Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Original poster

Fellatio's Poncetastic Christmas Thread 2011 is.....

857 replies

FellatioNelson · 24/09/2011 09:14

open for business. Knock yerselves out. Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
FellatioNelson · 14/10/2011 18:47

That's fantastic WFM and he has no excuse to ever forget your anniversary. Christmas for you two will always start on the 10th of December. Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
FellatioNelson · 14/10/2011 18:50

I don't understand marzipan hatred at all. For me the marzipan is the best bit. I pick off the icing and bin it. Yuk. Too sweet.

I have been known to have to abort Christmas cake decorating, due to accidentally eating the block of marzipan. Blush (fat bloater)

OP posts:
RiffRaffeta · 14/10/2011 20:07

Totally with you there, Fellatio.

I am almond mad. In my nut drawer, yes, I have a nut drawer, I have ground, flaked, whole blanched, whole unblanched and marcona. I am always looking for a marzipan baking opportunity.

WoowooscarytouristfromWales · 14/10/2011 20:19

I want a nut drawer!
Christmas cake ... Me ? Eat it all ( greedy tart )
DH ? Doesn't like icing or marzipan ( idiot )
DS. ? Eats it all ( sensible boy )
DD ? Only eats icing ( ? )
Made a lovely pear and almond tart today , used marzipan in the sponge mix , equal quantities of butter, marzipan , sugar , flour and eggs . Very good .

mathanxiety · 14/10/2011 20:39

Did someone say marzipan? It's the only bit I look forward to. One Christmas I made a frangipane tart just for myself.

dearprudence · 14/10/2011 21:26

Your wedding sounds ace, WFM.

I love marzipan too, but only out of the packet. I tend to leave it when it's on the cake.

EdwardorEricCantDecide · 14/10/2011 22:56

Hi all just found this thread, bt lurked on last years!

Can I join?

I'm doing hampers for all relatives and am making lots to sell at a craft fair in December.

I'll also be making decorations and pot pourri from pine cones, I collected loads a few weeks ago and steeped them in hot water and vinegar (per website don't remember which one) and dried them they didn't open and a few of them grew mould Sad anyone know where I went wrong?
In the meantime I have bought some from a florist but will go bankrupt if I keep doing that!

Last year was my first attempt at christmas in my own house (still v young) and my parents are more of a tinsel and bisto family Blush as is dh but he knows i make the rules so not too poncetastic I'm looking to improve this year, wheres the best place to start?

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 15/10/2011 05:29

I have the best and easiest marzipan recipe in the world, and I think I got it from MN actually. You get a slab of ready made puff/flaky pastry and a block of ready made marzipan and a punnet of plums (not too ripe or they will just collapse to mush when you cook them and they need to sort of go soft but still hold their shape) and some brown sugar. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle, then score it so it is marked into squares approx 2-3 inches across. Cut the marzipan up into bite sized chunks and put on on each square, then top with half a plum and sprinkle with brown sugar. Then bake, (not too high/fast as the sugar and marzipan will burn before the pastry has puffed and the plums have softened.

It is absolutely heavenly, but will burn your mouth if you try to scarf it all down too quickly like wot I do, and I think it tastes better when just warm, rather than piping hot. with custard.

If you ever need a sweet, wintery canape or finger food these are your babies. You could make them smaller and perhaps use 1/4 of a plum on each.

OP posts:
Original poster
FellatioNelson · 15/10/2011 05:32

Oh, and I have a nut basket. Grin You sound like my kind of girl RiffRaff.

OP posts:
WaitingForMe · 15/10/2011 11:42

I love how I can go merrily through life and then be hit by an overwhelming urge. Why don't I have a nut drawer?

Anyway, I've got DP interested in festive booze. If I can be cheeky and blatantly monopolise ask the occasional thing for the wedding, for those of you making multiple booze recipes, which do you rate highest? I fancy making shot glasses out of ice (if I can find a mould) and serving a shot later in the evening with something suitably poncy to nibble on. I think it could get a bit confused with multiple options and would be better to stick with one drink (plus one non-alcoholic).

Raspberry vodka seems to feature a lot. Is this the best all rounder (and is it nice and festive coloured?)

Squitch · 15/10/2011 17:04

A nut drawer hmmmm, have I got room for a drawer entirely devoted to nuts? unfortunately not, I also have a nut basket though Grin

I bought a nice cushion from dunelm today and have now got aspirations to make matching ones for the sitting room. They have some nice bits in at the moment. Got some lovely red wooden hearts hanging from rope for a couple of pound that i have visions of weaving into whatever garland I end up making for the banister. I keep changing my mind though....

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 15/10/2011 18:32

This had fallen off my threads I'm on Shock

I am busy EBaying and selling unwanted stuff to pay for Christmas ponceyness.

The cake is maturing nicely, as is the raspberry gin, and the mediterranean salt has been made for presents. The next thing on the list is to make some mincemeat, it's so much nicer than bought stuff. I make loads of mincemeat wheel type things with a sheet of puff pastry and when cooked and cooled drizzles with an icing sugar and orange juice mix. They are so easy to make and very delicious.

The decorations will be the same as always, traditional crossed with a Scandinavian feel. I need to buy a fairy for the top of the tree and I'm willing to spend a decent amount, but I can't find one. I will have to do some more googling I think.

I also need to think about how I am going to ice the cake. I have a hankering for a retro-tastic theme. You know, little pine trees, robins, North Pole signs, reindeer, just like we had when we were kids!

WaitingForMe · 15/10/2011 19:33

Does vinegar actually help preserve pine cones?

