Christmas Day!

Its boxing day ( well when i started writing this!) and we have been for a lovely buffet lunch at my Mum and Dads, my brother and sister-in Law and Niece and Nephew were there and it was really nice to spend the day relaxing and seeing them all, and its been such a busy month.

All the plays and party's, and finishing up for the year and our time off and last week was spent sorting the house out and getting everything ready for Christmas. Such a lot of work goes into just a couple of days of Christmas and sat here now i can completely understand why so many people go out and buy all the ready made food thats available in all the supermarkets, my Sister in law was working on Christmas morning so they had bought everything from M&S and my brother was telling me how easy it was to just put everything in the oven and as it all comes in foil tins ready for the oven, there was not much washing up either! Sounds good to me, maybe i will think about doing that next year. As for me i like to make life as hard as possible when  it comes to Christmas dinner. One of the things i love doing is trying out new foods, well not new foods, but different recipes. I do love cooking for special occasions, its something i enjoy and though i make new recipes a lot during the year they tend to be quick and easy family meals, but for Christmas i like to pull out all the stops and try something extra special, that hopefully has the wow factor. The problem with this is that its requires lots of planning and is very time consuming so usually i end up absolutely knackered, like i am now!

Christmas eve we got up extra early and set of to do the food shop at 8am, normally i do it in the days before but this year i decided to try it on Christmas eve as usually the kids are so hyper all day, that we thought if we keep them busy all day we would A) keep the house tidy ( as we had a massive clean and tidy the day before) and B) they would be super tired and go to bed earlier than usual on Christmas eve to give us time to sort out and build some of the presents without us having to be up all night. So we got to Aldi and did the shop, but there were a few things that were sold out, so off to Morrisons and a quick trip to Fleetwood to get some charger plates, then through the drive through at Mc Donalds for some lunch and home to unpack. We had then planned to go the Blackpool Tower Circus in the afternoon as i had a couple of free adult vouchers, but a last minute thought made me call them only to find out it was booked up! should have realised it would be, so we decided to go to the cinema, but the kids where then happy playing on the xbox and doing other things so i got started on the food prep. This was at 1pm, we had a quick break and popped to the pub for tea and then back to the prep.

 Basically i spent 6 hours preping the food and table, then tiding, mopping the floors and putting the presents out, We stopped for an hour in between to do all the kids stuff, putting the stockings out and reindeer dust etc, thought unfortunately Fred had already taken himself off to bed fully cothed, and was fast asleep! bless him. Paul built up Alex's train table, it was 12.30pm when we finally finished and got to bed, aching and tired!

4.45am Ewan and Fred come in "can we go down stairs!" We had 4 hours sleep! luckily the other two were still asleep so i sent them to play in there room and they managed too till the other woke at 6.15am and we all went down to open pressies!!! They were so happy and excited with there pressies ( i had managed to stop myself buying all the extra crap, i mentioned in a previous post!) they loved there pressies and "Ewan declared it the best Christmas ever! Molly did she she would have liked her stocking filled, as well as the big pile of presents!!!! Paul got me some gorgeous Tiffany earrings to go with the Tiffany necklace and bracelet he had got me in previous years

I made the kids a special breakfast, with waffles, brioche, mini chocolate muffins, crumpets, danish pastries and had bought old fashioned little milk bottles for them, we had bacon butties which were very welcome after little sleep!

My Parents came round at 1.30pm with more pressies and they had bought Molly the dolls pram she has been after for ages and had noticed that Santa hadn't brought.

My candy cane center piece i made

The table all set up and ready, i made more effort with the table this year, making lots of things including real cranberry napkin rings and i bought red table runner, napkins, chair bows and charger plates.

Molly go so many gorgeous dresses, she is such a little princess and loves dressing up

These are the little crochet mini stockings i made to put the cutlery in

I made each of the kids these little chocolate sleighs

Finally it was Christmas Dinner time, and this is what we had

Hot Herb Buttered Prawns and Salad

Fruit Christmas tree

Whole leg of Lamb, slow cooked in Port and stock, stuffed with a stuffing made from Fresh Cranberry's, Streaky bacon, Port and Thyme.

Served with Slow cooked Festive red cabbage spiced with Star anise and cinnamon

Creamed sprouts, with double cream and nutmeg

Onion stuffing baubles, with homemade stuffing and wrapped in streaky bacon

Mixed roast potatoes, butternut squash and parsnips doused with the post and stock

Carrots, Broccoli, and Cauliflower

Homemade person Cranberry Sauce

Gravey made from the port and meat juice

Millionaires Shortcake bombe

Gingerbread cake with Caramel biscuit buttercream icing and decorated with homemade ginger 

bread

I made everything from scratch so you can see why it took me so long!!!

