... Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow, after Dave's half day at work, we'll be travelling to Greenock for Christmas. Since we wont be back till the 28th, I'e spend the day packing, tidying, and making mince pies. Is 48 mince pies enough for 8 people? I hope so, because I'm not making anymore! The presents are packed, the pies have been put in a tin, and I'm in the midst of packing our clothes. All that's left is a night of(hopefully good) sleep, and for me to say...

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas, and gets to spend time with friends and family!

...Ten questions for a Christmassy Tuesday!

Each Tuesday, I read the lovely Lisa of Lisa's Yarns 'Ten on Tuesday'. I have always meant to join in, but have never gotten round to it. This week, the ten questions are decidedly Christmassy in theme, so it's the perfect week to start!

1. When do you put up and take down your Christmas decorations?

Well, there is something of a debate surrounding this in our flat. Dave's family are quitre traditional, and so he thinks they should go up on the 13th(for the 12 days), and taken down on the 5th of January. Whilst my mum took ours down on the 5th, we put our decorations up on the 1st of December. In previous years, I have put a few decorationy bits out on the 1st, and we'e put the tree up together on the 13th. This year, due to lack of storage space, the tree went up on the 29th of Noember, and I decorated it on the 30th - it was either that or leaving the tree in bits in the middle of the floor!

2. What do you do to simplify the holiday season?
The one thing we have to do in adance is organise when to see everyone, as we hae to see both of Dave's sets of parents, and my family. Oh, and I do most of the present buying as Dave get frustrated and annoyed. Other than that, I tend to Christmas it up!

3. What do you do to remind yourself and your family what the Christmas season is all about?

Dave and I are atheist, and so for us, Christmas is about being with our families. I think most people get caught up in life often, and it's a time for lots of families to just spend time together. It is pretty ingrained in both of us, and our families that family is a ery important thing!

4. How do you spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
On Christmas Eve morning, we pack up the car with presents, so that as soon as whichever one of is is working(Dave this year, it's been me up till now)finishes, we can drive to Dave's dad's house in Greenock. I'm not working on the day, so I will be providing the snack for the road trip!

When we get there, the presents go under the tree, we have dinner, and Dave's dad draws us picture clues, Pictionary style, of what our Christmas presents are. We then watch Christmas TV, and than an non-Christmassy film, and eat gingerbread and drink mulled wine.

On Christmas Day, we get up, and have toast and tea as Dave's step-grandpa is quite old and needs the sustainance, and then we go to the sitting room door - which is closed, and noone is allowed to go in until we are all there (this is quite trying for me, I am normally too excited to sleep on Christmas). We each get a present from under the tree, and then we open the ones in our piles. We have breakfast, and then later, there is a gigantic Christmas lunch - It is the job of Emma and I to set the table, as we are the 'artistic' ones. This is followed by more TV, playing with presents, drinking and eating. I love it!

5. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
My favourites when I was young were watching 'The Snowman' with Hazel, and getting the liittle present in the bottom of my stocking. Oh and opening our presents at 2am because niether of us could sleep! Now, I enjoy my Picture clues, and setting the table for the family. Oh, and tinselling Dae's parents' dogs! I'd quite like to have a stocking still though, I miss it.

6. Did you do the whole Santa thing growing up? What do you like/not like about continuing the tradition?
We went to see Santa, and put out food and drinks for him and the reindeers, but nothing else! Whats not to love?


7. What is your favorite Christmas Biscuit(it said cookie before)?
Ginger biscuits! Mmmmmmmmm Ginger!

8. How do you take your egg nog?
In a Snowball, with lemonade!

9. What is your favorite Christmas carol and why?
'Good King Wenceslas' becuase it's lovely, and you can sing it in a boomy voice!

10. When was the last time you had a white Christmas?
The last one I remember is when I was 18, I don't think I've had since then. Looks like it might be this year though! :)

...'twas the Sunday before Christmas...

...and all through the house, there was a smell of mulled wine and baking, and lots of wrapping paper!

Today has been a very Christmassy day in the Hughes flat. In the morning(after an lie-in), Dave and I had our breakfast(porridge for the warmth!) whilst watching 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. I love soppy Christmas films, as I've said before, but I also love Tim Burton's work! The film is a good combination of the two!