We took the stepkids to Westonbirt Arboretum today (as opposed to a regular wood, that deserves poncy points right?) and I got them collecting cones for me. I've got loads of stuff (cones, seed heads, nuts - you are allowed to take stuff right?). I haven't done this sort of thing for years but my mum and I used to just cool oven stuff to dry out after rinsing them.

AuntieMaggie · 15/10/2011 20:41

Those of you making flavoured brandy what type of brandy do you use? going to do xmas pudding brandy instead of vodka for my mum and mil

unfitmummy · 15/10/2011 21:53

need some help. i have a load of yankee candle jars which i have cleaned out and thought i could use them for christmas presents. but since they don't have a great seal i can't do food stuff or salt so what do i do? could just make little gingerbread nearer the time and just use jars as 'wrapping'? any other bright ideas?

loving this thread by the way! thanks to all you fellow christmas people!

unfitmummy · 16/10/2011 14:47

i seem to have killed this thread! please come back - i don't bite!

sybilfaulty · 16/10/2011 15:44

Unfit - I would probably put flavoured salt in them as surely that doesn't matter if the seal is not the tightest? Or else you could make eg truffles and then put in as they'll be gobbled quickly.

In the 70s it'd have been bath salts but thank god no one seems to go for them anymore!!

Haven't done any Christmas poncing for a while. getting nearer half term though so officially can start to plan. Kids want to make chutney and sweets, so we'll give that a whirl.

BarryStar · 16/10/2011 15:54

Hi everyone, hope the weekend is going well. Waitingforme - please can I come to your wedding, it sounds amazing! I went to a lovely December wedding years ago. The ceremony was held quite late in the day, and then all the guests walked from the church to the reception (in a country manor type hotel) through a path in the woods lit by candles. Actually, that sounds like it could have been a bit of a fire hazard, but twas lovely anyway.

Re pine cones - Ive never tried washing them, but I have dried them in the oven for about half an hour (Tip: don't forget you've put them in there and leave them to burn like I did once).

Been looking through more recipes, and found one I tried once that went down well on christmas eve - trout in a dark fruit sauce if anyone is interested. I may have to up my game in terms of nuts - I have a nut section on one of my shelves but shall now aspire to a bigger section and work my way up to a drawer.

unfitmummy, how about making some pot pourri for your jars and wrapping them in cellophane with poncey bow?

Peachy · 16/10/2011 18:38

OOh those sound nice Fellatio

Have next Saturday off from carnival so will be baking for the freezer- yay! We go straight into Awards Season from the last carnival so it's our busiest time of year and we have to grab every moment.

Love the talk of seasonal weddings. A friend had a Tweth Night one: service at Church (her friend was the Vicar) at 4pm so dark and candle lit, then biscuits served in Church (home amde) whilst pics taken inside and on to teh vilalge hall for a buffet, all home amde, fresh breads cheeses etc from the family cheese dairy in Scotland (brought down by van day before). A stunning wedding, full of warmth.

unfitmummy · 16/10/2011 18:45

thank goodness, you're all back!

thanks for the ideas. i think i'll do some gingerbread shapes decorated by the kids to give to the older relatives. hopefully that will go down well.

i love the idea of the walk through the wood lit by candle light. beautiful.

rhondajean · 16/10/2011 19:54

Wow a thread where I dont need to be embarassed to admit that we have a nut cupboard (I do keep dried fruit, seeds and oatcakes in there, and its for snacking as well as baking, does that count ok?)

I want a basket now - a proper basket - or even better a BASKET DRAWER for my nuts.

Just writing out the shopping list for the Christmas cake! The big Glasgow Christmas craft show is the last weekend in October. The hand stitched stocking for DD1 is coming along very slowly. I am not yet in full seasonal mode.....

mathanxiety · 16/10/2011 23:30

In an old neck of the woods of mine a good while back the neighbours used to light little tea lights placed in sand in white paper bags on Christmas Eve, and set them out on the path in front of the houses leading to the park. Candles lovely if it's not windy/raining/snowing. Neighbourly booze up that followed very nice in any weather.

Original poster
FellatioNelson · 17/10/2011 05:15

I spent last year lovingly spraying the skeletons of two of the previous year's Christmas trees with white spray paint, (I think it was that fake snow spray stuff) then decorating them with coloured glass baubles and put them in two big pots either side of my front door. They got heavily snowed on, which was lovely at first, Smile but the snow was so heavy that in the end you could barely make out the tree or the baubles! Sad And all that spraying of white spaint was for nothing.

Good tip though - if you have space, in January keep your real tree propped upright, somewhere dry(ish) and let all the needles drop off but don't let the tree start to decompose. Not difficult, actually, they take an age to rot down, even when chucked whole on top of the compost/bonfire heap. Then spray it white or silver or gold, or colour of your choice, and decorate it the following year. They look lovely all skeletal like that.

OP posts:
FearfulYank · 17/10/2011 05:30
Peachy · 17/10/2011 08:51

No nut cupboard here- our kitchen is woefully badly designed and we have hardly any storage. It's part of the deal in a cottage though i think, strange shaped rooms and nooks and crannies everywhere. Come with plenty of bonuses- we live inside a Roman Barracks (or rather a former one obv Wink) and there's every chance we could dig up a Roman hoard or something: they found a Roman harbour here two months ago, anything could turn up!.

No candles not a good idea with our children (!), we are going to go for a walk around the village after dark and past the Christmas tree on the common, although I also admit to the aim of passing by the take away on way home Wink!