Happy Christmas

Hello,  I just popped in to wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas.

I love sitting here early in the morning before everyone else wakes up, it's my favourite part of the day.

Thank you for all your lovely comments over the last few months.  I've so enjoyed being part of the blogging community.  As a little thank you I'll be back in the New Year with a giveaway but in the meantime 

SEASON'S GREETINGS!

XXX

Lottie's not impressed!

The results of my photo shoot weren't very successful as the model wasn't very happy being made to look silly and kept having a "wardrobe malfunction" every time I stepped back to take a photo!  Will try some smaller ones next year :)

My Christmas decorating has been very minimal this year. The new bookcase takes up the room where I used to put the tree so I just bought some twigs with fairy lights on and they are surprisingly pretty at night.  With the candles and the fire lit it feels very cosy.

The crochet is progressing slowly, just doing the odd bit here and there, but I'm really happy with the colours.

I spent yesterday sorting out and wrapping presents, and need to think about stocking up on food getting the girl's rooms ready as they'll be back in a couple of days. Can't wait :) 

Have a good weekend.

Cranberry Chutney

I made some chutney and very nice it is too!  Really fruity and tangy and not overly sweet.  It will go lovely with all the cold meats and cheeses at Christmas and looks very pretty!  I was feeling lazy so I've just photographed my written out recipe.  I doubled the quantities to make 6 jars so I expect the girls will be taking some back with them!

Looks yummy!

The vinegar and sugar preserve it so as long as the jars are clean and sterilized it should last for ages. I wash my jars in a hot dishwasher then dry them gently in the oven.

Loving these anemones from the garden at the moment.

Not much crochet happening at the moment. Hopefully I'll get on with it at Christmas.

Have a good weekend.

Winchester Christmas Market

I braved the freezing cold yesterday and popped into Winchester to visit the Christmas Market. Well worth a visit, there's dozens of pretty chalets all around the beautiful Cathedral close selling all sorts of lovely goodies and a  proper ice rink in the middle. Sadly, due to the cold I had to keep my gloves on, so gave up trying to take photos and it was hard to take them without just getting shots of lots of people! Here's a few, and the Website has lots more.

One thing I couldn't resist was this cute little wreath made of dried oranges and mini pumpkins.  The scent coming from the stall was fantastic and it's now making the whole house smell very festive!

I'm off to make some cranberry chutney now. Yum!

Cherry and amaretti fridge cake

Thought I'd share a recipe I tore out of a magazine last year. (Sorry, can't remember which one, but could have been Sainsbury's)  I made a big batch and packaged some up in pretty bags for presents which went down a treat as it's so scrumptious. The amaretti biscuits and pistachios give it a lovely crunch. I made some more yesterday and quite a bit's disappeared already! This makes enough for a 7" square tin.

Sorry the photo's aren't great. It was so dark yesterday.

100g butter

125g amaretti biscuits

200g white chocolate

4tbsp golden syrup

100g glace cherries

80g pistachio nuts

100g dark chocolate

Put the white cocolate, butter and syrup in a bowl and gently melt over a pan of hot water.  Leave to cool slightly.

Meanwhile in another bowl add the crushed biscuits, chopped nuts, chopped cherries and dark chocolate, cut into small pieces.

Mix well together.

Spoon into tin and pop in the fridge to set.  

I use pieces of teflon sheet to line tins when baking. Saves faffing about with greasing and things getting stuck!

Cut into pieces and enjoy with your cup of tea or coffee :)

Tea light holder

I've been wanting to make some lace covered tea light holders that seem to be popular in blogland recently, but my stash of Bonne Maman jars weren't quite the right shape, so when this little cumberland sauce jar was finished with yesterday I dug out my box of lace and glued a bit on and I'm really chuffed at how pretty it looks.  The mother of pearl buttons threaded onto wire was an idea I saw in a shop and think they add a nice touch. Pretty glass beads or buttons would look great too.  Simple but effective!!

Now I need to see what half used jars are lurking at the back of the fridge to make some more ;)