Have you spotted many gingerbread houses around this year? Everywhere I look (or shop) there seems to be one but I’ve tried to be good and only bought ones I know we’ll have time to make. So far we’ve had fun trying the following pre-made kits: Create A Treat House Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Create A Treat Village Gingerbread Kit from John Lewis (£15) Gingerbread house kit from Tiger We’ve also eaten a fair few gingerbread biscuits (all in the name of research): Make Your Own Gingerbread Decorating Kit from John Lewis (£4.50) Morrison’s Jolly Gingerbread…
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We’ve been busy making gingerbread house biscuits. You can never make too many gingerbread men but sometimes it’s good to make something different. As the toddler was helping we used Sainsbury’s gingerbread dough which we tried earlier this year. This time we rolled it out even thinner and squeezed 10 biscuits from the dough. I used one of the vintage cutters I recently purchased to make cute little gingerbread houses. When they were cool I iced them (not brave enough to let the toddler loose with an icing pen just yet). I think they look cute and I can safely…
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I’ve been enjoying spending time sewing felt Christmas decorations. I’ve signed up for a couple of Christmas craft swaps which has meant some happy hours looking through my favourite craft books. Felt Christmas decorations I decided to try something different so made these three felt decorations and framed them in small embroidery hoops. Each hoop is only 3 inches so they are the perfect size for hanging on a tree. Hopefully you can tell they are a candy cane, gum drop sweeties and a gingerbread couple. The pattern was from one of my favourite craft books Fa la la la…
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Do you have children who like to dress up? I don’t. I was offered the chance to review a costume from Simply Fancy Dress and seized the opportunity. They have a great selection and I was totally drawn to the Little Gingerbread Man Costume for the toddler. The costume arrived in a useful clear plastic bag and consists of trousers, top with attached gloves and headpiece, and comes in three different sizes. It’s made of polyester and is quite thin, so if I can ever persuade my toddler to wear it he’ll have to put on something underneath! Simply Fancy…
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We went to Westfield Stratford City yesterday. Most of the shops already had Christmas window displays, Boots was full of gift sets and I picked up a collection of gingerbread mixes, cutters and kits to try out and perfect over the coming weeks. When we got back we had a bit of a gingerbread making session, and every cutter we have was used by the children. I’ve tried to keep on top of Christmas planning so far. I’m a real list person so have lists of stocking fillers and Christmas presents, Christmas card list and a menu for Christmas Day.…
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It’s no secret I have a love of gingerbread. Biscuits or cake, I’m not fussy as long as it’s delicious. We were recently sent some gingerbread biscuits from Bee’s Bakery to try. They arrived beautifully packaged, carefully wrapped in paper, tied up with string. The first thing that struck me was the delicious smell followed by the unusual design of the biscuits. These are not just any biscuits – but an updated version of the jammie dodger – two delicious gingerbread biscuits sandwiched with a creamy filling. The top of each biscuit feature words or faces which you can customise…
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We’ve just returned from a couple of days at my mum’s house. We got to do all our favourite activities. I went round the local charity shops (more Bob the Builder toys for the toddler), the husband flew his model aeroplane from the top of the local beauty spot and my mum kindly looked after the kids so me and my husband could spend the day at Yeo Valley, more of which later. My mum has one of those kettles which is always on, boiling water for cups of tea. She is constantly asking if we want a cup of…
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For my birthday back in March I asked my husband to buy me Betty Crocker’s Gingerbread Cake & Cookie Mix. I’m not even sure where I saw it but I can’t resist gingerbread so had to have it. The best before date was today so I finally got round to baking it. I really wish I hadn’t bothered! It was horrible 🙁 The mix makes gingerbread cake or cookie mix (naturally flavoured!) and I chose gingerbread cake. I don’t know what went wrong as it smelled delicious, but it didn’t bake properly. I served it with custard to try and…
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I’m ashamed to say I didn’t own a single general cook book until Dorling Kindersley very kindly allowed me to chose a couple of books from their recent catalogue to review and Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook arrived on my doorstep. I’m a huge Mary Berry fan and own a couple of her baking books but wasn’t aware she had written more than seventy cook books since her first book was published in 1970 (thanks Wikipedia!). Anyway, my poor family have been eating recipes torn from magazines for years so the Complete Cookbook has been very welcome. I have spent some…
