The OS Doorstep - a helpful and supportive thread in these tough times

Byatt

Kidcat, I've heard of people using things like a baked bean tins for small cakes, I'm sure it will be on the Xmas thread.

candlelight_2013

KIDCAT do you have a L*keland near You?

You can buy 12 individual square paper cake moulds for £2.79 I think, that might be a thought.

Candlelight

Byatt

http://www.butcherbakerblog.com/2011/10/28/baked-bean-tin-christmas-cake-pt-1/

Kidcat, hth

kidcat

SQ - do you have an Ikea nearby? They are selling trees again this year, same deal as last year I believe, you buy a tree for £25 any size and they give you a £20 voucher to use instore in New Year.

Byatt - I had heard about baked bean tins , but we dont use them so would be wasted, it may be a better idea though.

Candlelight - I will have a look in l@keland thanks - my friend is going into store next week apparently.

kidcat

Byatt wrote: »

http://www.butcherbakerblog.com/2011/10/28/baked-bean-tin-christmas-cake-pt-1/

Kidcat, hth

:j:jThanks Byatt

Possession

Kidcat it does make the sides a bit uneven, but if you are icing up the sides it won't matter. If not, fashion a nifty bit of baking parchment going on the bottom and up the sides, artfully gather a red paper napkin round the edges and tie round with ribbon. For little cakes I use roughed up royal icing, it's much quicker and cheaper than fiddling about with fondant, and sturdier if it gets a bit bashed about.

meanmarie

Gailey.....you said what children and OH had to eat...what did you have? You will really not feel well if you are not eating properly...as you are keeping the show on the road, please look after yourself first.

Marie

SDG31000

kidcat I have one of these with extra dividers http://www.lakeland.co.uk/10972/Silverwood-Multisize-Foldaway-Cake-Pan
I have found it really useful. It's a bit fiddly to line to stop the cake mix escaping through the holes, but worth the effort. I can post you mine if you want to borrow it.

mardatha

Come up here and have a bath. Our water comes out the tap actually boiling and we can get 3-4 baths a day if we wanted to! Coal fire always on lol

monnagran

Hi,

I can't even think about Christmas until December, and as I've explained before, our Christmas is a none event. I have to force myself to make preparations but there is always one moment when suddenly the right feeling 'arrives' and then I can get into the spirit of the thing.
When the children were small I used to put up the decorations on Christmas Eve after they had gone to bed. It nearly killed me but it was worth it to see their faces when they came downstairs in the morning to a totally transformed house. Once they were old enough to help with the preps the decs became tackier and tattier and more beloved year on year.
These days I put up a small tree for the look of it and bowls of fircones and pot pourri coated well with festive smelling oil. That and the cards makes my Christmas.

Kidcat: Your idea of small squares of cake for teachers is super. 40 years of school Christmas's and I only remember 2 presents of the hundreds I must have received. One was about 50 years ago before I was married and was living on my own. One child brought me a largish mustard pot filled with HM blackberry and apple jelly. I remember it because the children had cut out robins and stuck them over the glass and one robin on the lid. I thought how thoughtful it was to give me a small pot and not one that would go off before I could eat it all.
The other was from a little girl whose father had been killed in an accident during the year. I knew that the family were really struggling financially so was a bit stumped when she asked me what I would like for christmas. I explained that there was something that I would really, really like but that I didn't think I could ask anyone else for it because they might think I was a bit weird (stop giggling). When she pressed me I told her that what I would most like was a Mars Bar all to myself but that if she was kind enough to give me one could it please be wrapped up very well so that no-one else would guess what it was, and could it be just our secret. And it was and the rest of the class were wild with curiosity which was never satisfied.
She gave me a Mars bar every year after that until she left the school. She's a Mum herself now and I wonder if she remembers.

So it really is the thought that counts.

SQ: I had a friend who was in a similar position with a snooty SIL. She gave the children drums, cymbals and a tool set. After a noisy and pretty destructive Christmas the SIL actually requested books the following year.

x