (sort of) counted down the days until Christmas. We made cookies and decorated a gingerbread house.

The boy tried to convince us to open presents before Christmas.

And finally it was Christmas Eve. We put out hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer and waited for Christmas Day. While we wouldn't have known by the weather that it was Christmas, ie wet and grey, we had a lovely day.

The boy loved his new bike

and the rest of his presents. He assembled his many new Lego kits all by himself and played his new Angry Birds game for hours.

For Christmas dinner, I wanted a lighter version of our usual mincemeat pie. Lately I've made a lot of crisps based on Deb's recipe for Apricot Breakfast Crisp and my husband gobbles them up. So for Christmas, I made a Christmas crumble with mincemeat and apple. Lovely.

Christmas Crumble (Mincemeat and Apple Crumble) - inspired by Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

2 Gala apples, peeled, cored, finely diced
1/2 jar of mincemeat
grated fresh nutmeg
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c flour
2 tbsp sliced almonds

In a medium casserole, mix the apple and mincemeat. Add a few gratings of fresh nutmeg.

In a bowl, mix together the sugar, oats, flour and sliced almonds. Add the melted butter and mix well until blended. Pour over the mincemeat mixture in an even layer.

Bake at 400 deg F for 30 minutes until browned and bubbly.