Tinknbubb

I have created a 6 inch round Christmas cake for 2016 which is smaller than normal but this time it is just for me and Lilly. I had a few problems on the way like dropping the cake for one, luckily I managed to scoop it back ito the tin and cook for a bit longer to set it. Here is the recipe and method for you all, it's not to late to make one for yourself. Recipe 700g Mixed fruit 25g Ground Almonds 50g Glace cherries 150g Plain flour 1/2 tsp Mixed spice 150g Butter 150g Brown sugar 1/2 Lemon rind and juice 3 Standard eggs 100ml Rum/Brandy/Whisky Method 1 Preheat oven to 200oc/gas mark 6 2 Line sides and bottom of cake tin with double parchment paper 3 Cream butter and sugar until fluffy 4 Beat in eggs one at a time, if starts to curdle add a little flour 5 Add rind and juice of the lemon 6 Mix flour, ground almonds and spice together 7 Toss mixed fruit and cherries into flour 8 Add fruit and flour to other ingredient...

Wow, welcome to December, I am not quite sure how we are here already. December can only mean one thing, Christmas is almost here! I am pretty excited this year for Lilly but am also dreading it. I wanted to start the month off with The Christmas Tag as it gives you an idea of our Christmas. 1. What is your favourite Christmas film? I absolutely love the Arthur Christmas for a more modern film but I also have a huge soft spot for Home Alone too. 2. Have you ever had a White Christmas? I don't ever recall having a white Christmas, it usually snows in January or February which is a shame really. We haven't had a huge amount of snow since 2010 so quite a while back.  3. Where do you usually spend your holiday? We normally have the morning at home just us three, then go to a family members for lunch and some well needed family time.  4. What is your favourite Christmas song? I think my favourite song has to be Christmas time (don't let the bells ring) by t...

Another month over, and another year over. It has been the most crazy and stressful year so far but we have made it though to the end.  December was lovely, my favourite month, just because of Christmas really. Lilly was so understanding of it all this year and was sure that Santa had forgotten her, bless her heart, but that did mean a very late night on Christmas Eve for us.  The rest of the month went by in a flash really, we had family to visit, Christmas fayres to go to, presents to wrap, food to buy and it just didn't see like I was very organised at all. And sadly this month, my car decided that it was going to give up all together and blow a head gasket :( so it's sadly off to the scrap yard.  The picture this month is one of my complete favourite photos of us together, it is taken from during Vlogmas when Daddy got his old Auorora AFX out, this is a kind of scalextric which Lilly found highly amusing and I managed to catch a picture of a purely am...

I know that it is still only October BUT this takes a while to rest and you can't be too prepared for Christmas. This is a simple mincemeat recipe that has been passed down to me and I wanted to share it to you all. The recipe should make about 5-6kg's of mincemeat which can last a few years in jars, it only gets better with age. Recipe 2kgs of Apples 1kg of Currents 750g of Sultanas 750g of Suet 750g of Caster Sugar Rind and Juice of a Lemon 2 tsps of Mixed Spice 2 tsps of Nutmeg Approx 150ml of either Rum, Sherry or Brandy Method 1. Peel, core and slice all the apples. 2. Mince the apples with the sultanas (meat mincers work fine). 3. Add all the other ingredients and mix together well.  4. Separate into jars and lid them (sticker year onto them) 5. Leave at least 3 weeks to stand before using. It is that simple. Please let me know if you use this recipe, I would love to know.

It is 100 days till Christmas which means only one thing, it's time to get the recipe books out and start baking up a storm.  The first thing is the Christmas Cake , my favorite. We start to get the ingredients together now and start the baking in October, this may sound super early to some BUT there is a bit to do after baking and before you can tuck in.  Also in October we start on the mince meat recipe too, so that the mixture can rest for a few weeks. We do make this in huge batches so a batch can last us up to three years :) or mince pies all year round. They are the main bits to get done asap. No we come to December.....the main bulk of the baking is done in this month. We usually make many mince pies to get through, Lilly helps me with there, she rolls out the pastry and fills them with the homemade mince meat too.  to follow on are the  Melted snowman biscuits ,  Candy cane lollies  and gingerbread. These are usually baked/m...

Blogmas day two is a Christmas Cake recipe for you. I make my cake in November to make sure I have time to feed it, but you can just soak the fruit and leave a week before icing the cake. I made a 7 inch square cake to cut in half. and here is the recipe for you all. - 965g Mixed fruit - 50g Ground almonds - 100g Glace cherries - 200g Plain flour - 1tsp Mixed spice - 200g Butter - 200g Brown Sugar - 1 Lemon rind and zest - 4 standard eggs - 100ml rum/brandy/sherry Method - Preheat oven to 200oc/ gas mark 6 - Line sides and bottom of cake tin with double parchment paper - Cream butter and sugar until fluffy - Beat in eggs one at a time, if starts to curdle add a little flour - Add rind and juice of the lemon - Mix flour, ground almonds and spice together - Toss mixed fruit and cherries into flour - Add fruit and flour to other ingredients a little at a time, add half the rum ( or soak the fruit in alcohol overnight) Save some ...

The best Christmas in a long time! Didn't end as planned but the rest of the day was brilliant. Food, presents, family and laughs.  Lilly was completely in her element with it all and I thinks little overwhelmed with the amount of new toys she received. So much to take in for her.  So we started off Christmas day with our traditional breakfasts, apart from my other half wasn't up for a fry up. So I had my boiling bacon with pickles, Lilly had Christmas tree crumpets with jam and a smoothie. This rocking horse was from Grandma and Grandad, it makes noises and moves it's mouth, Lilly now has a rocking horse at each grandparents house. We started off Christmas dinner with a homemade prawn cocktail which tasted amazing. All sat down to Christmas dinner, was so tasty but too much was made as usual, so much leftover meat and veg. Lilly wasn't too impressed with the food choice. That evening we went to great Grandma and great G...