Today was the second day I managed to juggle two children on my own and to celebrate I thought I would also do some home baking! Big Brother loves gingerbread as much as I do so we used the gnome breadmen shaped cookie cutters which we were recently sent to try. Not your usual cookie cutter, the humble garden gnome is back and this time they’re taking pride of place in our kitchens. These fun new Gnome Breadmen shaped cookie cutters are great for the whole family to enjoy; whether you’re baking, decorating or eating them! We slightly adapted the…
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Regardless of the time of year I love gingerbread but to most people it has strong connections with the festive season. I’ve definitely been enjoying a glut of gingerbread products on the shelves at the supermarket and Bespoke Foods’ new Gingerbread Man promises lots of edible DIY fun. The Gingerbread Man kit contains all you need to decorate your own gingerbread man – one large gingerbread man, icing in an icing bag and sweets to decorate. Gingerbread has been made in Germany since the middle ages when spices were brought into Europe on the spice route through Germany. This gingerbread…
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We thought we’d finish off our Christmas shopping today so visited Brent Cross in the hope that a mid-week shop would be quiet. We were wrong and it was very busy. Big Brother visited the (free) Santa’s Grotto and we have a rather sulky photograph to show for it. While we were there I picked up some Gingerbread men biscuits in a bag from John Lewis. John Lewis seem to be stocking lots of gingerbread biscuits this year and also sell gingerbread house and heart decorations and extra large gingerbread men. The hand decorated gingerbread men biscuits are presented in…
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I can’t resist looking round the food section at Ikea as I’m a fan of Swedish food. On our last visit I spotted they were selling Pepparkaka which I just had to try for myself. Each packet contains 8 pepparkaka or gingerbread biscuits, 4 x hearts and 4 x stars, for a very reasonable 90p. Each biscuit has a hole which can be threaded with ribbon and hung around the house or on the Christmas tree. We really enjoyed these biscuits. They smelt delicious, had just the right amount of spices (ingredients include ginger, clove and cinnamon). They are also…
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I can’t help but pop into a Hotel Chocolat whenever I walk past one. On my last visit I snapped up some of their gingerbread truffles, all in the name of research for this blog you understand. The pack contained six truffles, a super soft milk chocolate truffle with yummy gingerbread flavours of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. To be honest I’m not a huge fan of truffles so these haven’t been my favourite seasonal gingerbread product this year. The gingerbread flavour is lovely though and my husband was happy to polish off the remaining truffles! £3.50 for 6 truffles
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I’m a big fan of Dorset Cereals products and was really excited when I heard they were launching a seasonal porridge. It’s only available in Waitrose (or online) so it took a while to get my hands on some but it was worth the wait! Made with barley flakes as well as the usual jumbo oats, it also contains crumbled pieces of real gingerbread and tiny pieces of date. Each box contains 10 x 42g sachets which can be cooked on the hob or in the microwave. I love porridge for breakfast and have been enjoying the gingerbread porridge. The…
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According to Wikipedia, The Gingerbread Boy made his first print appearance in the May 1875 issue of the (American) St. Nicholas Magazine. I’ve been trying to build up my library of gingerbread books this week and found two lovely story books on eBay to add to my collection. The first was this vintage copy of The Gingerbread Boy from 1951. It’s part of the Janet & John Story Books which my husband remembers reading at school. It’s the traditional story of the gingerbread boy, beautifully illustrated. This copy is from a school library and bears the stamp Leicestershire Education Authority.…
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I’ve never tried parkin before but knowing it was some kind of ginger cake was happy when offered some of Lottie Shaw’s Seriously Good Yorkshire Parkin to try. It’s described as “a ginger cake predominantly baked using oatmeal and a perfect blend of syrup and black treacle”. It contains no artificial life enhancing ingredients but the syrup preserves the cake for up to 12 weeks! The packaging was lovely, the parkin was baked in its own tray and smelt divine. My only criticism was that the portion could have been larger – I didn’t realise parkin was so delicious and…
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Christmas crafting is in full swing at the moment. I’ve been meaning to make a felt half eaten gingerbread man from Elsie Marley’s pattern for ages and finally got round to it this week. I love the vintage ric rac and used snowflake brads for his buttons. I think it turned out rather well and will look great on our Christmas tree. This is my monthly make for November