We went for a bit of Crimble shopping, and then walked home in the snow!

This evening, there has been some baking of mince pies - I have been put in charge of bringing the to Dave's parents' house for Christmas - and some making of mulled wine. Of course, Dave and I had a sneaky 'tester' mince pie and mulled wine each, whilst watching 'Miracle on 34th Street' - Christmassy joy ahoy!

I've just finished wrapping our outgoing presents, and my presents for Dave, whilst having a bit more mulled wine and another mince pie! Recipes for both are below!

Mulled Wine

1 bottle cheap red wine (seriously - it was £2.85)

300ml orange juice(no bits)

2tbsp muscavado sugar

3 cinnamon sticks

2 oranges, one halved, one sliced

12 cloves

3tsp mixed spice

3tsp cinnamon

2tsp nutmeg

2 shots brandy

• stud each orange half with 4 cloves
• put everything else in a big pot
• heat on medium till sugar is melted through( boil 3 mins if you wish to remove the alcohol)
• strain if you wish, I am lazy, and just ladle it, avoiding cloves
• drink from a big mug, accompanied by a mince pie if possible!

Mince Pies (Makes 16)

adapted from 'Ultimate Christmas' by Love Food

For pastry

200g plain flour

100g butter

25g icing sugar

1 egg yolk

3tbsp milk

• put flour, butter and sugar in food processor/blender and whizz till texture is breadcrumby
• add yolk and milk and whizz again till it comes together
• turn out, give a quick knead and roll into a ball
• chill for half an hour

For mincemeat

(this makes enough for 2-3 batches of pies)

400g mixed fruit

50g dried cranberries

100g mixed peel

rind and juice of 1 lemon

115g shredded vegetable suet

4tbsp brandy

• mix all ingredients is a bowl- it's easiest, if a bit yucky, to do it by hand
• add extra brandy if you find the mixture a bit dry
• if you are going to use in the same day, cover bowl with film, otherwise put mixture in airtight jars

To assemble

• pre-heat oven to 180c
• grease the dimples in two fairycake trays with butter
• using a 7cm circle cutter(a ridged one gives you a nice crinkly edge), cut out 16 circles of pastry
• push each into a greased dimple, being sure to press dow the bottom
• put a heaped tsp ful of mincemeat in each one
• using a star shaped cutter(or a cut out card star and a knife), cut out 16 stars, and use to top the pies- you might have to give them a wee squish down.
• brush the stars and the top of the pie crust with milk
• bake for 15 mins.
• EAT!

Tomorrow, I'll be making more mince pies, and a fruit loaf. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

... it's beginning to look alot like Christmas (on TV)

One of the things I love about the run up to Christmas is that TV channels begin to show the Christmas episodes of sitcoms. I especially like ones from Frasier, The King of Queens, Ellen (I have these on video), Ally McBeal and Scrubs.

Christmas TV in the UK is completely different. On all the soaps, Christmas is the time for the major storylines of the previous month to come to a head, and they often don't end well. We do however have both 'Jamie's Family Christmas' and 'Nigella's Christmas Kitchen'.

My love of Nigella is a bit legendary among my freinds, I would quite like to be her please!

I think 'Friends' is the master of the Christmas episode, because they have other story lines running through the Christmassy bits. For your viewing pleasure, and to give you a little insight into what I'd like my tree to be like, here is a clip of my favourite bit of 'Friends' ever.

I am so like Monica(when it comes to Chritmas trees). When Hazel and I were little, my mum used to let us decorate the tree, then my Auntie Ina would come and fix it once Hazel had gone to bed (I told her this recently, assuming she knew. She didn't. Fortuntely she though it was funny.). As we got older, I 'directed' Hazel in where she put the decorations. Oh! Americans, if you have seen those letter ornaments anywhere, please tell me where! The thing I loe about this is that the obssessively neat Monica as let everyone decorate the tree anyway!

Also from 'Friends', Pheobe's Christmas song. She is by far my favourite character! I particularly like the bit for Joey!

What are your favourite Christmas episodes?

