So as expected it has been a busy but enjoyable weekend with only 4 days to go to Christmas Day by the end of the weekend.
I wrote all my Christmas cards first thing Saturday morning and I know I am so late this year writing them all. I had to find extra cards as our lovely next-door-neighbours are moving so I wanted to get them and our new neighbours New Home cards aswell as Christmas cards. I am so sorry to lose our lovely neighbours as we have lived next to them for over 10 years now. I wish them all the best with their new home. Such a shame to lose them and I hope our new neighbours will be as equally as lovely.
I spent a fair amount of time cleaning the house and getting it ready for Christmas guests. I freshened up the candles in the house and used these cute snowball ones from Partylite in our lounge and these tealight holders with cutaway snowflakes. These were also from Partylite but of course I did not buy them from Partylite themselves but from carboot sales at a much cheaper price.
I organised the living room and dining room by finishing off the decorations, and getting table mats, napkins and votives ready. I have two white tablecloths with one on top of the other, so that after Christmas Day I can pull off the top cloth and there is a fresh clean one underneath. We tend not to be messy on Christmas Day but Boxing Day is another matter with seven of around the table usually getting rather merry and there are usually spillages.
I shopped at Marks & Spencers Friday evening and Waitrose Saturday evening and managed to bag bargains at both from the clearance counter. Marks & Spencer bargains were two packs of their Special Selection pigs in blankets reduced from £4 to 90p and stuffing balls also at 90p. I bought four packs of "chefs" carrots at 35p each and blanched them on Saturday morning and then froze them. I will roast these along with parsnips for our two Christmas dinners. They also had two bags of satsumas reduced from £2 to 30p, a ready stuffed Oakham chicken at half price £3.50 and cod and Dover sole at 60 - 75% off. They worked out at £2.15 and £2.45 a pack instead of £6 and £9.50.
I bought a 300g pack of cranberries which were on a half price offer and made my own cranberry sauce. This is so easy to do and I used a Waitrose recipe to make it. I put the cranberries in a pan along with the juice of a satsuma made up with water to 150ml. The recipe is to use clementine juice but I used the satsuma instead. Simmer for 5 minutes until the berries start to burst and then add 75g of light muscavodo sugar (I used Demerara - I use substitutes all the time in recipes) and simmer until the sauce becomes thick. Leave to cool and this keeps for around a week in the fridge.
Waitrose had a half price side of salmon from £16 to £8 (for New Year's Day lunch) and I bought 3 packs of 6 reduced Yorkshire puddings. For some reason this year I have had a hankering for Yorkshire puddings with my Christmas dinner which is something I have never done before.
David had his Christmas party with his co-workers on Saturday night which was a casino evening at a local hotel. I dropped him off at a nearby Belgium bar for him to have pre drinks (known as prinks in our family) to meet his colleagues. He was after a lift home but I'm tired by 10pm and I knew he would be later than this so he said would get a taxi home but luckily he got a lift home from one of his colleagues. We managed to avoid Christmas 'dos' last year as we were away but this year it is only me who has managed to escape the enforced jollity. I know this makes me sound "Bah Humbug" but December is a busy month for us and I think I spend enough time already with the people from work without going on an expensive do with them. Am I being a Grinch?
I spent a fair amount of time cleaning the house and getting it ready for Christmas guests. I freshened up the candles in the house and used these cute snowball ones from Partylite in our lounge and these tealight holders with cutaway snowflakes. These were also from Partylite but of course I did not buy them from Partylite themselves but from carboot sales at a much cheaper price.
I shopped at Marks & Spencers Friday evening and Waitrose Saturday evening and managed to bag bargains at both from the clearance counter. Marks & Spencer bargains were two packs of their Special Selection pigs in blankets reduced from £4 to 90p and stuffing balls also at 90p. I bought four packs of "chefs" carrots at 35p each and blanched them on Saturday morning and then froze them. I will roast these along with parsnips for our two Christmas dinners. They also had two bags of satsumas reduced from £2 to 30p, a ready stuffed Oakham chicken at half price £3.50 and cod and Dover sole at 60 - 75% off. They worked out at £2.15 and £2.45 a pack instead of £6 and £9.50.
I bought a 300g pack of cranberries which were on a half price offer and made my own cranberry sauce. This is so easy to do and I used a Waitrose recipe to make it. I put the cranberries in a pan along with the juice of a satsuma made up with water to 150ml. The recipe is to use clementine juice but I used the satsuma instead. Simmer for 5 minutes until the berries start to burst and then add 75g of light muscavodo sugar (I used Demerara - I use substitutes all the time in recipes) and simmer until the sauce becomes thick. Leave to cool and this keeps for around a week in the fridge.
Waitrose had a half price side of salmon from £16 to £8 (for New Year's Day lunch) and I bought 3 packs of 6 reduced Yorkshire puddings. For some reason this year I have had a hankering for Yorkshire puddings with my Christmas dinner which is something I have never done before.
David had his Christmas party with his co-workers on Saturday night which was a casino evening at a local hotel. I dropped him off at a nearby Belgium bar for him to have pre drinks (known as prinks in our family) to meet his colleagues. He was after a lift home but I'm tired by 10pm and I knew he would be later than this so he said would get a taxi home but luckily he got a lift home from one of his colleagues. We managed to avoid Christmas 'dos' last year as we were away but this year it is only me who has managed to escape the enforced jollity. I know this makes me sound "Bah Humbug" but December is a busy month for us and I think I spend enough time already with the people from work without going on an expensive do with them. Am I being a Grinch?
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