And all through the house.... people were stirring, baking, tasting, list making, tidying etc etc! My preparation is almost complete. The stressful part (moving myself, the presents, the shopping and loads of oven dishes and serving dishes from the town house to the country house for christmas) was done yesterday. Phew. So now I'm installed with himself and the boys, all unpacked and ready to bake and cook and entertain my little heart out for the next 8 days. Because both our jobs take us in different geographical directions and we live apart through the week the only way we ever get this much time together is if we go on holiday!
Below, let me introduce you to Mr Frosty. He was made from wadding and felt at our last sewing class of the year and now sits contentedly looking out of the country house window at all the muffled and scarved people who walk up our lane. (His personalised button was made following the same technique I wrote about in an earlier post.)
Lots of other things were made that I haven't had time to tell you about such as this very tasty, moist vegetarian cashew nut and mushroom loaf. It's taken from a recipe by Sarah Brown who was a new name to me. I'd put in a google search some weeks ago for a nut loaf suitable for a veggie christmas lunch, I've tasted some great ones but never tried making my own. This is the recipe which came up time and again and got many recommendations so, using the power of Amazon, I tracked down the book (Vegetarian Kitchen) containing the recipe and ta dahhhh!!! My intention was to freeze it all but it was soooo good only half made it to the freezer, pre sliced and ready to pop in the oven beside the turkey for the meat eaters.
The silver version of the large Christmas wreath was made for our office decorations with help from everyone but I couldn't get a great pic of it.....It's just photo copy paper and some more newsprint baubles with some silver leaves nestled in the centre. Don't know if we won the "Decoration-Off" challenge with PR yet....
And finally, truffles!!! I will need to do another post later with the recipe because it is GOOD. It's one of those recipes the family use year after year. I've modified the standard sherry truffles this year and created (get me!) The Grand Marnier Truffle. Oh my, but it is gooder than good! And it's a great way to use up that weird shaped bottle of liqueur found hiding at the back of a cupboard. I added orange zest to boost the orange in the booze and yummmmmm. I will post the recipe, promise :)
It's lovely to have a little more time to write! (I'm tucked up in bed while the rest of the household is snoring quietly.) Usually my posts are done in a rush and are very light on words because of that! This is my first Christmas as a blogger and I've enjoyed the inspiration that's come from reading other people's blogs so I hope my small contribution adds to the spiral of ideas swirling around out there. I like reading all your comments so please don't be shy. If anything here has made you go out and create, let me know!
Below, let me introduce you to Mr Frosty. He was made from wadding and felt at our last sewing class of the year and now sits contentedly looking out of the country house window at all the muffled and scarved people who walk up our lane. (His personalised button was made following the same technique I wrote about in an earlier post.)
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