Kirstys handmade Christmas... !!!!!!!!

Pennylane

lostinrates wrote: »

that's so odd.....just yesterday my neighbour brought over a heelbarrow of old bricks they had found which they thought we might be able to use in our refrub project as they wer probably fro the house or the originl outbuildings....we were, predictably, overwhelmed with glee!

which proves my point - that you have to know your recipient very well for a gift to be successful.

PasturesNew

If anybody knits me socks .... they're dead.

And I don't need a brick.

Cake .... you're probably a !!!! cook or everybody else will have done the same and I'd have cake overload.

Time is the best present you can give.

Itismehonest

Pennylane wrote: »

A lot of people have been making handmade gifts for years to present to their families, so its nothing new and they were questioning Kirstie about the cost of making items and how it's now considered very "middle class" to make your own gifts. (These are NOT my words by the way!) Kirstie was saying how relaxing crafting is and even very, very busy people like to do something creative in their few moments of spare time. I agree with that but I wouldn't expect people to be thrilled with something I gave them which I'd run up to help me relax, if that makes sense.

I suspect the "middle class" thing comes from having the time & money to spend on making things. Often it is only those with a previous interest in crafts or needlework who tend to have the bits laying about at home. Others often end up going out to buy the "ingredients".
Maybe it's about knowing ones' limitations, too. If you can turn out something really well made & professional looking then fine but too often things end up like Granny's Christmas Jumper with one sleeve longer than the other :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

I have made things for 53 years so am pretty darn good by now and people are always asking me to make this and that. I must say that I am very selective these days and only give to those who appreciate the work I put in. What I like about kirstie is her ability to inspire many people with enthusiasm and the fact that she is introducing people to crafting, perhaps for the very first time. The likes of snow globes are perfect for beginners of all ages and even more perfect as a gift, provided that care had been taken to paint the lid and so on. It is the care and effort that is important, throwing something together just won`t do it

Cleaver

abaxas wrote: »

But that is life.

You are happy for people to be killed for your fun? Why am I not?

I am happy for people to be killed for my fun? Where on earth did that come from?

Eton_Rifle

I don't see the problem. Would you have her wear a scarlet letter for the rest of her life? Or perhaps we could go the whole hog and hang an albatross round her neck?

At least she's doing something that may bring pleasure to many people and:

1) she's not living off her parents like some vacuous socialite and

2) she's adaptable and has entrepreneurial spirit. She's picked herself up and moved on to other things. Maybe this will work, maybe it won't but she's not afraid or too proud to put herself out there, try something new and face ridicule.

Cleaver

PasturesNew wrote: »

Where did 5-6 spring from? I'm sure you can get a turkey for less than £20. A turkey crown's big enough for 5-6 and they're £10; that's what I'd serve up if 5-6 people were coming. No sausages. What are extras? Do you order a hooker or something?

Wine isn't Xmas dinner; wine is booze. We've never had wine for Xmas dinner.

Pudding .... does anybody eat that stuff? We're always too full. Make a Xmas pudding for £2 or so and bung some custard on it. Call it £3 tops.

Pastures, my lovely, I'm going to tread carefully here.

I'm obviously not saying that it isn't possible to do a Christmas dinner for a family for £20. If you go for a budget part of a turkey, have some cheap veg with no herbs or extras, no additional meat, no trimmings, no alcohol, no pudding etc. then I reckon you could probably do it all for under a tenner for four people.

What I'm a bit surprised at is your apparent surprise that people could spend £50 on a Christmas dinner for a family and your shock that this would be possible. Surely you've seen typical family dinners and know what people generally have and can see that £50 would be on the more budget-side of things? I'm cooking for five this year, so my Christmas dinner is likely to be something along the following lines:

Starter
Smoked salmon

Main food items
Turkey from the butchers (first time in years)
A gammon ham
Potatoes
Parsnips
Sprouts
Carrots
Sweede
Red Cabbage
Sausages (enough for some whole, others for sausage meat stuffing)
Bacon (wrap round sausages....mmmm....)

Ingredients to cook other stuff
Flour, milk, beer and eggs (yorkshire pudding)
Butter, bread, sage, onion, chesnut, eggs (two types of stuffing)
Gravy (I go for pre-prepared what with everything else going on)

Extras to cook the above with
Lemons
Oranges
Garlic
Rosemary
Tarragon
Dill
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Goose fat
Vegetable oil

General Extras (will generally buy ready-made)
Cranberry sauce (gotta have it)
Redcurrent sauce
Bread Sauce

Pudding
Christmas Pudd
Custard
Chocolate log (need some options)

Drink
Bottle of champagne for pre-meal
A couple of beers
Two bottles of wine (you say that wine isn't Christmas dinner, but 99% of households will have wine with Christmas dinner)
Bottle of brandy (to pour on pudding)
Bottle of port (generally for the evening)

Other Stuff
Napkins
Crackers (gotta have 'em for the hats)
Foil


Obviously with all the above we'll have leftovers going right through the week, so it a strange way it's quite an MSE-stylee meal. But I'd estimate that all the above will cost us around £150. For a celebration meal for five, which will also feed the two of us for quite a few meals through the week, that seems pretty decent.

But I'm just pointing out that surely you know that the above type of shopping list / menu is considered the norm for most people, and that £20 on a small section of a turkey, some veggies and pretty much nothing else whatsoever isn't the norm? I know some people will always struggle and possibly won't even have anything special for Christmas (which is sad), but that's the minority of cases.

robmatic

Cleaver, Christmas at your gaff sounds like a rather enjoyable day!

lostinrates

there is an economy of scale at christmas...both the meal and the left overs IMO.

I don't think cleaver's list is wide of the mark....not mine replicated sure, but not particuarly extavagant for the time of the year. In fct, I don't think its christmas lunch itself where the cost is so difficult to budget for for many but the associated stuff people graze on in addition to meals over the season..one ''upgraded roast dinner'' is less difficult to budget for than the rest ....and my guess is where most of the christmas bulge comes from too...

chewmylegoff

Cleaver wrote: »

Drink
Bottle of champagne for pre-meal
A couple of beers
Two bottles of wine (you say that wine isn't Christmas dinner, but 99% of households will have wine with Christmas dinner)
Bottle of brandy (to pour on pudding)
Bottle of port (generally for the evening)

christ, you're going to need more booze than that to get through a day with the family! i'd say a bottle of champagne each, four lagers (pref 'beater strength) each, a bottle of wine a head (minimum), a bottle of dessert wine, a bottle of port, at least one bottle of gin and an emergency stash of some horrible liqueur chocolates just in case you run out of everything else.