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 [...]

These are some truffles that I made last year for a Christmas buffet and to wrap in clear bags with ribbon as presents.   They are cookie and cream ones, and some peanut butter ones. Cookie [...]

I have sometimes found myself a couple of days before Christmas and I find myself without enough preserves for my hampers. This is a quick and easy alternative to spending hours making jam and you [...]

Christmas is the one time of year when we splash out on food. We like to make it special, entertain, and spend time with family. Mr S loves pork pies (I am not so keen [...]

This year seems a good time to reset Christmas. The financial crisis and a hard few years for many makes it seem like the right time. I have always felt pressured at Christmas time to [...]

I made these for a friend last year who loves biscoff.  I didn't use the real biscuits or spread but used Aldi copy cat product that tastes the same. They were made by whizzing a [...]

Home made shortbread tastes so much better than bought shortbread if it is made with proper butter. I got a gadget a few years ago from Amazon which makes shortbread look fancy for the hampers [...]

This fudge is so quick and easy to make, and you can add anything to it.  At Easter I will add the little crushed eggs and for Christmas I add pistachio nuts or dried cranberries [...]

A good Christmas cake is so expensive to buy. We make our own from a frugally adapted recipe. Prices have risen in 2022 but with the icing and the marzipan it was under £10 last [...]