Fellatio's thread for a PONCETASTIC Xmas - PART 2!!!

[BudaisintheZONE]

Well we seem to have filled up the last one so I started a new one. Hope that is ok with everyone!

Jacaqueen - I finally remembered to have a look at my Angel Chime. It is small - about 10 inches tall. Very light metal. Easy to put together. Looks ok. Word of warning - was searching for who it was who asked me and came across a post from someone whose parents had one and it burnt their table! So they get v. hot.

Have been stabbing oranges with cloves with the dc's after school today - the house smells devine.

Thumbscrew - I love making oranges stabbed with cloves :o Do you have any tips re: thumb protection though? I always end up with v sore thumbs by the end of it all.

Picked up some great ideas on this thread but I've got another challenge for you .
Simple craft ideas I can make to sell at the school Christmas craft fair.Not foods though because I'll be baking for the cake stall as well.Cheap and cheerful please and not too time consuming as think quantity more than quality will be the key. Many thanks

oh....thanks for the reminder. Must buy cloves!

I put a plaster on my thumb in advance last year (cloves are mean).
Spent the afternoon glittering pine cones with DD. Not poncey but very sparkly

Could you crochet some snowflakes asdx2? (That's not a question you heat very often!).

I'm feeling rather smug as have done 90% of my Christmas shopping today, all online, mainly White Company and Notonthehighstreet. Just need the odd one plus stocking fillers now. Bought my first Winter candle as well.

Just remembered, if you use the code SPG10, it gives you 20% off plus free p&p.

Would I be letting the poncetastic side down if I bought my SIL a Slanket for Christmas?!

Staranise- how did you get the 20% to work on White Co? I tried, but as the homepage was showing 10% discount anyway it never gave me a box to put a different code in?

Buggery. Angel Chimes are now going for about £20 on ebay.Last month when I first started wanting one, they were selling for peanuts. We have started a trend!

I need to get my arse into gear and buy more proper presents, I've spent loads on fripperies and poncery, to the point that I could decorate and wrap for the street, but as yet, have only bits and bobs to wrap.

Got some nice Nigella-esque table decs from la Redoute yesterday. Also, if you spend £20 on full price stuff, you get £10 off with 8254. They have those dinky little table stars that Nige uses, and napkin holders etc.

Has anyone made Nigella's peanut brittle? It says you need bicarb and I can only get bicarb for cleaning here? Can I use something else, or omit it? Any cakey people?

I haven't read the last thread past about 300 posts so I've come to this new and wondering if the angel chimes you're talking about are these?angel

I bought some a couple of weeks ago and they arrived in 2 days

Bucharest, I don't know Nigella's recipes at all, but there must be a good reason why bicarbonate of soda is used. Traditionally, it is a raising agent, used in cakes that do not have ingredients like eggs to help them rise, or things like fruit cakes which need extra help due to the heavy ingredients.

Have you asked at a chemist/pharmacy if they have any food grade bicarb? Or looked for Baking powder, which is a mixture of bicarb and cream of tartar which might be good enough for your purpose? Sometimes bicarb can be used dissolved in water as a treatment for stings or bites, which is why a pharmacy might have it.

Oh, I've got baking powder, I shall try that.
The recipe only asks for a teeny bit, and I wondered if it was just to sort of "fluff" up the toffee, which seems to be the case!

I'll get to it and let you know later!

Laurie- that sort of thing yes, but I'm hankering after the 1970s retro Swedish ones. Last set on ebay went for £21. I'm sure my aged mother has some in the loft, but she's refusing to hoik herself up there and get them down and is pretending she can't remember what I'm talking about.

Bucharest - these are the ones I bought. There was a 20& off code floating about too - not sure if still valid.

I also have bought lots of "things" but not many presents. Do have a football table arriving tomorrow - how on earth do I hide it?

Have been lighting my Winter candle already to cheer me up on these gloomy days...

Ah, here you all are! Still battling the dreaded lurgy round here.

Is it too late for me to start on my poncetastic Xmas? What are posters' top 3 things to achieve full ponceness - so I can concentrate my activities.

Asdx2 Here are a few ideas that I've done for school/ brownies xmas fairs:
-reindeer food, v easy glitter& porridge oats in an envelope, decorate and write a verse on,( will let u no that if u like)

• personalised baubles, buy a load plain baubles in red, thread with some nice ribbon. Using gold marker you can write peoples names on them. Do some with 2010 baby xxxx first xmas etc. Bring a small tree to display some,( its all in the marketing)
• hot chocolate/non alchoholic mulled 'punch', which is just cartons of apple,cranberry and orange juice with the mulled wine spice sachet. I used a camping stove for this.

Food, decorations, present wrappings.

