It’s the end of the summer holidays and the reality of work/school is about to set in. Whilst many people miss their normal routines during the holidays and look forward to being a little more ordered, the first week back can be daunting. When my children were younger and still at school I used to […]
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I have always been big on homemade Christmas presents and used to help my children, when they were young, to make gifts for their friends and teachers etc. I still make most of my gifts – some are for eating and now with my Essential Oils at hand, many gifts are for pampering. It is […]
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What do you like best about Christmas? For me it has always been the cooking. For years when I was growing up Mum and I cooked up a storm each year for family events, entertaining friends and for gifts. Many of the traditions have continued over the years. One of those traditions involves cooking sausage […]
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This recipe is in Mum’s Recipe Book marked as ‘Favourites’. In my memory they are associated with Christmas. Mum made all sorts of cakes and biscuits for Christmas. As well as all the sweet treats these ‘Cheese Buttons’ were made to eat when we had people over for Christmas drinks. They are also my brother’s […]
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Do you entertain at Christmas? Do you like to prepare your food in advance so you are ready for unexpected guests? I certainly like to be prepared and so by the end of November I have usually made the pudding, cake and rum balls. All of these keep well until Christmas if stored in the […]
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This is one of my mother’s recipes that was entirely in her head. When I moved out of home, she wrote many of those ‘in her head’ recipes down throughout the year i.e. as the occasion called for her to make them. This particular recipe was for Christmas. We entertained quite a bit at Christmas […]
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If you like making your own bread then this recipe might appeal to you. You can make your bread and solve the problem of this year’s table centerpiece all at the same time. Use your favourite recipe and make the dough as you usually would. (Note: I sometimes use this Thermomix white bread recipe for […]
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Making Fruit Mince Pies is something I love to do each Christmas but I need to set a good chunk of time aside to do it. This is because I make lots of them and share them with family and friends. One year Andrew had to take a gift of $10-$15 value to work and […]
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If your family doesn’t like turkey and you choose the chicken option for special occasions you might be looking for something quick and tasty that is a bit different. Chicken can become a little boring if it is something you eat every day. This recipe is tasty and the chicken looks impressive too! What you […]
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I love the way recipe names are jazzed up over the years to make them sound more enticing. Smashed potatoes is much more interesting than ‘mashed’ potato’, don’t you think? When I first saw a reference to smashed potatoes I just had to try them and have now tried a few different approaches. I find […]
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