You can probably guess from the title of my blog that I love gingerbread houses! This year we made a kit from John Lewis over a couple of days. The toddler was really excited about it as he loves his “gin-gin” men! First of all he helped daddy put the kit together, then we left it to dry overnight. The next day we got out all our sweetie supplies which included icing pens, liquorice wheels, Necco wafers for roof tiles and gumdrops for the fence. We got to work, the toddler mainly ate the sweets whilst I iced and strategically…
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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 on a bit of a splurge recently, buying vintage cookie cutters from a well known internet auction site. Most seem to come from the US and the range is huge compared to the ones I’ve found here in the UK. This week my little collection grew and I have some great seasonal cutters, including candy canes, gingerbread houses, drums, candles, trees, holly leaves, Father Christmas and even reindeer. As much as I love to use my cutters when baking biscuits there are lots of other things they can be used for. I used some cutters as gift tags…
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Not long now until the big day so I’m beginning to draw up a mental check list for what to do next. The personalised cards have been signed and sent, the presents wrapped and delivered, the decorations taken out of the loft and we’ve all come down with colds and a stomach bug. Bah humbug! I have to admit my Christmas spirit is flagging slightly but I’m hoping we’ll all be feeling better soon as there’s still so much to do. Top of my list (when I feel like it) is the Christmas food shop. It always fills me with…
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I’m a big fan of Ruth Clemens, blogger at The Pink Whisk and runner-up of the Great British Bake Off. She has recently teamed up with Persil to celebrate the launch of a new, limited edition Persil Warm Spice Washing Up Liquid and create some festive family recipes. I was challenged to try one of her recipes at home and it was difficult to choose just one from Mini Sausage Twirls, Orange Fig Glazed Ham, Spiced Apple Chutney and Candy Cane Meringues. However eventually I chose the Christmas Biscuits as I have a bit of a sweet tooth! Take a…
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When Whitworths challenged me to use their new baking sugars at home they asked me to try a couple of recipes from their own website and one of my own. So far I’ve made Butternut Squash soup using Whitworths Light Soft Brown Sugar, and Honeycomb Crunch using Whitworths Granulated Sugar. Both recipes were pretty simple and delicious. Simple Christmas cupcake wreath Most of my thoughts are now on the festive season so it made sense to bake something yummy with a seasonal twist. I thought of an edible seasonal wreath, a Christmas cupcake wreath! I made the wreath in a couple of…
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We’re currently counting down until Little Sis’ first birthday. I’m not sure where the year has gone, it’s been fun but not without it’s difficulties. Her cheeky little smile seems to have got me through the worst of the sleepless nights and days of screaming. Yes, my child is not perfect and has only just started sleeping through without waking! So far, the handmade birthday card has been sent in to CBeebies, 6 weeks early as requested. We’ve had a dry run with making Peppa Pig biscuits. The final version were flooded with pink icing but I forgot to photograph…
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I spent yesterday afternoon baking my first apple cake. The recipe was suggested by Sian Hallewell, and was handpicked by Jean Christophe Novelli to appear in the new cookery book Let’s Get Cooking! by Flora Cuisine. Let’s Get Cooking! contains 30 everyday recipes, from simple suppers to great cakes, by mums and dads from across the UK. It was created after they ran a recipe competition on their Facebook page earlier in the year. Flora Cuisine is a healthy cooking oil which is great for frying, roasting and baking. It has 45% less saturated fat than olive oil which means…
