* It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year * - It's the 2016 Christmas Chatter Thread

3forholidays

mrsinvisible wrote: »

pinksteps, well done , out of county is a pain, but if it gets results for you....
well, for those of you who asked about the buffet (tonight's the night) here is a run down of the menu:
sandwiches, made with aldi bread, their multigrain and their malted is lovely. various fillings to cope with dairy intolerant, vegetarian, and [EMAIL="bl@@dy"]bl@@dy[/EMAIL] vegan.
quiche caramelised onion sausage and broccoli, garlic courgette and tomato with green peppers, bacon mushroom and cherry tomatoes, and 'summer medley' ie all the leftover fillings just thrown in. Sausage plaits, red onion and stuffing, or tomato and chilli, chicken goujons in a spicy breadcrumb coating, sausage rolls sausages and cheese rolls. coleslaw, waldorf, minted cabbage, pasta salad rice salad, beetroot and carrot, jubilee chicken. Coffee and walnut , chocolate fudge, Victoria, lemon drizzle savarin, gingerbread and sticky toffee gateaux, (cake to you and me!) then the usual crisps and cheese and suchlike. Just salads and sarnies left to do, the rest got done yesterday. Go, me, eh? Honestly, it sounds more impressive than it is, fortunately everyone knows me, and are forgiving of brunette sponge and not quite even decoration, so no worries.
Right, l am off to buy the bread, l may be some time!!!

Sounds lovely MrsI and I'm sure your efforts will be greatly appreciated. :T

vulpix

Way to go Mrs I,that sounds fantastic and for £1 a head.

murie

Pinksteps- thank goodness at last you have some answers! As Mrs I says its a pain that you had to out of county but at least its given you some reassurance x


Mrs I- blimey- you did very well to cater for £1 a head! I hope you had a lovely time at the party and had a little tipple to celebrate your friends birthday ( I think it was) and all your hard work.


Macaroons- agree they can be a bit hit and miss. My only tips are that the mixture should look like shaving foam (sounds disgusting but I remember reading it somewhere and its true!) and that once you have piped them into small circles ( I use a silicone mat) leave them to dry for at least 30 minutes. Don't put them in the oven til they are completely dry to the touch. Then once you hit 15 mins in the oven, turn it off and open the door. I tend to leave them in there till they go cold.


I wont be making any macaroons for a while as on Friday I fell over and chipped my collar bone, ripped my rotor cuff (!) and sprained my knee. I don't do anything by half! All I can say is it hurts like the blazes, so don't try this at home as they say!


Enjoy the nice weather everyone- it makes a change!


Take care x

vulpix

Oh Murie,thats rotten,hope you can rest up in the sunshine.xx

newthrift

MrsI buffet sounds fantatsic, well done you on catering to basically £1 per head!!!

murie oh you poor thing!! fingers crossed the warm weather stops for you resting up!

We have had a lovely day in the sunshine; planting on the allotment, veg all basically in now and friends up this evening for tea which has been lovely.

vulpix

Mrs I minted cabbage sounds interesting,can you give me some info please?

What glorious weather this week end.Done nowt in and around the house,had people over on Saturday and went to my brothers yesterday after the car boot .

Gave the money from the car boot to the kids.Bought some vintage chinese bowls and spoons from the carboot.Will package them up for a Christmas pressie for my son when he is in UK.He will love them,he does a lot of that type of cooking.Thought I could pack them up in a hamper with spices and oils.

I have been making a giant cake from a memory foam mattress for a local carnival.The theme is Hollywood so I will get some pics of Paul Hollywood to decorate it.It will sit on Mr V's car roof.Best I can do at short notice!...Thanks Mr V!

I also need to be thinking about a scarecrow for next month.Our village do the scarecrows in gardens thing.They were thinking of doing open gardens,I so wanted mine to be done but maybe next year.

