December Already

I took the bull by the horns some time ago and decided to get busy with my paintings, my cooking and my cupcakes.   I cook all day and night on a Monday and Tuesday morning with yoga inbetween afternoon deliveries, I draw and paint on a Wednesday and weekends when I have commissions, bake on a Thursday and deliver on a Friday.  Hence my lack of posts, dear friends.

It's been a revelation: I've discovered a certain style to drawing that people seem to really like which I'm delighted about and I've attended many fairs this autumn/winter and intend to travel next year further afield (any fairs near you?).  It's all very busy and exciting.

I make family meals on a Monday for busy mums and dads and made a few new discoveries: stews are always a success, the humble cannellini bean is great for slow cooking, I now know 101 things to do with a tin of tomatoes, whereas many meals are great for reheating, some don't quite work and trying to ban children from the kitchen on a Monday is a laborious task.  I've found out that you should never cook a meal for others that you've not tried first; if it isn't to your taste, don't serve it and trust your own judgement at all times.

It's been a busy, eye-opening time but I feel it's all taking shape and I'm getting into a routine.   It all went up in the air this week with the annual sickness bug affecting all three kids but I managed.   We cheered ourselves by putting up the tree and lighting Christmas scented candles yes, Christmas scented....Christmas has a smell!...with Helen's Hot Hottie Chocolate although the kids couldn't have any because they were ill.   I felt it was evil to drink it in front of them so Brian stood in a cold kitchen, sipping his with a bobble hat and gloves on.

It's -12 and very, very snowy here in Scotland.   Brrr.   But here's some cake to keep you warm....you need to go put the kettle on. 

 Grandpa's Victoria Sponge and Buttercream Icing Birthday Cake, November 2010

Angela's 40th Birthday Party Cake, November 2010. Bit of a weird picture, it was dark!

A Lovely Christmas

Carrot for Rudolph, milk and cookies for Santa

Christmas was lovely; the kids woke me at 4.45am and despite trying to get them back to sleep, they continued to check the time with me every 10 minutes or so, leaving me exhausted and I eventually succumbed to their excited whispers of "is it time YET?". Lucy wasn't feeling entirely well but they were all excited and decidedly happy with their gifts. We made dough for Schnecken buns and rested collapsed into a coma like state with hot mugs of tea whilst watching the kids play happily with their toys.

The Schnecken are prepared

And separated into nutty ones and nut free. Mmmm.

My sis arrived with her kids, to help us eat the cinammony, pecan topped delights which are Schnecken and bacon sandwiches to follow. Once they left, I began to prepare dinner, roasting the ham, which had been boiled the night before with a maple syrup and honey glaze, slicing the turkey crown, also made the night before, to heat in gravy later and preparing the turkey by stuffing it and rubbing it with lashings of herb flavoured butter and topping it with fatty bacon slices.

Roasting the Ham with Honey, Cloves and Maple Syrup

Lemon rind, sage and thyme to be mixed into the butter

Inbetween cooking, we watched The Polar Express and had our Scotch Broth. When dinner was ready, we sat at the table and opened the champagne, toasting another year and the year ahead. When we had finished and tidied, we were just in time for The Gruffalo and Doctor Who!

Scotch Broth


Christmas Dinner

The new 3d Monopoly was brought out; whoever said games brought families together were wrong but it was a great laugh nonetheless.

Grandpa, my husband's dad, had me in stitches throughout the day with his interpretation of certain things he'd overheard, for example, whilst watching the news... "...Pope has been knocked over", grandpa exclaimed "the Pope wasn't sober??".

Boxing Day saw us all sledging before heading to Ann's house for curry and conversation. It was a lovely day although in hindsight, the 3pm start of drinking champagne doesn't entirely agree with me, when not heading home until late....

Sledging

Monday evening, we went to Di Maggios restaurant for pizza and pasta with our friends and their family, followed by a pantomime at the Pavilion Theatre. Today, I'm being forced to see Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 and then it's Hogmanay tomorrow! Party time.

A Happy New Year to you all.

Merry Christmas!

Jedi Santa

Well, my lovely bloggy friends, that time is almost upon us; the time when we let the big red fella down our chimneys to eat the cookies we left him. To look out at the snow covered roofs and watch the kids laugh and giggle as they open and enjoy the gifts they received; we'll stuff our faces with beautiful birds and tasty treats, roasted ham and Brussel sprouts; we'll nap on the sofa and play board games, maybe do a jigsaw and listen to Christmas tunes.

View from our window

Grandpa has settled in, mum, sis, brother in law and baby came to visit, we ate cake, opened gifts and toasted Christmas with a wee gin and tonic. The Christmas movies are playing, the braising steak is in the oven, all the gifts are wrapped and new pyjamas are donned by little 'uns, who snuggle under blankets as we speak, happy and excited about tomorrow.

Kelly fell in love with the turkey foil, stuck eyes and a mouth onto it and let it sleep in her bed last night. Her confused brother took a picture, trying to make sense of what was going on. We gave up a long time ago.

Our Christmas feast usually consists of Christmas morning muffins with cinnamon and jam followed by bacon rolls but this year, we'll who is this 'we'll'; me, I mean...who else.... be having schnecken. Oh, and the bacon rolls of course. My twin sis and her lovely offspring will be coming to join us for this, much to the kids delight and for the first time in 12 years, I will be hosting Christmas dinner with no extra guests. We usually have all my family and Brian's dad at least but we decided that this year, we'd keep it small. I'll miss them though.

The dinner itself will be:

Scotch Broth

Honey Roasted Side of Salmon with Prawn Salad
with
Parmesan Bread or Blinis

Roast Turkey, Gingerbread Stuffing,
Ham joint,
lemon and wine flavoured gravy
and
pigs in blankets,
baby boiled potatoes, roast potatoes,
mashed potatoes

Accompanied by
Brussel Sprouts with pancetta and toasted flaked almonds,
Honey and maple syrup glazed parsnips and carrots,
Broccoli, peas and onion confit
with
Redcurrant and Cranberry sauce.

The kids will have some chocolate cake and we'll just about manage a mince pie but later...much later! We're all excited about watching Dr. Who as the master returns, much to the excitement of the kids...ok, me...Brian.... and having a lovely, relaxed time.

Lunch; lentil and vegetable soup with freshly baked bread

Merry Christmas to you all, wherever you may be.

Wordless Wednesday; Ghosts of Christmas past....

Building blocks....?

Building an igloo

The inlaws room?

Destroying it...all part of the fun!

Kelly's Christmas Aikido move

Happy Christmas Eve kids


And we had to have a chocolate cake in there somewhere, didn't we?

Sundays in My City

The wonderful Unknown Mami hosts Sunday in my City every....well...Sunday....go check it out!

My Sunday comes from inside our home...

The kids and I made these decorations!