And then it was over..

Another Christmas has come and gone, in the blink of an eye. And what a lovely one it was! We had a lovely time relaxing with family, eating, drinking and lounging pool-side. For once I was glad is wasn't a scorcher too - it was just nice. 

I hope you all had a great day! Did Santa bring you what you wanted? Did you eat your weight in trifle and pav... again?

While the babies in our family were well and truly spoilt (some might say it was a little OTT - but will we ever learn?), the big people in our household didn't do too badly either; not that I was expecting it - but thank you so much to my lovely Mr DD, who got me the new Arcade Fire album and The Exquisite Book, which i'd been going on about for ages (it really is awesome)! 

Jolly's aside, Christmas really is less about the gifts for me, and more about the planning; the preparation.
The tree, the wrapping.. the FOOD.
It means pouring over the menu and carefully choosing each component.. and finishing off with a delectable and triumphant dessert with which to get your guests salivating in anticipation! But then, what will accompany your incredible creation? There can't just be one.. and what if it's not a traditional trifle or pav? Can you even have Christmas without one or the other?! Holy messing-with-convention, Batman! I suppose you've guessed by now... for me, dessert is KING.
This year, as my star attraction, I went with a by Annabel Langbein: The Free Range Cook. It looked absolutely mouth-watering on the tv, and surprisingly easy... well SHE made it look easy. Of course that translates to: easy for me too (eerr, in theory)!
This first attempt was successful, apart from the bit when I didn't know what my own oven settings were and accidentally cooked it on Fan-Grill, and it ended up a flat, charred mess of a round. Queue attempt number 2: and the odd panic aside (I would make for great telly if I ever dared enter MasterChef.. my tanty's would become that of legend, i'm sure) it turned out perfect!! Strawberry Lemon Puff - I salute you. You are glorious.

To go with this - as if there wasn't enough to fit in, I made some family friendly chocolate truffles. They were supposed to be mint infused, but for some reason they weren't as fragrant as I'd hoped, so they ended up just being freakin delicious plain chocolate truffles coated in nuts and cocoa. It was so muggy when I made them, that they don't look particularly pretty, but OMG they were amazing! Mmmmm..

But wait there's more!! 

Chocolate overload here we come!! I present - Nigella Lawson's Snow Flecked Chocolate Brownie - which would've, if i'd remembered to take a photo, looked like this:

photo via bloguez.com

It was good news for our family in the end though. I actually forgot to take the Brownie down to our Christmas hang out on the day, so we took it to Boxing Day dinner at a friends instead. Great with left over trifle, it turns out! 

I now weigh approximately double what I did on Xmas Eve. Remind me why I let that Zumba auction on TradeMe lapse the other day? 

If only wrapping presents (and unwrapping, for that matter) burnt as many calories. I'd be a lean Mama machine in no time!!!

Here's a peak at how my Present-wrapping with scraps production line turned out: 

The silver paper in the middle is a wallpaper sample I couldn't find another use for. 

I made paper cut of stars to use as decorations to brighten up my brown packaging paper, and printed out some free labels! Paper doily's also make great labels, and scraps of fabric add a splash of colour too.

I'll never ever be one to take my presents to the Gift Wrap stall at the mall to be quickly covered up, like someone sprung running from the bathroom to the bedroom without a towel, in a panicked rush. And even though at my age presents are the least important thing about the whole day, and the season,  I still love the look of childlike glee that springs to your loved ones' faces once they've ripped through the layers of a lovingly wrapped parcel, to be greeted by something they've been secretly hoping for aaages. It just makes me melt inside! 

This was the last thing we saw before we went to bed all cooked, wrapped and sewn out, on Christmas Eve..

Excuse the blurriness...

A happy and safe holiday season to you all! 

Ho Ho Ho! And a bottle of rum..

Well it's almost that time of year again - and I have to say, it's become a whole lot more fun with the addition of the small person to our household, who is currently (and so my wallet would agree, a little too soon!) obsessed with Santa Claus - or 'Sen-tors', as she calls him.

I can put this fascination down to one day a few weeks ago, when my Mum took her out to the mall for a morning play/shop. When I came home from work that day she was going on and on about something called 'Sen-tors, Mama!'. It took me a while, but finally I clicked as to what she meant!! Mum must've really gone to town explaining who this Sen-tors was, because from that day on - there has been little mention of anyone else, bar the Wiggles. But that's a whole other level of obsession.

Last year was the first time we had a 'real' christmas tree. I'd been putting it off because both myself and Mr DD suffer from horrid hayfever at this time of year - but I actually think it was worth it. The smell is like nothing else, don't you think! So earthy and warming. I cannot go back now. Plus, our Small Person will be truely enchanted this year, by the decorations and lights (if her reaction to in store Xmas Lights displays are anything to go by). We might even have a go at making some of our own decorations to hang from the branches!

I still have a few days to get the household adornments together, but as a start I was inspired by a friend to have a go at making my own advent calendar.

I started with some bankers envelopes, some paint, a few scraps of felt, a gold marker, some glitter and of course, glue. Pop in some sneaky treats and a lolly or two, peg to some twine or ribbon on a wall or board, and voila!

Hung on a very ugly old wall, they still manage to look lovely and festive, and i'm sure our Small Person will take much pleasure in destroying each lovingly put together package to dig out its treasure each day of December. And we will have the camera ready to capture the look on that wee face as she does so.. *melt*.

Sure, advent calendars aren't the most expensive things in the world to buy - but it's so much cooler to make your own! This is pretty cheaply done - the treats inside probably cost $4 altogether (hair clips, stickers and a lolly here and there), and you can use anything you have lying around the place to decorate the envelopes. The more creative the better! And what fun to have with your kids too!

Happy Festive Season everyone!