Vx

mrsinvisible

Poor you, Murie, hope it isn't too painful, (although it sounds as if it is) get well soon. I have never tried macaroons, make or eat, but they sound yum.
What a great carnival idea, Vulpix, l remember those days well, locked in a smelly barn, sticking tissue paper fluffs on a card covered flat bed trailer! must be mad!!!
Minted cabbage is a doddle, it is just thinly sliced white cabbage mixed with [EMAIL="colem@ns"]colem@ns[/EMAIL] pure mint concentrate- not mint sauce as the vinegar cooks the cabbage. it tastes really yummy, and everyone comments on it, and thinks it is complicated. l always promise to give them the recipe, then 'forget' also chop up some fresh mint leaves and sprinkle on the top of it.
Right, off to post the Chinese visa application, and a couple of birthday cards, then go to see DSIL and DB and great neice before l collect DGS from school.

murie

Newthrift- bet you feel a massive sense of achievement now the allotment is planted up! I have never had much luck with fruits or veg, the only time I had anything other than strawberries that grew remotely well the rabbit came along and ate them! I gave up after that. I do grow tomatoes (halfheartedly) but never seem to have much of a crop. I can grow flowers etc and have alovely grape vine but fruit and veg-nah!


Vulpix- oh that cake sounds intriguing! Its a brill idea at short notice.


Mrs I-hmm- minted cabbage sounds unusual! I might give that a go (not at the mo tho!)


Thanks for the well wishes x It is so painful its unbelievable , I cant even bend forward. I have tried to do some ironing this morning- had to give up cus what I cant steam has had to go back on the pile. Oh well a few creases never hurt anyone.


take care everyone, enjoy the day -soggy as it is!
xx

freespirit66

Morning everyone, i cant believe it is 6 days since i last came on here, where does the time go??? Well not much to say really except still in pain and so nauseous it is ridiculous, i cant even think about food still let alone cook it at the moment, i had to pop out to sains on sunday to get the ingredients for DD2 birthday cake and DD1 took me for a pub lunch on the spur of the moment, even if i couldnt eat just to sit in the fresh air and have a drink, wow it was such value for money and portion sizes i have never seen anywhere but in america, it makes such a difference to get value for money and not be ripped off these days, anyway it did me good, i did manage a starter size salad but then moaned all the way home about feeling sick :( I cant believe my youngest two are 25 on friday :eek: i am hoping to do a floating/pouring cake so it looks like the sweets are being poured out of the bag i will post pics if it turns out well

VULPIX oh what a shame it rained, its always typical on bank holidays isnt it?? Hope you had a nice time with the new people, wow they made some profit then, it is silly the difference in house prices in different areas! Oh your DS hamper sounds fab with the vintage chinese bowls, a great idea! Our village does the Scarecrow Trail as well, people really make an effort with them its lovely to walk around and see them all!

CHRISSY oh not too long to wait now then, aww bless her, good for her being a little bit more independant, i bet you are a nervous wreck until you hear her key in the door after her little trips to the chemist! Sorry no experience of SSE

MONEYMISSION i actually had a dream the other night that it was Christmas Eve!!!

PINKSTEPS good luck with the house hunting, at least you can start to make plans now!

MRSINVISIBLE ooh that buffet sounds gorgeous and on such a fab budget, well done you, i hope you had a fab time

MURIE oh no my lovely you poor thing, how on earth did you manage that? Has it made your foot worse? I hope you are taking lots of rest and heal quickly. Thankyou for the advice on the macaroons, i dont think it was like shaving foam when i piped it, i did it on DD1s silicone macaroon thing, i left them for 1 hr to set as it said in recipe, and also took them out of oven as soon as they were done, so i will use your tips and try again

NEWTHRIFT ooh well done on getting everything planted out and ready for the summer

murie

I just wanted to post a pic from Instagram that my sis sent me to give everyone a little smile (hope it works!). This is EXACTLY how it is in our house!


https://www.flickr.com/photos/79719964@N04/shares/M9194S