I have had my decorations up since the end of November and so I am looking forward to taking them down soon. For me, wrapping up Christmas isn't just about throwing the baubles in a [...]

Christmas, and the end of the year, are almost upon us. I don't drink alcohol very often, but am sitting here, by my wood burning stove, nursing some mulled wine in my tin mug. It [...]

I have seen these fir cone truffles  being made on the internet for a number of years now. This Christmas it was times to give them a try for our family meal. The truffle recipe [...]

We had our Christmas early this weekend. My children have to work Christmas day, or visit inlaws. For a change we decided to serve fish as in some countries this is the traditional Christmas food. [...]

Nothing says Christmas like mince pies. Not everyone has the right kitchen equipment to make individual mince pies, though. I was in a hurry today as I was trying to have the oven on for [...]

I enjoyed making the chocolate pengun lollies the other day and  so decided to have a go at another chocolate animal lolly. I still had white chocolate buttons left. Ingredients Large white chocolate buttons. Small [...]

Making presents doesn't have to cost a lot of money, and you don't  have to be an expert. Today I made some Christmas chocolate lollies with my grandson. I will make some more nearer Christmas [...]

If you have been entertaining this Christmas, have a large family, or if you are any thng like me, your fridge will be packed with  Christmas left overs. It is important that you freeze things [...]

Christmas hampers are a great way of making presents that are frugal, but filled with love.  We started making them for family when we could not afford Christmas presents for anyone but the children.  We [...]

I think that my expectations of Christmas have always been too high as an adult. Every year, I have built up to Christmas, but then it has been a bit of an anti climax.  This [...]

Mince pies are sweet treats that are traditionally served at Christmas. Some people make their own mince meat to fill them, but I don't at the moment.  The main reason is that I can buy [...]

These are an easy activity to make with a child and the saltiness of the pretzel sticks with the chocolate tastes lovely.  If I had some lolly sticks I would have made this into a [...]

I can hear people shouting at me now as the word Christmas can feel like a swear word in August.  I had the same reaction myself when I saw Christmas items being sold in a [...]

People can be alone at Christmas for all sorts of reasons.  Family may have died or moved away, a partner may be working, people may have fallen out, or be separated from family etc. For [...]

Tonight is the Winter Solstice which is a pagan celebration called Yule.  This is an ancient celebration of the shortest day, midwinter, and the return of lighter days and the sun. A yule log was [...]

I always try to make sure that there is some fruit and salad on the Christmas buffet table to we have some slightly healthy food.  This year I managed to get some cheap strawberries (25p [...]

We have had our Christmas this weekend as it was the only time that we could all get together.  There are new grandparents in law to consider now, and some members of the family work [...]

Sausage rolls have been a staple of Christmas buffets for decades. I am always banging on about how 'normal', every day food can be made special with just a bit of creativity and this Christmas [...]

We are having family over for a Halloween meal.  I wanted to make it special as the grand children are getting to the age when they will not be children much longer.  I did not [...]

My philosophy is that you do not need to spend a lot of money to make an occasion special.  It just takes effort and creativity.  We are holding a Halloween dinner for family at the [...]

Flavoured gins and vodkas are all the rage now, but they can be expensive.  The nicest ones I have ever tasted are home made blackberry gin and vodka.  They bring back that taste of summer [...]

I am trying to do less baking to save money on energy, but we still like our sweet treats, especially during school holidays and special events like Easter.  This is based on a recipe I [...]

There are so many ways to make your meals feel festive even if you do not have the money to buy special food at Christmas time.    Here are some ways that I add Christmas [...]

I got myself into the mood of Christmas yesterday by having a stove top potpourri on top of my wood burner.  I only discovered these last year.  They are pots of simmering water with various [...]