Hey everyone
First up, yesterday I warmed myself up by having a lovely cup of gingerbread tea!
This was so delicious! It was from Jemma for Secret Santa, so thanks Jemma š It reminded me of the loose cinnamon tea you used to be able to get from Whitards- spicy and gently sweet. It would make an amazing latte I think. I needed warming up as we attempted a walk- we only went out for 20 mins and that was enough for me (standing up straight is still quite hard and sometimes sore)- with the effort of the walking and the cold cold wind.
I also got a little surprise this week:
A card made by my class (how sweet- it is a stained glass style-they cut out the holes then covered in tissue paper- this is the style we did for the Christmas cards this year only they did a tree/star shape)- they all signed it too (made me quite tearful), and some lovely flowers from work.
I also feel rather strange as I keep on getting “Get Well Cards” through the post. I am not one used to being unwell, and I did not really feel like my situationĀ warrantedĀ the cards. Andy keeps telling me off- I suppose I was in hospital last week.
Today I found out that my “urgent” appointment is not until the end of January (and I think this is where they discuss the options and not when they would actually do the operation) which is annoying as I am getting annoyed at myself for not being well. It seems a long way away! That is a long time without running (I suppose the pain might keep getting less, but at the moment even walking is uncomfortable)- might have to cancel the Brighton Half marathon. Which I know is not the end of the world but you know this illness has already scuppered our holiday plans, made me miss 2 weeks of work and so I was hoping it would be sorted sooner rather than later. Moan over!
I am trying to find things that keep me occupied that involve sitting down! I can potter about a bit, but not for long (which is just ridiculous in my opinion but it is how it is). Ages ago I made some Christmas cakes (which can be made the day before so if you fancy having a go see my post here) so I decided to start decorating them this week. The Pink Whisk website has a brilliant how-to, so have a look there if you fancy having a go. I used the boards I got from Dunelm Mill which come with bakery-style white card boxes- perfect as they are gifts to go in little hampers for our parents.
On went the marzipan (stuck down with warm apricot jam- I did the top as a circle and then the edges as a long sausage shape which I then moulded together). This had to be left to set/ harden overnight as then the icing would stick better to it.
Then on went the icing. This was rolled out into a huge circle, draped over, smoothed on top and then smoothed around the side. All the extra bits were cut off and used for the next cake.
I have not decided on the decorations yet. I will do one as a parcel, as I loved learning how to make the bows. But I also saw the cute gingerbread man cake on the pink whisk which I am tempted to try, or a cute polar bear (snow-lar bear) cake. Who knows. Which one would you choose?
Over the weekend I have a give-away to announce too, so stay tuned.
Onions, peppers and courgettes are what I eat most of anyway, plus pears and clementines are perfect for this time of year. It was the leeks and kale that I was not sure what to do with. I got a lot of suggestions for how to eat the kale- thanks to everyone for those. 
I tried to make kale chips to go along with 
I cooked the leeks in a tsp pure spread.
Then I whizzed up a block of tofu, some natural yoghurt (because I had some left but you could easily leave it out), some red pesto, some sundried tomatoes and a few bits of goats cheese. Then I added in the leeks and a little caramelised onion chutney.
Then I put the mixture into muffin tins (was not sure whether to use cases- I didn’t but think in the future I would as they were hard to get out) and topped with a little more goats cheese.
Turned out pretty well for something made up!
I enjoyed one (for quality control of course) with sweet potato, rocket and hummus, and it was really tasty. The leeks had a nice mild flavour which went well with the sharper goats cheese and sweet caramelised onions. They had the texture of maybe anĀ omeletteĀ but without the eggy flavour (I don’t like eggy flavours!). I have frozen the other ones for a later date- I love a good freezer meal.
Porridge with 
Sweet potato fries, rocket, hummus and a leek tofu bake thing. Recipe to follow at some point.
A gingerbread pumpkin loaf thing (based on the vegan pumpkin spice cake recipe). Yum.
I ordered myself some peanut flour, pumpkin spice tea (how amazing does it sound- rooibos tea with spices and vanilla pods, plus it comes in a pretty tin), some free bits of cococardio (saw this on 
It looks very dark in that photo but I don’t brew it for very long!
The gingerbread boxes are ones you have to build, but they are going to be the hampers for our parents. They also did cake trays with boxes (perfect for giving away Christmas cakes in), and I got myself a nice non-stick rolling pin for icing. And that big Kilner jar was only Ā£1.99. Looking good for almond milk. It is hard to see the size but it is a one litre one so pretty big- seemed much cheaper than I had seen them before so get yourself to Dunelm š
I think they are festive, but not so Christmassy that I could not use them the rest of the year š
So into the pan went 4 bramley apples and 2 large mangoes (the recipe said I might need more, but this came to 1kg fruit, half each) with a tsp lemon juice.
After a while (20 mins? Ā ) it went all mushy. I then turned on the oven to sterilise the jars.
Then in went the sugar (I used 1kg jam sugar with added pectin as I was taking no chances!).
It boiled for a while (I checked on the thermometer but also did the test of putting a bit of it on a cold saucer and checking that it wrinkled). It also bubbled and spat at me so I stood well back here- boiling sugar burns!
Then I poured it into the jars – even though I use a jam funnel this still makes a mess!