...on recent happenings

So, I got back safely from Poland. We had a really good trip, but I'm going to wait a bit to write about it. As part of our trip, we went to Auschwitz 1, and other than the obvious reactions, I'm still processing it. I want to write about it, but I'd rather wait and do it properly.

I've been back for 2 days, both of which I've been at work. Today, which is my last day for two weeks, I came home early as my cold have reached uber level. Yesterday , as I came throught the door, Tom ran toward me saying ' I made you a pict - cher' (my Christmas card) - to be told by his mum that he specifically asked for it to say 'To Dave' as well as to me, which made my heart melt!

I had taken little presents in for the children, and to my surprise, they also had a gift for me! I haen't opened it, as there is no Crimble present opening till the big day! Along with the present was a card, in which the said i was ' a wonderful part of 2009' for them. It made me smile so much!

For the next couple of days, I am going to rest, as Christmas week will be really busy for me! For the moment, I am going to huddle on the sofa with tea and some gingerbread, and catch up on what's going on in blogland. I've had a sneaky peek at my reader, and am V excited about all the Crimble posts going on!

... more edible gifts- Florentines

As you read this, I am hopefully either flying to or in Poland. Did I mention this will be my first time flying? all of my other trips have been on boats and buses. I am distracting myself just now by baking.

The day I made the cranberry slice and bake biscuits, I also made some florentines.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! Here's the recipe!

Florentines

recipe adapted from Ultimate Christmas by Love Food

25g unsalted butter (plus some for greasing)

70g caster sugar

15g plain flour(plus extra for dusting)

1tsp ground cinnamon

4tsp double cream

100g mixed nuts - chopped

50g dried cranberries - chopped

50g mixed fruit - chopped

100g plain chocolate, broekn into pieces

• pre-heat oven to 190c
• light grease and flour 2 baking sheets
• put butter, flour, suagr and cinnamon in pan, and melt gently, stirring
• when melted, add in cream gradually
• mix in nuts and fruit, set aside to cool
• drop 5 teaspoons full on each paking sheet, flattening with back of a spoon
• bake one sheet at a time for 12-15 mins
• remoe, allow to harden, and set aside to cool
• repeat with rest of mixture
• melt chocolate, and spread a thin layer onto the back of each florentine with a teaspoon.
• allow to harden.

... my fantasy Christmas list

On her blog a few days ago, Jaywalker , who by the way you should follow, for she is funny, posted her fantasy Christmas list! It was fun to read, so I thought I may as well do mine! Some of mine are probably vaguely reachable mind you!

1. A Red KitchenAid Mixer. Because I need one. And it's shiny and red.

2. Peace on earth, equality for all people, no famine, education and healthcare for all. If I'm wishing, I might as well make the world a better place.

3. I'd like my mum back. Back and healthy, I'm not so selfish that I'd want her back as ill as she was. I miss her alot at Christmas.

4. At least one decent length holiday somewhere interesting per year. Poland this year is a start.

5. This is the most achievable probably - in Boots today, they had a Country Living Tea Selection set. It had one of those tea for one pots, which was white with red and green stripes. I'd quite like a tea for one pot, purely because my shiny red teapot is a 4 cup one, and I can't always drink 4 cups of tea(and I have this weird thing about making the whole pot)! They also had a utensil jug that was red with white spots - I'd like it too. Actually I'd like any kitchen thing that has red on it.

6. I'd like for Dave's band to support Springsteen. It would make Dave ever so happy.

7. I'd like to be pregnant please. I'm ready to be a parent.

8. I'd like for all the nice people in the world to have jobs they love, and the crappy people to have the crappy jobs. That would be fair.

9. I'd like my freind Katie to be the boss of the world, because she thinks every Friday should be cheese appreciation day, where everyone is off work and eats cheese. Seems a good idea to me.

10. I'd like the ability to sleep the night before I have to get up at 5am. That would be dandy.

11. I'd like to spend the rest of my life being as content as I am now. I feel quite lucky in my life!

12. Please can I own chocolate factory? That would be an ace job!

What would your list be?

... edible gifts - Cranberry and white chocolate butter biscuits.

