OS Christmas 2014 thread!!!!

[Deleted User]

It's date and ginger and yes we have and it's lovely, sticky sweet and substantial so definately on the menu for christmas! It's from the Marguerite Patten We'll Eat Again cookbook and very economical to make. In fact all the recipes are from that book and I've never ever made anything from it that didn't turn out delicious!!

candlelight_2013

LYN I think I have that book, I bought it in Norfolk.

The reason I had the date and chocolate mixed up, I was just reading the magazine in the Mail on Sunday, and Mary Berry has made a chocolate and ginger cake, and that sounds delicious as well.

Candlelightx

shammyjack

NaughtySpot wrote: »

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but why bother reading a Christmas thread never mind commenting on it?!?

For the simple reason that a lot of people who have been brainwashed by commercialism into starting buying and preparing for christmas just after easter are not really religious but just use it as an excuse for gluttony and a big booze up !

Many who are pressured into overspending regret it and pay the price in the new year .

All that hassle for one day is pure stupid !

IMHO !

Pookie_lou

We are aiming for a mostly HM Christmas this year and I shall be starting soon as il be 8 months pregnant in Dec and i want to be finished way before then apart from baking biscuits and crafting with my little boy.

We plan to make -
candles in old tea cups,
blackberry booze, thinking whiskey? ( fruit picked today)
Pickles and chutneys
Christmas cake
And other little gifts like snowman soup etc

Were also making our son a train set, so we need to find a good hiding place for it then make a start!

I think the other non HM gifts will be vouchers for theatre or restaurants etc.

piglet27

Hello, I sooo love Christmas, thank you for starting this thread.


Your wartime Christmas sounds fantastic Mrs L W. It is great to focus on the Important things in life - fun/special time spent with your family around you! Following the tradition of "bringing in the green" is one I may have to do myself. Your menu all sounds very tasty, especially the date and ginger cake. (I will have to look up that book you mentioned) Where did you find the wartime baking recipes please?


I always try to focus on the spiritual/family side of Christmas, as opposed to the commercial. It seems to cause many people a lot of stress/debt that isn't necessary. My children dd 8 and ds 6, know the religious importance of the holidays and last year decided (dd thought of the idea and ds agreed) to spend a few hours in December to "look in" on the older people in our cul-de-sac, who are in poor health or on their own. They made mince pies and small Christmas cakes (with my help) to give also. Hopefully this will become a tradition as I felt so proud of them last year, and their recipients were very grateful. :DEspecially for the time spent!


I make my own Christmas cards, which I have 8 so far, need to get more focused!


I use brown paper to wrap presents with, which children like to decorate with stamps, also use ribbons and embellishments that I collect throughout the year.


Bought/made so far;
Bf-token gift, no ideas yet.
dd-book
ds-turtles skateboard (ald!£6), book
mom-hm raspberry/blackberry vodka
bro-hm raspberry/blackberry vodka
nan-hm fruity tea loaf,
Life long friend-


The rest of the presents given are hm.


I always do loads of Christmas cakes (8" cut into 1/4 then iced), hm mince pies and hm Christmas cookies. dd/ds help with the baking. We will decorate with previous years ornaments, (hm paper chains, snowflakes-made by dd/ds) I hope to make them an advent calendar to replace the broken one from last year and hm Christmas bunting, felt decs and embellish some plain linens to feel Christmassy. :xmassmile


Sorry for the long post, I tend to waffle when I can't sleep.


Sarah

candlelight_2013

Welcome Sarah,

Sounds a perfect Christmas to me and this is what it should be about. Not how much you can spend, but the time you spend with loved ones and friends.

Your children already know about the spirit of Christmas thanks to you.

Candlelightx

lulu_92

Pookie_lou wrote: »

We are aiming for a mostly HM Christmas this year and I shall be starting soon as il be 8 months pregnant in Dec and i want to be finished way before then apart from baking biscuits and crafting with my little boy.

We plan to make -
candles in old tea cups,
blackberry booze, thinking whiskey? ( fruit picked today)
Pickles and chutneys
Christmas cake
And other little gifts like snowman soup etc

Were also making our son a train set, so we need to find a good hiding place for it then make a start!

I think the other non HM gifts will be vouchers for theatre or restaurants etc.

Hi Pookie, loving the HM ideas, might bet putting them in the thought bank!

I'm making Christmas cakes and puddings for people, I'm stuck otherwise because I have one family member that's coeliac, one on Atkins and one on slimming world! Looks like it'll be homemade beauty products! Probably going to make fun soaps using a funky ice cube tray or something.

One thing I did want to do is make a jar present where you layer the dry ingredients for biscuits and attach the recipe to the jar. Then the recipient has to do the hard work!:rotfl:

Bought some bits and bobs this week. If anyone goes on the Stop the Cavalry thread there's a link to amazon that I posted that you can get really cheap but lovely costume jewellery from about 20 with next to no postage fees!

Hope everyone is having a nice bank holiday, now off to work!

[Deleted User]

Hi PIGLET all the recipes I'm using are in a book called WE'LL EAT AGAIN by MARGUERITE PATTEN. I'm a bit of a wartime geek as I have always had a fascination about how people managed on the home front and have a whole shelf full of cookery books I've collected over the years. This one is my favourite though and I use it most of all. They usually have a copy in the library and I've often seen them in charity shops as part of a collection of 3 in 1 book called either the Jubilee Cookbook or the Victory cookbook if you might like to find one, Lyn xxx.

candlelight_2013

LYN I have the same fascination as to how people coped and made do on so little. I think I was meant to have lived through that, not the awful consequences of war, but to have lived through the challenges of actually living. I was born 2 days after VE day, but I love anything on TV which shows how people coped and in some cases were a lot healthier than we are now.

I found my We'll Eat again book, so I will be making a cake today.

Candlelightx

[Deleted User]

CANDLELIGHT the rolled oat macaroons and the carrot cookies are lovely if you've got the oven on already for your cake!