Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to say thank you for all your support over the last 12 months. It has meant an awful lot.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day.

Love

H

Pins #5

Sorry about not getting a Friday's Letters post out yesterday. I'm just super busy at the moment. I'll hopefully get one done for next week.
My favourite pins this week (a special Christmas edition):

1. Lovely decorations. 

2. This tree is just beautiful.

3. This photo reminds me of my mum's secret present cupboard.

4. I always get super excited when un-boxing our Christmas decorations.

5. Love, love, love carol singing.

6. How magical does this scene of Paris look?

7. Stockings are a favourite part of our Christmas Eve.

8 & 9. These are 2 classic programmes which as a family we always watch every year - Robbie the Reindeer and Wallace & Gromit.

10. The true reason for this lovely time of the year - don't forget.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

H

"Unto us a child is born"

Wrapping

Today I'm wrapping all my Christmas presents.
I love doing this job - I find it relaxing and I like to get creative.
I've been looking at new ways to wrap my presents this year and these are what I found:

I love all of them -  think I'm going to go with the names cut out of newspaper!

Have you finished wrapping yet?

2 more sleeps to go!

H

Holiday Questionnaire

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate?

If I'm totally honest I don't think I have ever properly tried eggnog. I've had a sip of a friend's eggnog latte in Starbucks and found it SUPER sweet. A bit too sweet to be honest so I'm going to say hot chocolate.

2. Does Santa wrap your presents or just sit them under the tree?

They are always wrapped but not always in paper, sometimes in fashionable plastic bags. He also always seems to leave the prices on the gifts?!

3. Colored lights or white lights?

I like both but on our Christmas tree at home we just have white lights which sparkle and flash.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

Nope. Never have. Not sure what it looks like. Are the berries white or red?

5. When do you hang up your holiday decorations?

In my uni flat we normally hang them up before December. As we tend to go home over Christmas we like to get them up early. However, my family have been a bit slow this year and I only put the decorations and the tree up yesterday, madness!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding desserts)?

As previously mentioned in this post it has to be the gammon which my Dad makes to accompany the turkey on Christmas Day. I think I could eat this everyday!

7. What is your favorite holiday memory from childhood?

Wow, what a question. I remember one Christmas coming downstairs to find every entrance completely covered in binliners so that my siblings and I had to fight our way through the plastic to find our presents. It's hard to remember specific memories because they all seem to roll into one.

8. What is on your Christmas wish list?

I never really have a Christmas wish list - there are lots of things I would find useful but there is nothing I totally desire. I suppose I would love a new computer, a nice shiny camera or some new make-up. I'm not fussy though.

9. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?

The only gifts I open on Christmas Eve our from Scott - it has become a tradition that we spend this day together and then we open our presents to each other. This year my Mum has organised a Secret Santa and I think we will be opening those presents on Christmas Eve too.

10. How do you decorate your tree?

My Mum loves doing colour schemes for the tree. Previously, we have had purple & silver, gold & red and this year I picked the scheme and chose silver & red decorations with lots of white lights:

11. Snow - love it or dread it?

Love it. I remember growing up and never seeing snow. BUT now we seem to get snow every year. I really like it, but I HATE driving in it. For the past 2 years when I've gone to work I've brought a sleeping bag, wellies, shovel and extra food in case I get stranded.

12. Real tree or fake tree?

I'm a fake tree convert - We always used to have a real tree and don't get me wrong they are lovely and smell perfect but they're a really pain. At home we have a fake tree which I think looks pretty real so a nice compromise.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

I have a number of favourite gifts, mainly because I still use them pretty much everyday. A couple of years ago Scott bought me a Tiffany necklace which I love and my parents have bought me GHD hair straighteners and an iPod which I still use. I love useful presents rather than ones which will sit in my drawer, unused.

14. What's the most important thing about Christmas to you?

Firstly, remembering the true meaning behind Christmas but also being able to spend time with family and just being able to relax and play those board games which get forgotten about for the rest of the year. Monopoly is a family favourite for Christmas.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Yule Log!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Probably opening our stockings altogether at an insanely early time of the day.

17. What do you put on top of your tree?

A sparkly gold glitter star.

18. Do you prefer giving or receiving?

Giving - I get such a rush from seeing the look on someone's face when you've given them just the right gift.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin' Stevens

20. Candy canes - yucky or yummy?

Yuck!

21. Favorite Christmas movie(s)?

Love Actually and A Christmas Carol

22. What do you leave for Santa?

Mince Pies, Carrots and a glass of something nice.

23. Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?

We always open half of our presents in the morning before church and then open the rest later in the day.

24. Do you prefer to shop online or at the mall?

I think I prefer shopping for things in the shops but it gets so hectic around this time of year and I can't stand crowds so I generally do all my shopping online.

25. Christmas letter or Christmas card?

Mmmm, I'm not a huge fan of either. I like the idea of Christmas cards but you only ever look at them once so I think it is a bit of a waste. Sorry to end on a depressing note.

Feel free to answer these questions yourself :)

*Seen over at Big Mario Life*

Images via

Wrap Up!

Something I love about this time of year are the beautiful Winter coats which I see in all the shops.
I'm an absolute sucker for a lovely warm coat, shame they all seem to be expensive.
I'm currently enjoying being wrapped up in a navy Miss Selfridge duffel coat from last winter's collection but it doesn't mean that I can't admire some others.

Here are four of my favourites:

1. Camel fur collar coat - Miss Selfridge £90

2. Black Cape - Dorothy Perkins £69

3. Sweet Pea Coat - Joy £99

4. Green padded jacket - Jack Wills £98

What are you wearing to keep warm this winter?

Cider Ham

It is a Christmas tradition in my house for a Delia Smith special to be cooked alongside the traditional turkey.
We have a joint of gammon infused with cider, cloves and mustard and I think it is definitely my favourite part of the Christmas Day meal. 

It is my Dad's baby so I asked him for the recipe so that I could re-create the magic for our flat Christmas party. 

Ingredients:
1 piece of middle-cut gammon.

1 onion peeled and stuck with a few cloves

1 bayleaf

1 pint dry cider

2 dozen cloves

Half tsp of black peppercorns

2 tbsps dark brown sugar

1 tbsp English mustard.

To start you must place the gammon in a pan and completely cover in cold water.

Once this has been brought to the boil you must remove the water and then replace with the cider and top up the pan with water.

Add the peppercorns, studded onions and bay leaves.
This must then simmer for about an hour.

(I made the ham a couple of days in advance and I just left the gammon in the pan full of cider in the fridge over night for added flavour).

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6.

Remove the skin from the gammon and then score the fat in diamond shaped cuts.

Within each diamond insert a clove.

Then cover the joint in mustard and press in the brown sugar.

Place in a roasting tray with some cider and roast in the oven for at least 1 hour - continue to baste the cider throughout the roasting.

Then serve!!

I also made a cheeky Baileys cheescake with honeycomb pieces for one of the desserts:

What are your essential Christmas recipes?

Party Time

On Saturday we had our annual flat Christmas Dinner where we just invited a few friends over and had a really nice time of catching up over some food.

There were obviously games involved including a secret santa, pass the parcel and a Christmas themed quiz.
Here are some pictures from the evening:

Jeremy, Michael and I decorated each napkin for everyone - this was mine. Isn't it AMAZING?

One of the pass the parcel forfeits was a blindfolded make over!

Have you got any Christmas party plans?