I have a confession. I had really aimed to make almost everything for Christmas this year, but it hasn't happened, and I'm running out of time. We are using cards that are left over from preious years, so at least I'm not buying them, but I bought everyone's main presents. My new plan is to give each person the one present I have bought, and give most people some edible things too.

Most people will be getting these biscuits, becuase they are full of WIN. The basic recipe is for a dough you can slice and bake straight from the freezer- meaning you can make the oung for craploads of them, and then just bake them in batches. with a few baking sheets, you can have 120 in a hour. On its own, it makes lovely buttery, vanillay biscuits, almost like shortbread. I often put choclate chips in them, or dip half of them in dark chocolate, and they taste beautiful with some cinnamon and raisins in. This time, for the festiveness, I've opted for adding dried (sweetened) cranberries, and dipping them in white chocolate!

Cranberry Slice and Bake Biscuits with White Chocolate.

recipe by Deb at Smitten Kitchen

230g unsalted butter, room temp

85g icing sugar

2 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

1tsp vanilla essence

280g self-raising flour

50g cranberries

• pre-heat oen to 1soc
• beat butter in bowl with an electric mixer till smooth
• beat in sugar
• beat in yolks, salt and vanilla essence
• reduce seed and blend in flour tip just encorporated
• use hands to bring dough together
• split into two balls - at this point, I added the cranberries to one half of the mixture - if you want to do all of them, add 100g
• roll each piece of dough into a log about 2 inches thick
• wrap each roll in cling film - if you want to bake later, freeze at this point
• to bake in the same day, chill log in the fridge for 1 hour
• slice, and bake for 12 mins on a floured baking sheet
• set aside to cool
• in the meantime, melt white chocolate(I am lazy, I did it in the microwave)
• dip the bottom of each biscuit in the chocolate, and leave upside down to harden.

I made florentines today too, but you'll have to wait for them, as I am scheduling posts so that they are regular whislt I am uber busy ovver the next few days (work-work-Poland-Poland-Poland-work work is how my week goes).

...Friends, Ice-skating, Carousels and Fun - that's what Chritmas Is made of.

Two posts in one day! I am catching up! The main reason being that I want to show you my pictures from Sunday, and then tomorrow blog some recipes for biscuits and things(nom).

On Sunday, I went into Glasgow to meet my sister and a few friends, for a day of Christmas fun. What you should know before reading the rest of this is that whilst I may seem relatively grown up and responsible, my inner child is very close the the surface!

At one o'clock, 4 of us met at the chairoplanes

and went to get our tickets for ice skating.

Other than my sister Hazel, who is an Ice-Skating WonderKid, we were all pretty wobbly! I hadn't been ice-skating for 11 years!

Hazel the WonderKid helping Rachael.

Rach and I, holding hands and holding onto the side

Then Mel came to watch, and took most of the shiny pictures of us skating!

Rach and Mel- Isn't her chapeau cute?!

After about 10 minutes, we all skated round without holding on, and then in the middle.

Rachael :I'm doing it!

Adam: I will not fall! I will not fall!

Rach and I - note that we aren't holding hands!

None of us fell! Hurrah!

We all had lots of fun, and no-one fell, although I have to say speed-skaters TERRIFY me. 45 minutes on the ice is not good for my nicely straightened hair though! Having tired ourselves out we decided to try some of the other things at the fair. Hazel and Adam went on the chairoplanes

Waiting patiently

Then we went on the Carousel - which went surprisingly fast!

The last thing we did was go to Hamley's. Hamleys is like F.A.O Schwartz, and one has just opened in Glasgow. It was very, very exciting, and a nice lady took a picture of us with the giant Hamley's teddybear.

Afterward, I did a bit of Christmas shopping, but that is not interesting to see!

... Christmas films.

I've just spent 3 hours in town, Christmas shopping and buying the last of stuff we need for Poland. I came home and turned on my interwebs, and on twitter, someone had posted what i consider to be the best clip of a Christmas film ever. It got me thinking.

I think everyone has films that their families watch at Christmas. For me, there were a few. We watched both versions of 'Miracle on 34th Street', 'The Snowman', 'It's a Wonderful Life' and 'Meet me in St Louis'. All of them are pretty much gauranteed to get people, even those of a 'Bah Humbug' persuasion. We also watched alot of Disney!

