Now I must apologise, as this post contains references to a certain traditional holiday that is coming up in less than 2 months.
Now personally I get a little annoyed with Slade blaring from the shops, and mince pies being on sale in September, but I also like to be organised. At work we bought the presents for the children back at the start of October as there was an offer for free postage, plus it spreads the cost.
Also we are going away for Christmas (well, hopefully not like last year) and so need to be prepared- I am seeing my parents on the 10th December! Super early!
One of my blogger challenges was to start getting things ready, so I thought I would share a few things with you.
I bought this cool (decorative) cockerel watering can for my mum, from The Natural Collection– she loves her chickens and chicken things, plus the garden, and I could not resist it! We also got our cards from a local charity (Grove House Hospice)- they are of St Albans Abbey (we have a lot of family there) and also one of a pretty decorated tree.
I have also been getting ready to make presents. I bought a lot of these jars from Ikea- they were only 90p which is so much cheaper than anywhere else I have seen. Plus some pretty silver twine, labels and red ribbon (and that bottle is pectin as I am going to make SuperJam which uses fruit juice instead of sugar). I just need to get some nice fabric for the tops.
I have also been practising my icing skills (?) to get ready for the big cakes later on!
Away from the holiday theme (although these would make fab presents) I was sent some Booja Booja truffles to try. I was sent the “Rum Sozzled Sultana Chocolate Truffles” and they are rum sozzled for sure! Booja Booja chocolates are always so amazing- really velvety and rich. I do not drink alcohol but I did always used to like rum truffles from bakeries (did anyone else love those?) but I don’t think they actually contained rum. These do for sure! I do quite like them, but I prefer the other flavours. If, however, you like a bit of rum in your chocolate then you will love these!
Thanks Booja Booja! 🙂
Also I ordered some tasty treats in my shopping this week- I keep seeing these mini gingerbread men on Rachel’s blog, so I ordered them in this cute tin. Plus some goodies summer peaches sweets- they sell them on Ocado and they are so tastu (plus free from gelatin).
Do you like to get things ready in advance or are you a last minute buy it all on Christmas eve type person?
Porridge with figs cooked in there. I used Kallo soy milk which was on offer on Tesco, and rather nice. It is sweetened a little (but was not too sweet I didn’t think), but has calcium added too.
A sandwich thin (I found one in the freezer) with some hummus, and a pear. Not a great lunch but we were not having our shopping delivered until Tuesday. Not surprisingly I was rather hungry in the afternoon and glad for my luna bar 🙂
An apple chopped and microwaved, with some warm alpro soya custard. Yum.
Look! I am super excited-for our allotment we get to buy seeds super cheaply from a catalogue and they all arrived! They even had seeds for spagetti squash! Plus some really pretty beetroots 🙂 I just hope some of them grow….
I also enjoyed an old favourite the other day- porridge in a jar! I finally finished one of the massive Whole Earth pb, so I got to enjoy super peanutty porridge. Mmm.
Nuun and a peanut butter z bar (these are so yummy).
Small wholewheat wrap filled with mashed roasted squash and goats cheese.
Plus a fig and a pear.
An orange (I hate peeling oranges so I scooped out the flesh with a sharp knife).
“Latte” with hazelnut milk + Christmas tea, plus an 
Roasted a little squash (a harlequin which is the smaller yellow one with the dents on it).
Mashed up half on a little wholewheat tortilla, crumbled on some herby goats cheese (thanks 
Yum!
Carrot pancakes! This time I used 35g spelt flour, 1 grated carrot, 1 tbs pumpkin puree and some milk (50ml?). With tahini and maple syrup yum 🙂
I may have bought some more tea. How cute are the piglets? I wanted to try the lemon ginger tea so getting a 2 pack is perfect. The chilli chai is for Andy for Christmas you see, plus he thinks we have enough tea at home already. You can never have enough tea.
I also popped to the shops today and could not resist a baby pumpkin (munchkin pumpkin)- for photos and also for eating later on! I also got some giant cous cous as I keep seeing it raved about- thought I would give it a try for lunch at some point. Plus some coconut water (this was a new brand on offer so I thought I would give it a go) and many tins of pumpkin. Although some are for a friend from work- yup I am branching out to pumpkin dealer.
Plus I have been practising with my icing! I decorated the mini Christmas cakes (the ones I made in the little loaf cases). I took photos as I went along, so at some point will post the how-to.
Cute 🙂 Well I think so anyway.