OS Christmas 2014 thread!!!!

craigywv

can I join in please. I have my sons stuff mostly in just a few things enroute from Hong Kong, hoody and suchlike . this year I started right after Christmas so am in front. mil hosts the dinner this year as I did it last year so I just make the stuffing and the pudding! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! I too just buy the kids, this year I will give my bro and sis some chutney, sweets and buns I make they have requested this and well I have the chutney made already so cheap and easy for the rest. mum and dad don't want anything as usual so I will give them m and s vouchers and a few home baked goods . oh is getting a huddle and that's about our limit as we want to keep our money this year. I get him lots of boks etc ,dvd in pound shop and hide them throughout the year, also got him a dressing gown in primark last year for 3 quid its a festive one with reindeers really thick was 15 quid so he will get that and a few smellies too. we make a stocking for each other......we big kids. the dog gets things I have picked up throughout the year so he feels like one of us , which he is. lady next door she has requested my onion marmalade and mince pies...I can do that! no money involved there and teacher in school will get some sweets. that's about me covered. phew!

jlhmd666

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

It looks as if DD2 and Hubby will be staying at home with the little grandson for the first time this year, up till now DD has come to us and SIL has gone to his parents because they both like 'family' christmas. So, it looks like just the three of us and the hound. I've decided to ring the changes this year and turn back the clock to wartime britain so I've worked out a menu from an old wartime cookery book using rations available at that time and we'll give it a go. I'll try the recipes beforehand though, just in case something isn't as nice as it reads in recipe form. This morning I've made a Date and Ginger Cake which smells amazing and if it's good, that will be no1 on the list of things to make.

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Thanks POOKY here's the menu

Christmas Eve
Breakfast - Fruity Potato cakes and H/M jam, Tea
Lunch - H/M scotch eggs, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas and leek sauce followed by steamed chocolate pudding and chocolate sauce
Supper - Sausagemeat loaf and H/M churney sandwiches,grated cheese and chopped celery sandwiches, ginger and date cake, chocolate oaty squares.

Christmas Day
Breakfast - Scrambled eggs and bacon pieces on toast, Tea
Lunch - Spiced Brisket in gravy, yorkshire puddings,roast potatoes,horseradish sauce,carrots,sprouts,broccoli followed by wartime christmas pudding and custard, coffee and chocs.
Supper - cold beef and horseradish sandwiches,cheese and oatcakes, iced wartime christmas cake, wartime mince pies.

Boxing Day
Breakfast - Porridge with dates, stewed apple, tea.
Lunch - cold sliced beef, cold cooked sausages, jacket potatoes,salad, H/M pickles and chutney followed by Wartime apple crumble and custard
Supper - Hot cheese scones, sausagemeat loaf and chutney sandwiches, iced christmas cakle and ginger and date cake

I think that's all the organising I'm doing over the christmas period and we'll keep wartime tradition with presents too and try for only one each which is useful and practical and lots of homemade small gifts for in the stockings. We'll decorate the house the way we always do and go gathering greenery on christmas eve to 'bring in the green' and the tree will have the same well loved things on it that we always have. Simple but pretty.

Sounds like you will have a lovely Christmas MrsL

I've been thinking a lot about this Christmas. Normally it's a big expensive affair but OH finds out next week if he will be made redundant and since visiting the OS board I'm not sure I want it to be such an extravagant occasion The trouble is I'm not sure OH will side with me and I will be seen as the mean mummy - again

We normally buy for nieces and nephews which works out expensive and I would love to say no as I'm sure they don't need one more toy but OH wouldn't stand for that even if B.I.Ls and S.I.Ls would welcome my suggestion as then they wouldn't have to buy for my brood. I will broach the subject with him as that will save having to buy another 9 presents.

I would also like to cut back on the amount of food we buy as there is always so much waste. I hate to waste food now but OH likes it all laid out in serving trays so that he can pile it on.

I think Christmas needs a rethink in our house this year so will enjoy reading everyone else's experiences

jlhmd666

craigywv wrote: »

lady next door she has requested my onion marmalade

Would you mind posting your recipe for that please

[Deleted User]

You don't have to go spartan to have a lovely christmas, but you don't need one of everything in store just in case either! I make everything except crisps I can't make those so well. I love the feeling on christmas eve when I look in the kitchen and fridge and see all that we need for a lovely few days there in place, made by me and not costing more that I can afford. What I don't stint on is preparation time and it takes lots of that. Then I look at the lounge with the greenery and candles and the logstove lit and get that family feeling because none of it costs me more than the collecting time and the arrangement time indoors after that. Christmas really starts for us when we listen to Carols from Kings, I make a point of being finished with all the chores by then and sit down with a cuppa before making supper for us which is a leisurely affair and something we really enjoy. He Who Knows and I don't do presents for christmas or birthdays, we're still together and still friends after all these years and that's enough for both of us. I'll have to practise restraint this year with my little Zebra though, his Mum is determined that he will appreciate the things he has and says NO to lots of presents and always taking him something when we visit, which I think is very sensible.

craigywv

jlhmd666 wrote: »

Would you mind posting your recipe for that please

hi,i certainly will but it will be tonight as off to mums now,she got new knee a few weeks ago so I with her everyday possible ..hope you don't mind that it later xxx

jlhmd666

craigywv wrote: »

hi,i certainly will but it will be tonight as off to mums now,she got new knee a few weeks ago so I with her everyday possible ..hope you don't mind that it later xxx

Thank you Have a lovely time with your mom.

