I’m not a huge fan of new year. I just don’t really see the point of making a bit fuss over it! This picture seems to sum it up perfectly for me, and it made me smile too. I realise being a big new yeary scrooge isn’t very socially acceptable however, and I do hope that we are all healthy and happy over the next 12 months (and all the others after that), so I will share this slightly grumpy photo but also genuinely wish you a happy new year!
Remember those homemade Christmas gifts I showed you last week? Well, I promised to show more of this Christmas muffin mix, and here it is. I made a few of these for friends and family and they seemed to go down really well, and they look pretty too! I used this recipe but substituted a layer of dried cranberries then some traditional mixed dried fruit for the tropical fruits it suggests, and I just love the rich red of the cranberries. Package the jar with some nice ribbon, a handwritten label and perhaps a wooden spoon or a nice mixing bowl and voila, the perfect gift for anyone, regular baker or not. I think these might become a regular feature of my festive gift giving!
PS. Happy Hogmanay! The blog will de-Christmas for the start of the new year, I promise.
Oh my goodness, did you see Robbie on Ant and Dec’s Christmas show last night??? Robbie + comedy singing + Christmas = much hilarity, and a very happy Kate. I know it’s 6 minutes long, but it’s 6 minutes of pure genius!
The turkey has been eaten, the crackers have been pulled, the carols have been sung, the mulled wine has been drunk, the presents have been opened, and the big day is over. As my family have now opened their presents I can finally get round to showing you some of my handiwork! These are just a few of the gifts I made, as I wrapped most of them before I remembered to get my camera out! There’s a Snowman cross stitch for my parents, an apron for my newlywed sister and her husband (Mr and Mrs Hingston) and a Christmas muffin mix, of which more later. I hope the receivers enjoy using them as much as I enjoyed making them!
I’m certainly enjoying the wonderful gifts I was given this year! This is my pile. Impressive, isn’t it? I have rather brilliantly highlighted some of them (my photoshop skills know no bounds) including a pretty Cath Kidston notepaper set, some fabulous cookbooks (namely Jamie’s America, Valetine Warner’s What to Eat Now – More Please! and Ottolenghi: the cookbook), a brilliant decorate your own gingerbread lifeboat crew set from the RNLI, and a rather exciting John Barrowman board game (I think the best thing about the board game is that I bought the exact same thing for the friend who gave it to me; great minds think alike)! Some of my other favourites include a super shopping bag, a fabulous film, and some of the yummiest chocolates I’ve ever tasted. Thank you so much, everyone!
The wait is over; the day is here at last. Finally we can light that fifth candle.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Of course, another candle lit means another advent calendar, and I’ve been saving this one especially for the big day. Saganaga of nest full of eggs has been sharing lots of differents ways to repurpose jars, and this fantastically fun advent calendar is one of my favourites. Each day you get to open a jar, and each jar contains a piece of the Playmobil nativity set.
By Christmas Day you have the full set. Isn’t it super?
Happy Christmas Eve! I’m not sure whether I can’t believe it’s finally here, or I can’t believe it’s here already; advent seems to have gone on forever, but in other ways the time has just flown in. Isn’t time funny? Anyway, this is a bit of a round up of festive things I haven’t quite gotten round to sharing with you, and I don’t want to drag out into January. There will be a couple more Christmassy posts to come, with homemade presents and so on, but then things will get back to normal. I promise!
1. First up is this lovely red cup photo, which has been bookmarked for a couple of weeks but has never quite seemed to fit the bill. With the end of the red cup season fast approaching, now seems as good a time as any!
2. Next are these fantastic scratch and sniff Christmas cards (via lovely little things). Aren’t they super fun?
3. Rather than a traditional Christmas cake, we’re having this delicious marzipanny cake this year. The leftover mixture also makes some scrummy cupcakes (just spoon into cases and bake for 10-15 minutes), which is always a bonus!
4. These tiny gingerbread houses by not martha have been popping up all over blogland (I first discovered them via elephantine), but they are so adorable I had to bring them to your attention just in case you’ve missed out!
5. Delia’s bread sauce is the best Christmas dinner accompaniment you could ever wish for. I know the recipe says serves 8, but Mr M and I can pretty much finish it off ourselves, it’s so good (I’m not sure if I should have just admitted that!)
6. In other news, John Barrowman has made two exciting announcements recently: he’s doing panto in Glasgow next year (yippee, close to me!) and he’s got a new album coming out in February. That gives me something to look forward to once the post-Christmas blues set in!
Last night I stayed at a friend’s flat in the city. Last night it also snowed rather a lot, so my commute across the city centre this morning was particularly festive, especially with the addition of a gingerbread latte. Perfection!
Mr M and I had decided not to get any crackers this year. We’re having a quiet Christmas so will be just the two of us for Christmas dinner, and it seems silly to spend a tenner on six crackers just for us, especially when you usually end up with a selection of miniature gifts that you never really want or use! So, we had discussed it and decided, no crackers.
Then I saw these. Crackers for cooks and gardeners? Sounds perfect for cake baker and a vegetable grower! I may have to go back on our decision and pop these into my online basket. Do you think they’ll be delivered on time?!
The fourth and final Sunday of advent is upon us, and nativity plays have been performed up and down the country! Sadly I missed my local nativity as we were stuck in our broken down car until 4am this morning so at church time I was all cosied up in my bed catching up on lost sleep (and lost heat!). Ah well. I am planning to celebrate the fourth Sunday with some festive baking this afternoon – recipes to follow later in the week.
Following on from last week’s cardboard calendar, this week’s offering is this lovely paper cone advent calendar I found on flickr. Isn’t it pretty with it’s bright colours and cheery patterns? That’s an Australian Christmas for you!
Have you been watching Jamie’s Family Christmas? I must say, I’ve been loving Channel 4’s festive programming; last week we had Kirstie’s Homemade Christmas, and this week we have the joy of Jamie’s best festive food and family frolics. Not only is he sharing lots of yummy recipes to see you through the festive season, but his adorable family are also featured, and it’s all really beautifully presented, if a bit ridiculous. The crazy Christmas decorations are entertaining (giant paper chains and huge snowflakes all over the kitchen?!) as is the banter with his family and the comedy closing credits. If you want to see some recipes or watch behind-the-scenes clips pop over to Jamie’s website, and tune in to Channel 4 at 8 o’clock tonight for the last instalment!