But it was so worth it, it was delicious!

This was so easy, to make and i got to use my pop chef for the shapes

The Ginger Bread cake and Millionaires Chocolate Bombe

I never took many pics during dinner but my Mum did so i will have to copy them. Every one enjoyed it and Ewan surprised me by saying how yummy the Lamb was!!!, this is amazing as Ewan 

usually will not eat meat apart from processed stuff like sausages.

After dinner it was chill out time

Ending with a game of Doggie doo, that involved much laughter, all i could do was sit as i was knackered!

Hope you all had just as much fun!!!

Happy Christmas all!!!

xxx

Christmas Dinner Planning

The last few years Christmas Dinner planning has involved lots of research, cook books and my favorite magazine BBC Good Food .

My love of cooking has been a long road starting when i first lived away from home when i was 19 and moved to Germany. I was lucky that my mum is a good cook and i had lovely home cooked food made for me when i was growing up, but when i was i out there on my own i really had no idea what i was doing so frozen quick fixes and a deep fat fryer were what i relied on, at least for the first six months till i was desperate for a proper meal with real veggies. So i called Mum and asked how to cook a roast dinner and then had to call several times while cooking to ask things, but it was delicious and much needed, and it made me want to cook more. So lots more calls asking how to make this and that. Followd by getting Jamie Oliver cook books and they would be my special occasion recipes all those years ago. Its funny now to think that spaghetti bolognaise which is now one of my quick fixes and the easiest meal ever, that pleases everyone was once one of the meals i only made a weekends as it felt really difficult and seemed to take ages to cook, also i had to have the exact ingredients, unlike now where i use what ever i have in.

So over the years my skills have increased and nothing really feels like that difficult, yes i have recipes that take a long time and are a bit faffy and aren't really practical for mid week family meals, but those are what i really enjoy cooking when i have the time, like at Christmas or Easter. I always like to try new things, and enjoy seeing how they turn out and often surprise myself.

When we had the newsagents it was a great chance for me to read all the cooking magazines without having to buy them, and i would just photo copy what i wanted.

So after much research this is what i have decided on for Christmas dinner 2015!

Hot Herb Buttered Prawns and Salad

Fruit Christmas tree

Whole leg of Lamb, slow cooked in Port and stock, stuffed with a stuffing made from Fresh Cranberrys, Streaky bacon, Port and Thyme.

Served with Slow cooked Festive red cabbage spiced with Star anise and cinnamon

Creamed sprouts, with double cream and nutmeg

Onion stuffing baubles, with homemade stuffing and wrapped in streaky bacon

Mixed roast potatos, butternut squash and parsnips doused with the post and stock

Carrots, Brocoli, and Cauliflower

Homemade person Cranberry Sauce

Gravey made from the port and meat juice

Millionares Shortcake bombe

Gingerbread cake with Caramel buscuit buttercream iceing and decorated with homemade ginger 

bread

Just the shopping and prep to do now!

Pre Christmas Clearout

After a few weeks of lack of motivation i have started the pre Christmas clear out! i have to do this every year, well i do it at various points in the year but a big one just before Christmas. I don't know why but every cuboard and every room must be just so or i can't relax. Yesterday i did all the cuboards in the kitchen and was very pleased that food wise i only had a couple of packets that were really out of date, things i had bought cheap but really had no need for. I have been very good this year at using things up and only buying what i need and checking cupboards before i shop to make sure everything is used. I did however finally empty the baby cupboard that had Alexs baby bottles and bits and bobs, like the little tubs and ice cube trays that i used to make his baby food in. My recycling bin is full this week and already out for collection tomorrow. I can't believe how many herbs and spice i have but i do use them all the time and have to replace a few each week, i suppose thats what happens when you cook from scratch! this is just them while i was emptying the cupboard to clean it as we also grow our own as well.

Today i tackled the kids rooms. The last few months i have let Molly and Ewan have Film nights on the weekend in Ewans room and let them have snacks as well. As Ewan has a bunk bed he puts things on the top of his wardrobe and despite telling them to put rubbish in the bin and bring plates. cups etc down, i got a step ladder today to dust the top of the ward robe and found so much rubbish up there, just out of view when i am stood in the room. Urrrggh they have been told now no snacks upstairs, sweet wrappers and all sorts up there so no more snacks upstairs thats for sure! but upstairs is now spick and span, and the wardrobes and draws have been sorted through and i have a huge bag for charity. It does feel good to have a big clean and sort through, beds changed and ready for Christmas, if only they would stay that way!