MrsChristmas

CRANKY40... what a good idea to have an online shop delivered to a friend or relative somewhere in the country. Although I don't have anyone to send one to, I'd really appreciate it if one turned up at my door.

MrsLurcherwalker I have that book too! (in the 3 set purchased from past times I think, if I remember rightly?)
I am totally with you about being fascinated with life on the homefront & love the idea of playing it out over Christmas.
Your menu & plans sound beautiful. Unfortunately it would be unappreciated by my lot but another one here who looks forward to reading all about it.

As I've recently become a full time housewife/stay at home mum, I need to find projects to keep me busy & out of trouble

I learnt to crochet the other day from watching a YT channel (granny square) so have begun a Christmas throw, alternating green, red & white.... all the colours that remind me of the holidays.
Next up, is the Christmas cake once the children have returned to school. The recipe is from Delia. Her Christmas book was reduced to just £4 in WHSmiths in the early part of the year. I was so pleased to find this bargain as the year before I had followed the recipe from a photocopy from a friend.
Other projects include:
-making felt stockings for the ends of beds that I can personalise
-pots of gold & candy cane sledges for the dinner table
-a kingsize patchwork quilt in greens, reds & whites that can be used on our bed & dragged to the sofa in cold weather (This is an ambitious project for me so we'll see!)
-Most toys & stocking fillers have been picked up throughout the year in the sales, just the main presents to get now & these are left to the last minute because children change their minds so often in the last few weeks!
Last but not least.... I'm seriously considering buying a large chicken from the supermarket this year instead of a turkey from our local farm shop as, although there was nothing wrong with it I didn't particularly enjoy it, with the only difference being £20-£30!!

I will however be sticking with their ham, which I simmer in cola & roast.... that was a winner with all :xmassign:

MrsChristmas

shammyjack wrote: »

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 !

For some people (me included) it's a hobby!
I see it as a year round challenge to make our Christmas as MSE & in some cases as OS as possible.
This involves a lot of planning & researching to directly avoid being sucked into the commercialism & the overspending, that as you rightly state, can happen.
Christmas is going to happen in houses up & down the country whether we like it or not, it's going to be on every TV channel, in every supermarket & newspaper/magazine we happen to stumble across from Nov to mid Jan ...
I just choose to be as organised & prepared for this as I can be by spending nothing or as little as I can get away with, spreading the hassle & pennies over the year to make sure we have all we need come winter/Christmas.... most importantly for me it's about spending quality time with our family & friends... that's the highlight of my hobby

[Deleted User]

I love christmas, always have, but what I like best is REAL CHRISTMAS not commercial excess and over the top christmas. While not being particularly religious I love the family time, the sense of excitement that still comes at the age of 66, being with the people I love best in the world and sharing the food, the laughter, the warmth the traditions we've evolved which include children, even if they are in thier 30s now, sitting on our bed to undo well chosen stockings, a lovely walk along the shore with the dog after breakfast then a call into the local on the way home to see friends and say merry christmas. Then lunch, slow cooked brisket which makes the house smell wonderful and a sit down to digest before taking the dog along the lanes and seeing all the littlies wobbling along on new scooters, and appreciating other peoples christmas trees, outside decorations and generally enjoying the day. Home to watch some TV and then supper in front of the logstove before bedtime. None of it excessive, all of it thoroughly enjoyable, all of it 'ours' and none of it offensive to anyone else. Christmas is only one day, yes, but it's what you make it if you care to do so!!!

MrsChristmas

Brisket of beef is Mr Christmas' favourite joint MrsLurcherwalker ... it makes a delicious gravy... so I'm thinking maybe instead of forking out on the unwanted turkey this year, we could have a choice of brisket or large chicken? All leftovers would sit happy alongside cola ham on Boxing day... it has become a tradition to have homemade chips on Boxing day too as they are a rare treat... making my mouth water just thinking about it.
In all my excitement of stumbling over a Christmas thread, I forgot to thank zippychick for starting it off.
With the weather quite miserable outside today I shall spend a few pleasurable hours reading all the links whilst a chicken stew bubbles away.
Enjoy your Bank Holiday