Since then, I would add 'The Holiday', 'Love Actually' and 'The Shop Around the Corner', oh, and 'The Polar Express'.All filled with Christmassy joy and love and happiness. This year, my teacher friends and I are going to go see 'Nativity', as it is a subject of much andgst for teachers, and it will be fun to laugh at!

If you were wondering what the clip was, here it is. Does anyone else covet Judy's beautiful red dress?

... O Christmas Tree, My Christmas Tree(s)

Our Christmas tree, by the window.

Somewhat Victorian looking, is it not?

So, better late than never, we'll call this post a combination of my Friday and Saturday posts! I am very lucky, as each year since I have been with Dave, I have helped decorate his parents' tree, as well as our own. I thought I'd share both of them with you.

Dave says I am 'a bit Monica' about our tree, as I take a long time spacing the baubles our so that the colour is spread evenly. On our tree, we have baublesthat were my mums, ones I have collected, and ones Dave has. Since we got married, we have gotten some new ones each year! When we brought out tree to Dundee last week, we realised it wasn't quite tall enough for our Victorian ceilings, and was too big for the tiny living room, so it sits atop two packing boxes in our bedroom, by the sash windows!( If you want a closer look, click on the pics, the files are huge!)

Our tree, with sparkly star!

Choo choo! A wooden train from a set given to us

by Dave's parents. The angel was my mum's :)

one of my chocolate mould decorations from Patchwork Harmony

A crystal drop, also my mums, and a big, polka-dotty bow on the tree skirt!

Last night, we went to Dave's parents' house, along with his sister and our brother-in-law, to help them put up their enormous tree. Its not the easiest thing to do. There was some wabbling, and some re-adjusting, and it's so big that Emma has to go up on a ladder to put the bauble, lady and lights on the top of the tree.

there were mince pies

it's my job to put together the little tree,

it's nice to be part of the family tradition

the result of somw hard work, and some fun!

After putting up the tree, and decking the halls, we had a takeaway, which is also tradition! You work up a hunger decoration a tree this big!

Today, I'm going ice-skating with my sister and a big bunch of my friends in George Square in Glasgow, which will be full of banter!

... breaks from the regularly scheduled posts.

So, I managed 3 days of continuous posting before something got in the way. I feel like a bit of a failure. Yesterday was kind of a bad day - I lost my phone(I've had the same number since I was 17, bad times), I missed a bus and had to wait an hour for the next one (it's quite chilly out, not good for the waiting), which mean it was just and no more in time to get to Glasgow last night - we went to see Runrig.

We got home just before midnight, and I was just a bit too tired to post. Today, we have lots of stuff going on, so I propose that I do an epic post tomorrow night, with recipes, Christmas trees, pictures of the lights in Glasgow and various other bits of goodness!

... Ginger-Oat Biscuits - a home baked Christmas gift!

This shall be a quick post, as I had little sleep last night and an ill child to look after today, and am a bit pooped!

This year, I am trying to make a bit of everyone's Christmas gifts. Seeing as I am not bad a cooking and baking, I thought I'd maybe give people some biscuits, chutneys, cakes and preserves. When I think of festive food, I almost always think of things full of lovely, sweet spices. I don't know about anyone else, but I LOVE ginger, especially when it's dressed up in chocolate! These are a variation of a Delia recipe, so you know they are good!

Ginger- Oat Biscuits with Chocolate Coats!

(Adapted from recipe found on Delia Online)

40g preserved ginger, finely chopped

110g butter

75g light brown Muscavado sugar

1tsbp golden syrup

110g self-raising flour

11og oats

2tsp ground ginger

50g milk chocolate chips

100g milk chocolate

• pre-heat oven to 170c
• melt butter, sugar and golden syrup in pan.
• meanwhile, mix flour,oats,ginger,ground ginger and chocolate chips in a bowl
• when wet mixture has melted together, add into dry mixture, stirring well
• use hands to pull together ingredients to form a dough
• divide dough into 16 equal pieces
• form each peice into a ball
• place on baking sheet, leaving space for spreading, and squash to form 1cm thick rounds
• bake in oven for 18 mins
• remove, and after 10 mins, transfer to rack to cool
• melt the remaining choclate in a bowl(I did it in the microwave)
• dip each biscuit into the choclate till about half covered
• place on non-stick sheet or plate till chocolate hardens.