While i was sorting out Ali and Fred had pulled out every toy and made a huge mess doenstairs so i brought them upstairs to play and caught Ali playing with the bath toys in the toilet!!!!!! arrgh
but i had a brainwave and filled the sink with water... such a good idea! can't believe i never thought of it before, kept them busy for over an hour while i finished upstairs. Ok well the bathroom did end up like a swimming pool but they had great fun and is easily fixed

Yesterday was Mollys Schools Christmas party. They get to wear party clothes, but Molly wanted to wear her Anna Dress and she wasn't the only Disney Princess i saw in the playground, she had a great time and that night was also her Rainbow Christmas party, so she wore it for that as well.

A while ago the rainbows had a coloring competition with all the units in the area ad last night they announced the winner.. and it was Molly!! we are so proud of her she is definitely creative! this is the Olivia doll she won and Ewan giving her a hug after she got home and told him! awww!

This is Ewans Christingal he made at Schools, minus the Sweets which of course ate!

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Pheasents Wood Carol services and the switch on of there Christmas lights, Santa as their and they all got toys and sweets, so very happy kids.

So after today's tidy up i put most of the toys in the loft and Fred was asking for the building bricks, which i brought don and for hours they have played with them, its great listening to them play they were so engrossed with it, its shows how the toys rotation really works as its almost like a new toy after a month of being,  in the loft, instead of always being there. We had a cottage and a spaceship, which was Ewans after Watching Tim Peakes blast off to the International space station today!

Another step closer to Christmas today!!

xxx

Prepping for Christmas

Today while putting the Christmas decoration boxes in the loft out of the way, i stumbled on a list. On this list was last years Christmas Presents for the kids, each year i spend a few months buying presents, then as the day gets closer panic that i haven't bought enough or that one child has more than the other, that type of thing. So as Christmas day drew nearer i had wrote this list with four columns and scribbled down what they had been bought, i had probably done this whilst wrapping them up and at that time i didn't have a loft and they were stored all over the place and they truly seemed to believe that the big boxes stacked next to my bed were all boxes of "wool" that i had bought for making jumpers! So after i had found this list i read through it and quickly added up roughly how much i had spent on each of them and was quite surprised at how much i must have spent, normally i don't have a set amount for each its more about making sure it looks like they all have the same and obviously thats more difficult as baby toys are far bigger and cheaper than a computer game for example.

This year i have really been very budget conscious as there are lots of things we want and like to do, things that have needed to be done to the house and now that i am not really working we have had to make cut backs, not that we have ever been really big spenders, to be honest everything we do is usually for the kids, but it was one of my New Years resolutions and i have stuck to it, we have saved money and been able to spend it on better things.

This year thinking about what to get the kids was really quite hard, with having four children we have lots of toys, more trains and track than we can lay down all at once, building bricks, duplo, lego, dolls, a shop, play food, puppet theaters, a shelf full of books, dolls and there accessories, every one of the popular and retro board games, more jigsaws than i can count, cars and garage, and toy boxes full of toddler toys, dressing up clothes, play mobil castles boy ones and girl ones, craft stuff the list just goes on and on and on, lets face it they have been spoilt! so with all that to pass down it leaves very little to buy specially for the little ones. We keep a lot of it in the loft and every couple of weeks i swap them over so they have different things to play with. This is why i decided this year to take the two older kids on outings as the main part of there presents this year, which i have wrote about before, Molly and i went to Manchester, stayed in a hotel, went shopping and to see Disney on Ice. Ewan and i will be going away in the new year. So after them writing there lists, which were quite small this year to be honest, as they must have accepted that they are going away as presents, which i though might be over looked, i have bought them everything they have asked for and a bit more ( apart from Ewans Wii U! thats not going to happen!).

So this brings me back to the list from last year. I got out all there pressies today to see how much they have and what the piles will look like and i feel a bit sad that it looks less than last year.
Well it would as they are having the outings as well!

