Packing Up Christmas

Well, the mince pies are eaten, the presents are all opened (well not all! There are still gifts under our tree waiting for the lucky folk who are still enjoying their holidays) and most of the city streets are getting choked with traffic, and shops are full of back-to-school supplies. I’d say that the season…

The Magic of Christmas Past

The magic of Christmas is made especially for children. No matter how hard I try to capture the magic as an adult, it is just not the same. The sparkling treasure box of the Christmas lights, the excited anticipation of Christmas Eve and most of all the pile of mystery under the tree. We always…

Christmas Mince Pies – With Fat Free Fruit Mince

Christmas Mince Pies – With Fat Free Fruit Mince Christmas isn’t Christmas without my Mom’s Christmas Mince Pies. There is nothing better than indulging in a buttery mouthful with a my morning cup of coffee. Here is the recipe so that all of you can share in the joy: x Natalie PS. The Fat Free…

DIY: Christmas Heart Pockets

My Danish grandmother taught me how to make these. She used to make them fairly small, from gift wrap, and hang them on her Christmas tree filled with sweets for the grandchildren. Take 2 contrasting rectangles of paper of your choice. The ones illustrated here were cut 12cm x 7.5 cms. Experiment with the size…

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Christmas in South Africa falls in the height of summer, but because we were heavily influenced by the English stories and children’s papers, such as School Friend and others that we consumed as children, we expected the plum pudding and the snow. My mother’s parents were Danish so a lot of our traditions were more…

DIY: Make Your Own Ice Bowl

MAKE YOUR OWN ICE BOWL YOU WILL NEED: 2x bowls, one slightly smaller that fits inside with space 1 x 810g tin of veg or fruit for a weight Pick a selection of edible flowers and herbs. Trim the calyxes short but leave enough to keep the petals together. While I was doing this, I thought…

Christmas Memories

For some of us Christmas memories are filled with dashing through the snow, hot coco and crackling fires, for others it means soaking up the sun, the coconut smell of sunblock and eating watermelon on a cool summers evening. What is your favourite Christmas memory? One of our Fabulous Followers and my dear aunt, Barbara…

TIP 1: Watch your “wasteline” this festive season

Christmas is a time of excess; from stuffed stocking to stuffed tummies. We all tend to over indulge and roll into the new year convincing our selves that this next year will be different. Now while there is nothing wrong with a bit of over indulgence (believe me I tuck into those Christmas mince pies…

My Christmas Cake

MY CHRISTMAS CAKE Based on a Barm Brack recipe. Barm Brack is an Irish Tea Bread RECIPE: Overnight soak: 1 ½ kg mixed cake fruit in 1 litre Liquifruit apricot juice and 1 cup of whisky. Add all your favourite fruit raisins sultanas etc.1/2 cup brown sugar as well as, cherries and nuts such a…

Salt Dough Decorations

This is a wonderful project to do in the school holidays. It will keep the kids busy for hours. I’ve included a picture of some Christmas tree ornaments we made more than 10 years ago. We store them in a cool dry place and put them away carefully each year. They do look a bit…