Christmas is fast approaching-there is definitely no denying it! I want this year to be about having lots of fun together and not so much stessful last minute running round as last year. With 
this in mind we made our first batch of mince pies today! I made the pastry this morning with little O,then this evening little O,and bigger A both wanted to help bake so we turned out 3 dozen mince pies!They may not be the prettiest mince pies ever...but they taste good! The girls love baking and we had great fun, even if we did all get very floury!
this in mind we made our first batch of mince pies today! I made the pastry this morning with little O,then this evening little O,and bigger A both wanted to help bake so we turned out 3 dozen mince pies!They may not be the prettiest mince pies ever...but they taste good! The girls love baking and we had great fun, even if we did all get very floury!Poor Bella,our little black doggy came to sit by the table to see what was going on and also ended up with a dusting of flour and a sort of reverse dalmation look! 
So I now have 2 dozen mince pies in the freezer,although our eldest son and biggest mince pie fan demanded I kept a dozen out to be eaten now - even though this goes against my "no mince pies till December" rule! Inspired by the lovely Christmassy aroma drifting from the Kitchen I have been through all my recipes and made shopping lists of the ingredients I need. I am planning on a lot of homemade treats to
give to various people for Christmas this year too....so I am going to busy in the kitchen over the next few weeks! I am also going to sort out some craft projects this weekend to do over the coming weeks ...hoping lots of baking and crafting will help us survive the horrible cold dark winter evenings
give to various people for Christmas this year too....so I am going to busy in the kitchen over the next few weeks! I am also going to sort out some craft projects this weekend to do over the coming weeks ...hoping lots of baking and crafting will help us survive the horrible cold dark winter eveningsThe fun of baking was a pleasent change from stress of the school bookfair after school.I hate it when the bookfair is on.I know it benefits the school,which I am all in favour of, but it still something that fills mewith dread! Last time we didn't go to it...but this time I relented.The trouble is all the books are so expensive,and often not the sort of books I would want to buy the children. They have endless Barbie sticker books and similar things and very few what I would consider decent chapter,story or picture books.Given that most of the books are around £6 each it makes buying for 6 children very pricey!
I did stand firm though this time,I refused to pay ridiculous ammounts for poor quality books...and so we bought one nice picture story book which was a surprise bargain at £1.99, and our elsdest daughter chose a nice chapter book/novel which will be part of her birthday presents. I did relent and let them all buy a sparkly pencil to alleviate some of the tantrums ...but we managed to escape spending just over £10,so not too bad!
Such a good idea, baking stuff now and freezing it. I think i may follow your example over the next few weeks. Make a lot more sense than running around like a headless chicken. why have i never thought of this before?
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