I showed Paul the Pressies and the list from last year and he started to read it and ask me when was the last time i saw Ewan play with the Robot he asked for last year?  once maybe since Christmas day, and when did Molly last play with the Castle she asked for and wanted so much?, ahh last week...but that was the first time since Christmas week.... Starting to get the picture.. yes! in fact after reading the list and looking at it that way, there was very few things that were actually wanted and used. Ewan loved the all books i bought him (a box set and lots of fact books) and has read them over and over along with watching the Star Wars dvds all the time, The army clothes have never been off his back, but everything else has been touched a couple of times at most! Molly loved her make up and hair stuff and dressing up outfits and shoes ( girly girl!) and craft stuff!, but everything else has been left. The little ones have played with there stuff, but realistically Ali just wants trains and cars and Fred wants to have anything that Ali is playing with! plus craft stuff Fred is always up in Molly's room using her sellotape!

So the lesson that have learn't from this is that its me!!!! Its me that buys all the stuff they don't really want, but what i want them to have! Its me that makes my life hard with piles of toys that don't really get played with but get tipped out and spread everywhere!, its me that wants them to have piles of presents! Its me, me , me!

So as i have said in a previous post i will stick to what i have bought them this year and not go out and spend another £200 or £300 on bits and bobs, because they are cheap and will make it look like they have mountains of presents. On last years list i saw a item at the end of each one i had labeled "tat" and really thats what it is. I was shocked i had put that, but realistically thats what it was, bits of rubbish that i had bought.

I asked them last week what they were looking forward to this Christmas and of course it was opening there presents, but they also asked if we could do the Gingerbread house competition like last year, where Paul and Ewan went against Molly and i, to cook and build a Gingerbread house from scratch, neither were very successful but it was a lot of fun, just looked for the post and realised i didn't blog about it, but there are lots of things i don't as i don't always have time, even more so round Christmas. Also they asked for the starter they have had for the last few years, which is a bowled out melon with fruit cocktail in, not very exciting but we had smoked salmon terrine and i knew they wouldn't like that, so thats what i did. Its amazing what they remember and what sticks in there minds as Christmas, and is what they will remember as they grow up, and its not what we think they will remember. Its the experiences they have, so as Paul is off for a couple of weeks over Christmas, i will stick to the plans i have of family days, games, baking and making, and just being together, so if like in previous years i don't post much over Christmas its because we are making memories together.

Hope you all have a loving and fun filled Christmas xxx

Farmer Parrs

Farmer Parrs is a local farm, not a working farm really anymore, but a day out type place, with lots going on through out the year and Christmas is my favorite time to go as they decorate the main barn like a winter wonderland, i have been going for about 10 years now, maybe longer as we used to go when my nieces and nephews when they were young as well. Each year the add more and it just gets better and better and the Father Christmas is amazing and he sits in a log cabin with Reindeer poking there heads through the windows and whats really nice is that he takes his time talking to the kids, which is why we usually have to queue for 2 hours, but its worth it.

On Monday night Molly went with her Rainbow group and as it was only for an hour me, Alex and Ewan hung out and had a walk round. She saw Santa and got a pressie so was a very happy little girl!

This is Santas house

Today we went back again with Fred and Alex , my mum and Paul took a day off as it was the Childrens Centre Christmas Party at Farmer Parrs. Its was a great day, i went last year as well.

They have all the same things plus a disco and hot pot and they have various craft all around the farm and they only charge £1 per person!

The joy on Freds face for the whole day was un  describable, he really has the Christmas bug this year

Today they had a different Santa, slight shame as we had been talking about it being the real Santa with a real beard, but as the party was only for a couple of hours he had to be much quicker as they had 500 people to see.

Fred took a carrot with him that he had been clutching all day, and he gave it to Santa who fed it to the Reindeer, it was so special for Fred and made him really happy, i remember last year he was slightly scared of "red nose" and after we threw some carrots outside the front door he was constantly worried every time we went out he would be there!

 Ali, was dancing, well marching and swinging his head, but fell over and bashed his poor little head on the floor!

He loved the day though, and it was so nice for Paul and My mum as well

Fred loved seeing the animals

All in all it was a great day and such a wonderful event that the children's center had organized.

That morning i had asked the kids what they would like for tea as we were doing the food shopping after the farm and very randomly Ewan and Molly asked for an all you can eat buffet!

So i thought i would give them what they wanted and popped into Iceland for some Party food, usually i make everything myself, but this was a much easier option for just us.

They also asked for Party games so, i fond a few bits in my Prize bag, where i keep bits i have picked up during the year for party bags and things like that and wrapped them up and we had a few games of pass the parcel, that Fred has been getting into after going the the Playgroup Christmas party on Wednesday!

A great end to a great week!

Bye xxx