The Oxfam shop have some nice recycled paper wrap and reels of raffia type ribbon in gold and silver and red. Also lots of fairtrade choc goodies!

I'm disappointed that I don't like any of the tree decs in the shops this year at all. Most are expensive and look cheap. I like mine to be cheap and look expensive!

am i too late? being late isn't very poncy is it?

i've only just finished reading the last 1001 posts TBH!

today's plan is to go get/ find knitting equipment for these lovely teeny stockings

not sure having a toddler, a baby bump, a very un-poncetastic dh and not a lot of cash will allow for a poncetastic christmas but i'm going to try!

stangirl you've asked my question for me!
top 3 things please poncetastic ladies please! :)

Poncetastic ladies I need your help quickly! Am about to make Christmas cake (I know I know should have done it a month or so ago). Anywhere got no brown paper or newspaper in the house! Any suggestions as to what I can use instead?? Have some Christmas wrapping paper? Or a fairly thick paper carrier? And greaseproof paper. What would you use??

Use the greaseproof Gio- is it for lining your tins? Am guessing you've got carta forno? Use that, maybe double thickness if it's a cheapo brand (like mine!)Make sure you build it up round edges of tin so cake doesn't burn.

In fact, my Nigella brittle is cooling as we speak on it.

Top 3 poncey things for me

1. Giftwrap. I have an unhealthy almost fetishistic thing about giftwrap. (in fact have just been on Sainsbury's site to look at theirs, which is nice, and in fitting with this year's Nordic Scandi theme, but just seems a bit cheap. I need someone to go and have a feel and tell me the quality.
2. Decorations. Themed. Red and white this year. Think Gisela Graham in my house. (in fact, I often think I am channelling Gisela)
3. Poncey present buying. Has to be unusual has to have people going "where did she get that from?" (answer invariably being Cox and Cox)

I can't just have 3, sorry!

1. Getting Nigella down and salivating over her table decorations (oh, and her food of course, but especially her house)

Banana, I think the paper carrier would be good if you open it out flat, and fold over a few times. Remember you will need to tie it round the tin with string, sticky tape is no good in an oven!

Buda- ooooh, I might go for those. I think the 25% is still working! Cheers muchly!

right have used the wrapping paper outside the cake tin (because it looks nice with snowmen on )and greasproof doubled up inside. Am now tapping my fingers til the 4 hours pass! My first ever christmas cake. If it works out I will come and become a full blown poncetastic Christmas thread person. Thanks for suggestions (and hi Buch)

angel chimes for £11.95 including postage and packing

Marking my place. Am sooo behind! Its all Taffetacat's fault - I bought that bloody Sarah Raven book (here) & it's utterly lovely to sit & read, and that's all I've done the past few evenings.
Thank goodness the Christmas Pudding Vodka only takes two weeks; that's all I can say
Did the Ikea trip & resisted the decorations quite well, all in all. They had some very life-like fake poinsetta plants which looked very realistic, but I forgot all about them by the time I reached the plant section - I've never kept a real one alive for more than about a week so fake would be the way to go in my house, albeit not exactly poncetastic. Got the pinking shears & also the swing-top bottles for decanting the quince gin & pudding voddie. Went for the plain & wished now I'd chosen the festive etched stars, but never mind.
soppy - those knitted stockings are v.lurrrrvly. Wish I could knit better.
Buch - is it the macadamia nut brittle from the Christmas Nigella Bites? The Goddess is a bit of a nutter IMO when it comes to bicarb & baking powder so I tend to leave it out - don't know if it's my taste buds but I can always taste the bloomin' stuff.

Asdx2 - I was going to suggest mulled wine sachets too but 4plus1 has beaten me to it If you can get to an asian supermarket you can bulk buy the cloves, star anise etc. for pennies & then divide it up. Stick a recipe for mulled wine, mulled cider - whatever - on a fancy tag et voila! If you think anyone would use it, I reckon some bags of the spice mix for Nigella's spiced & brined turkey would be good too - the first time you buy all the different bits & pieces, it costs a fortune, so some enterprising soul should make bags up of everything you need. Plus with the reindeer food I've seen little poems on the packs - can't find the exact one I saw but here is one shamelessly stolen from T'interweb:
Reindeer Poem to go with:

Sprinkle on the lawn at night
The moon will make it sparkle bright
As Santa's reindeer fly and roam
This will guide them to your home.

Could be more expensive but what about flavoured salts & vanilla sugar? The last time I did stuff for a cake/foodie sale, I got some of those half paper, half cellophane bags off ebay for pennies.
Quite giddy too that Lakeland have opened at Murderhell - haven't been as yet, but it's good to save their P&P charges.