♥♥ MSE Organised For Christmas 2009 ♥♥

aurora_14

Claire_Bear wrote: »

Here is my Christmas list so far:

Presents:

Foody hamper for my boyfriend's parents including -

Mugs with choc sachets and marshmallow snowman stirrers
Small bottles of wine
Mini pots of jam/marmalade
Pack of shortbread
Packet of cookies
Cheese straws/crackers, pot of chutney (possibly homemade) and maybe a small pack of nice cheese? Don't want it to be all sweet stuff
Homemade winter bark minty chocolate crunch slab thing that I don't know the name of
Maybe some homemade candied nuts

Chilli hamper for my boyfriend -

Homemade chilli oil
Homemade chilli and pepper vodka.
Pickled jalapenos
Bottle of Nandos or other hot sauce. Maybe Dave's Insanity sauce?
Homemade chilli truffles.
Chorizo/other spicy sausage

Sweety Jar for my boyfriend too. Just been inspired by the retro sweet hamper thread but don't think we'd find a use for the little compartment box thing afterwards. This way i can steal the fancy jar for the kitchen :rotfl:

Pots of gold for various people. Haven't quite decided who to give them to yet.

Make my own mini stockings advent calendar and fill it with goodies.

Possibly a small lavender hamper for my grandma as she's awkward to buy for but I know she likes lavender stuff.

Plus got lots of ideas for homemade decorations, so got a lot to keep me busy! No doubt I'll end up adding to this as well :T

Wow!!!! :-) Claire - you are doing really well. I haven't got a proper list yet. :-) :cool:
Got the organised christmas folder :j, also printed off the new planner for this year :j and there is also a planner for 2010!!! :-) Cool!!! :-) :cool: I better get going... I think Harrods start selling their x-mas stuff very soon. :-)
Possibly a small lavender hamper for my grandma as she's awkward to buy for but I know she likes lavender stuff. This sounds lovely. I am very interested, I have a few lavender plants around the place, flowering very nicely too. :-) Apart from dried lavender in bunches - I have no idea... I haven't tried to make a soap yet, or how about tea? Ooooohhh, I did taste a home-made lavender cake a couple of years ago - it was delicious but the recipe is a family secret so don't know how to make it. Anyone has a recipe? pleeeaaassseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. :-) I shall be eternally grateful. :-) xxx

ETA: just found this: http://freespace.virgin.net/derek.berger2/lavender.html

And this: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6996/lavender-tea-cake.aspx Now, I think this might be the cake. Hmmmm...

Claire_Bear

Thanks, I'm worried that I've given myself too much to do as I've never done anything like this before, I normally just go and buy stuff from shops. I'm determined to be organised though, I've got plenty of time and will be able to do a lot in advance though so shouldn't seem like too much work!

For the lavender hamper it was just going to be smellies, Lush do a gorgeous bubble bath crumble thing, and then some soap, hand lotion, bath salts, that kind of thing. Never thought about food things, although thinking about it my Cookie book has a recipe for lavender cookies which might be worth trying. I've packed the book up now but can try and dig it out for you if you like?

Also got the idea of little felt Russian doll decorations to go on my pink tree from the other thread, and some Mario stars for the big tree, which will make my geeky boyfriend happy. Oh, crikey.....

chocolate.orange_2

Can people please continue this thread here

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1800153

There are getting far too many Christmas threads and the above thread is a continuation of this one

Thanks

aurora_14

Claire_Bear wrote: »

Thanks, I'm worried that I've given myself too much to do as I've never done anything like this before, I normally just go and buy stuff from shops. I'm determined to be organised though, I've got plenty of time and will be able to do a lot in advance though so shouldn't seem like too much work!

Yes, I am always worried about the amount of work that goes towards christmas but I don't fret about it too much and I do try to get organised in advance so I don't panic too much on the 23 Dec. :-) Plenty time yet... :-)

For the lavender hamper it was just going to be smellies, Lush do a gorgeous bubble bath crumble thing, and then some soap, hand lotion, bath salts, that kind of thing. Never thought about food things, although thinking about it my Cookie book has a recipe for lavender cookies which might be worth trying. I've packed the book up now but can try and dig it out for you if you like? If it's not too much trouble - that would be great Claire, thank you very much. xxx But if it is too much trouble :-) don't worry about it, I wanted to google lavender for a while now and find out about its different uses as I have quite lot of it. I am also sure that the bbc website will have some useful info, too. Thank you for offering. xxx :A

Also got the idea of little felt Russian doll decorations to go on my pink tree from the other thread, and some Mario stars for the big tree, which will make my geeky boyfriend happy. Oh, crikey..... Ooooohhh, me likes the sound of that. ;-)

chocolate.orange - I like it here. :-)
Thank you for offering. ;-) But I shall stay put. :-) Thank you. xxx

Claire_Bear

I was going to ask if we could keep this thread too, or merge it with the other one as I prefer it, it seems more crafty ideas than general chat. Not trying to be awkward or anything

Aurora, it's ironic because this is the most organised I've been in years, I normally do everything in December and end up panicking about money and stuff :rotfl: This way should be loads easier.

I'm just making dinner then I'll dig the recipe out for you, it's no trouble at all.

