This year I am trying to do a completely home made Christmas, have you ever tried that?! I've never tried it before but i thought it would be fun...plus it must save money...surely?! i've knitted some decorations and this week i've been baking....my Christmas pudding.
I've never made our Christmas pudding before, but this year our local church was doing a Christmas pud making evening. It was great fun. All we had to take was a bowl, a spoon and a £5 note.
We went from table to table with our recipe, adding cups of this and that, a bit of booze, some chopping and grating, and then we got a lovely bag with a tag on to take it home in. Met some lovely people too :o)
It was easier than i thought. We even have the recipe to use again next year. Yesterday I steamed it for 8 hrs which was easier than i thought too...the only difficult thing will be to not eat it before Christmas!! hee hee! It smells delicious.
Check out your local church/ scout group/W.I. /village group for a "stir up" evening, or make a "stir up" group with your neighbours.
While the pud was steaming away I thought I'd make our ginger bread for this year. In our house we have a tradition of decorating gingerbread on Christmas eve. Its great fun and keeps the kids distracted from the coming excitement. Usually we buy our ginger bread, but i'm sure home made will be more yummy.
Munchkin no. 2 had great fun helping me out, and got rewarded with one of these for her efforts!
We used this recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096. It made 35 men.
We used this recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096. It made 35 men.
The rest of them are in the freezer waiting to be decorated with icing and sweets! Oh i LOVE this time of year!
On another note, presents wise, this year I am trying NOT to buy things from big on line super chains. Have you ever tried that?
In an effort to support our local shops and retailers I have bought everything locally. It has taken me more time, but it has actually been more fun. I've chosen a different couple of shops each week and bought from them. I've been to 6 or 7 shops so far and come back with some lovely things i wouldn't have otherwise noticed by trawling the internet in the middle of the night. Also, i was surprised to find i got things cheaper in the shops than on line...sometimes half the price. Something i was not expecting.
More Christmas updates soon. I'm linking up with Gina at Cold Tea: http://www.coldteaandsmellynappies.co.uk/ with this post.
x