I think dressed up in a wee box or some celophane and ribbons, these would make a nice gift, or contribution to a party. Of course, you could just eat them yourself with a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate!

... on enjoying a Literary Christmas - otherwise known as 'my obsession with books'.

I have it on good authority that I have loved books since I was very, very little. I still have a couple I have had since not long after I was born, which are not in very good shape, but which I love the more for the memories created during their wearing.

As a trainee teacher, I gathered a big collection of children's Christmas books, which sit at this very moment under our Christmas tree - I'm not going to lie, I still read them each year. Since I was about 15, I've been collecting'grown up' books with a Christmas theme, be they classic, chick-lit or humour. I'm a big fan of collections of stories too, and I've picked up a few over the last couple of years.

This year so far, I've read -

The Gift by Cecilia Ahern, which is about a business man who always has to be in two places at once, arranges life, work and his family around himself, and is having a casual affair with his secretary. In giving a job to a the homeless man (Gabe, short for Gabriel) who sits outside his building, he sets of a series of events that could ultimately change his life. It's really good - witty, well written ans surprising.

The Xmas Factor by Annie Sanders, about two very different womens' struggles to create the 'ideal' Christmas, and the impact their crossing paths has on both of their ideals. This one is heart warming chicklit, and made me laugh out loud at points and say 'aww' at the end.

12 Days edited by Shelley Silas - a collection of 12 stories inspired by the 12 parts of the traditional song. Some fantastical, some heartwarming, and some very realistic about those who don't have quite such a joyful Christmas, the collection is an excellent read.

I intend to re-read A Christmas Carol, and Little Women - " Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents" grumbled Jo - one of the best opening lines of a book ever I think! I will read parts of Winter Blessings by Patricia Scanlan and Pitching My Tent by Anita Diamant, both of which offer stories and memories of past holidays. As an atheist, I've also found the faith aspect of both really interesting.

This picture of nice things is my preparation for the next hour or so - A book, Earl Grey in a spotty mug, Pfefferneusse (mmm gingerbread), white chocolate covered Oreos(which are amazing!), and some Christmas chocolate. Good times!

Do any of you read for the seasons/festivals? What have you read? Also I find different faiths and traditions really interesting, so those of you who are that way inclined, please feel free to suggest stuff I might like! The children I am nanny to are Christian, so it would help me with explaining what they will be doing in the upcoming weeks!

... a Christmas Tradition - The Advent Calendar

When I was little, the appearance of our advent calendar was the very beginning of Christmas for me, and so, my advent calendar is what I will begin my bloggy Christmas countdown with!

I remember being excited to find out what pictures were behind the little windows - that statement show my age, because we didn't have chocolates in them then! At that point, there were 5 children living in the house, and so each time, I had to wait 5 days for my turn to open a window! My family put our tree up in the evening on the 1st of December, so the advent calendar was the beginning of the build up, and I still get excited about putting ours up.

This is our advent calendar, as it hangs on the wall. As is our tradition, Dave had the first chocolate from the pocket this morning, and I will have the second tomorrow. It has 24 days, unlike modern ones, and so we each get 12 pockets.

I made this calendar when I was 12. The pictures on the pockets are cross-stitched, and I sewed the rows of pockets on by hand.

The perfectionist in me (Dave says I am a bit 'Monica' about Christmas) has wanted to fix the squinty rows for years now, but I can't bring myself to change it.

Every year, I take it out on the 30th, mend the parts of it that need mending, and hang it again. I did so for my sister and I (My mum and Hazel's dad had separated by then) every year until my first Christmas with Dave, and now we use it. When she was alive, my mum put the chocolates in the pockets, so that they were a surprise for us! The pockets are beginning to fray, and eventually I'll have to give it a new backing, and add the pictures to sturdier pockets. It makes me happy to think that in the future it will be used by my children.

I'd be interested to know what kind of advent calendar everyone has!