Claire_Bear

Lavender Cookies:

Makes about 18

115g/4oz unsalted butter diced, at room temp
50g/2oz caster sugar
175g/6oz plain flour
2 tbsp fresh lavender, chopped
2 tbsp sugar for sprinkling

1. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in flour and lavender and bring mixture together into a soft ball. Cover with cling film and chill for 15 mins.

2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees/Gas 6. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut out cookies. Place on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 10 mins until golden.

Also found one for Lavender Scones which is...

225g/8oz plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
50g/2oz butter
40g/ 1 1/2 oz caster sugar
2 tsp fresh chopped lavender
175ml/6fl oz milk

Makes 12

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees/ gas 7. Grease a baking sheet

2. Sift together flour and baking powder. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until at the breadcrumb stage.

3. Stir in the sugar and lavender, reserve a pinch of lavender to sprinkle.

4. Add enough milk to make a soft, sticky dough. Bind mixture together and turn out onto a well floured surface.

5. Roll the dough into a round about 1 inch thick. Stamp out 12 scones with a round cutter and put them on the baking sheet. Brush tops with milk and a sprinkle of lavender.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden.

mum2one

Claire_Bear wrote: »

I was going to ask if we could keep this thread too, or merge it with the other one as I prefer it, it seems more crafty ideas than general chat. Not trying to be awkward or anything


Aurora, it's ironic because this is the most organised I've been in years, I normally do everything in December and end up panicking about money and stuff :rotfl: This way should be loads easier.

I'm just making dinner then I'll dig the recipe out for you, it's no trouble at all.

The thrad wont be merged with the new one as this was getting to long - hense the new one being organised. The new one has the challenges as before, crafty ideas.

Theres only a few people that use this thread, the others have caome across to the new one.

jamtart6

aurora and claire - this thread will still be viewable, but is likely to be shut soon due to the lack of ability to amend the first post and the fact that the thread is getting very long. By posting here and bumping the thread, it is confusing people.

Claire - the thread can still be read but other new ideas are probably better placed in one of the other threads.

No one is trying to be awkward, we are just trying to keep things organised.

Aurora - You know you want to join us really it is the same old crowd but with post 1 changeable.

furrypig

Aurora has posted on the new thread already so she does know about it but I think for newbies it is very hard and that is why several of us have now mentioned the other thread as this one cannot be updated etc etc as the original author is no longer on mse.

Please all come over to the other one as it is actually a lot easier to keep track of things on that thread as it is new! Also works hand in hand with the thrifty idea that Aurora has also contributed to so makes it all run a lot more smoothly.

COME THIS WAY NEWBIES ET AL => here is the new thread

aurora_14

Claire_Bear wrote: »

I was going to ask if we could keep this thread too, or merge it with the other one as I prefer it, it seems more crafty ideas than general chat. Not trying to be awkward or anything

Aurora, it's ironic because this is the most organised I've been in years, I normally do everything in December and end up panicking about money and stuff :rotfl: This way should be loads easier.

I'm just making dinner then I'll dig the recipe out for you, it's no trouble at all.

Claire - thank you. xxx :A You are very kind. I shall be baking like a mad woman with all this lavender around... :-) Thank you very much again. xxx
I would like to keep this thread too. It is my home for the christmas stuff and all the rest. :-) I am not being akward, I just like it here. :-)

Aurora, it's ironic because this is the most organised I've been in years, I normally do everything in December and end up panicking about money and stuff :rotfl: This way should be loads easier. I am the same, every year i promise myself that I will be organised but yet I always seem to end up in a bit of panic. :-) But I think that's the part of the x-mas fun. :-) I don't like to compete with the available time or stick to certain things, if I can plan ahead and follow - great!!! :-) if not - well, it's not the end of the world. :-)

:hello:Hi jammy. xxx I don't see why this thread should be shut down at all. Your shiny new thread is marvellous I must say, well done to all of you who contributed. I especially like how much effort you put into the blog and twittering - OMG!!! You never know, even Demi Moore might join in. :-)
You know Jammy, there are lots of threads that are veeeeeeeeeeery long, e.g http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1361027&highlight=recipes
And also 'the lack of ability to amend the first post' - ????
And without being rude or anything like that - who is to decide whether or not to shut one thread or the other, the reasons etc? If there were 10 - 20 x-mas threads on the special occasions board - would you shut them all down? People choose themselves what they want or don't want to read, or where to post etc.
Look, I like it here, I also like lots of other places on the mse forum. You do what you do. If this thread is here, I will come here, read and contribute - the same with any other thread I read and contribute to.

But if you want to shut this one down, well I can't stop you can I?

Yes i did post on the new christmas thread once to offer help and I do read lot of the other threads on different boards - it's like channel hopping :-) but I always come back here. :-) I met many lovely people here and made many good friends.
I don't stop other people doing what they want to do but then also i wouldn't like other people stopping me from what I want to do. The magic of the mse forum is that there is a variety and yes there might a few repeats :-) here and there but there is always a place for people to chat, get advice and so on. There is no need to get competitive. :-) And I have better things to do than to having to explain myself to the virtual world. :-)

Lots of love. xxx