Christmas is a time to celebrate with family and friends and a time for giving
I love Christmas! It is my favourite time of the year and I make the most out of celebrating. The decorations are up in the last weekend in November and I plan a kids craft day at our house. The kids create Christmas cards, gift tags and wrapping paper. Last year they made Christmas biscuit houses and decorated them with chocolate and lollies. This year I have planned to make Christmas bells and spent the last few days gluing pasta together to make snowflakes ready for painting and a layer of glitter.
Advent calendars for the kids and my husband Craig are something I enjoy getting together. For the kids some of the presents are essential household items like new towels for their bathroom. I normally start collecting small gifts in July and purchase books from our Primary’s school Scholastic book club which supports the school’s library to obtain new reading material. For Craig its simple things like packs of gum, chocolates, scratchies, mini bottles of booze and vouchers.
I also love making treats and sharing them with family friends. For years I made Christmas hampers filled with treats, baked goodies, chocolates and preserves. After having kids I scaled these back from 30 hampers for friends and family to just close family members. To ensure that our friends didn’t go without I created a Christmas Cookbook with pictures and recipes so they could make their own goodies. I grew inspiration from Donna Hay (her reindeer cupcakes are too cute!), Nigella Lawson and Martha Stewart (her choc-mint thumb print cookies are amazing).
If you are planning a Christmas hamper of your own then here are a few of my favourites:
Preserves:
Perfect Raspberry Jam by Matt Preston
Sweets & Treats:
Popcorn and Honeycomb Rocky Road
White Chocolate and Caramalised Cacoa Nibs (think gluten free cookies and cream!)
Florentines – the best version is in Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess – if you don’t own a copy I highly recommend purchasing one!
Biscuits & Slices:
Chocolate-peppermint Thumbprints by Martha Stewart
Christmas Parties:
Reindeer Cupcakes by Donna Hay
For Christmas brunch nothing beats a Nutella Brioche Christmas pull apart. I have previously made these in the shape of a tree or star. The instructions are easily found on youtube. For Thermomix owners the brioche dough is very easy to make. Ensure that you allow plenty of time for the dough to rise and to make the pull apart. I would recommend at least 4 hours from start to serving table and using a scale to weigh equal amounts of dough ensures consistent layers.
I also think any baked good with a red fruit works well for the festive spirit. Try our Banana Cherry Bread or our Clean Eating Raspberry Muffin for those in your life who are on a gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free diet and who love a tasty treat full of flavour.
Enjoy making and giving out your Christmas hampers!
