FN's Ponstastic Christmas Thread part Trois....

[FellatioNelson]

....will be officially open for business on September 24th. I am just firing up the engines and dusting down the control room ready for action in case I forget to do it on the 24th

Do not post yet. Do not. Sit on your hands, ladies.

On your marks........................

I recently tasted (purely a quality control exercise of course) one of the cherries I put in honey rum about 27 months ago......sooo much more delish than the first Christmas. Definitely leave them as long as possible, the booze preserves them.

As a follow up to my mincemeat question, will it be OK without the Brandy?

I don't fancy buying a bottle of brandy for 3 tbsp.

Sarah Raven is here in my living room....
Well not exactly in person but my book has arrived. It's very shiny :o

I think mincemeat tastes better with brandy tbh, can you not ponce some off of a chum or family member?

Leave the fruit in your cherry brandy until you strain and decant it.

I love the first bottle Voldemort.

teaonesugar go to an off-licence and you should be able to get a minature for about £2ish, I did that last year for setting fire to the pud.

TeaOneSugar use whisky if you haven't got brandy. My mum is teatotal and she just uses orange or lemon juice instead.
HairyBiker mincemeat is absolutely fine with veggie suet - I never use beef suet as I think the veggie one makes things lighter.

my CK christmas organiser has arrived ... I love it hope you are reading this oreo, you led me astray

now to fill it with LISTS

Sainsbo's sell a smaller bottle of brandy that I usually get for cooking. I get through about half of it each year with mince pies and Christmas cake, and of course brandy butter, brandy sauce etc.

Thanks ilike I've just ordered these they are more like a retro coke bottle than milk bottle. I thought they would also be nice as drink glasses at parties. Including postage, I

Including postage, it was less than £20 for 25 bottles. They also have a good selection of other jars and bottles too.

I'll look for minatures, good idea, I'd forgotten about those.

I had seen cloves in supermarkets but they were tiny jars and I need lots (my mum is v poncetastic at Christmas and she is making them too!) Will check out Asian supermarkets although there isn't one in my town!

this is a great thread, I'm really excited by Christmas this year and as I'm on mat leave and my dm and dsis are coming for Christmas then I'm planing as poncetastic (great word - not come across it til this thread) a one as I can manage

So the cake is done, going to do the pudding this weekend. Just ordered the Sarah raven book after the rave reviews on here - for anyone who hasn't got it yet I found it at the bargain price of £4.99 from the book people here Got some other nice looking Christmas crafty books from there as well.

Any recommendations for good places in London or online to get Christmas fabric? I fancy making some bunting & other decorations.

I use a Good Housekeeping mincemeat recipe, dead easy with no cooking involved. I also use veggie suet in it, so i can make mincepies for everyone without worrying if anyone's veggie.

I swear by Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries pud, it's really light and so tasty. I make a pud for all of my family, and it's become our traditional pud now.

Going to the local farmer's market tomorrow looking for damsons, the damson tree in the park had a poor harvest this year, so i'm struggling for fruit gin ingredients.

If you're ordering the book mentioned previously from book people theres a free delivery code on the online bargains thread - FREESEP I think but you should check

I was sooo determined to be a poncer this year, but I will have to do only last minute poncery...we are moving on the 1st Dec, and I don't want to have to transport pots of mincemeat/pine cones/half sewn decorations!
At least my limoncello and green apple vodka should be done drunk by then! And I can 'lose' all of our tinsel during the move somehow.
Had a bash at homemade beauty products to give as gifts-made a lovely rich body cream, some moisturising scrubs and I will be attempting soapmaking and bath bombs very soon.
Failed miserably at crabapple jelly (like glue) and greengage and vanilla jam (like water) maybe I should mix the 2 together...?

Biddypop honey rum sounds amazing :)

Badvoc - I'm gates crashing here but kids recipes would be much appreciated by me!

MissPricklePants have you got any huge supermarkets near you? They should have a 'world foods' aisle, and would have bigger packs of spices in the Indian section - look for Rajah or East End brands. Cloves today were 92p for a med sized bag in my 'big' Sainsbos.

Limoncello - now you Are talking sagelynodding can you link to recipe please
Spent an hour last night with nigella and a bottle of red- very pleasant it was tio

Ok Bea will be back when I have time x

The book people free delivery code is OFFERSEP, I'm guessing it finishes tomorrow.

The Sarah Raven book is still £4.99.

I got a calendar (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) for DD at the same time, so that's one more present ticked off the list.

Right, Poncers, the Sarah Raven is on order (I'm hoping it will be delivered today) and is second hand for that authentic, well-thumbed look. The Rhubarb schnapps is steeping and I have sloes in the fridge and damsons in the freezer ready for gin making.

The only problem with all this poncery is that I am going on hols for the first two weeks of December and I will not be able to ponce it up much in the remaining week before Christmas.

Is it very terrible of me to do my mantelpiece swag with plastic tasteful artificial ivy and roses and to get the sides from Marks and Spencer? I promise faithfully that I have done much poncing before and that I will do the roast beef and roasties from scratch.

In my defence, I am hosting both sets of inlaws this year... It's going to be quite trying.

Right, I am joining! I have my very first grown up job this year which means I can afford to ponce a bit. I am going to go to my old work shortly, on the pretext if visiting friends but will also go foraging for blackberries - what can I do with them??

I really want bay trees in pots for my front door - can anyone recommend a good place to buy them?

I will also be spending my hard earned first wages on the CK organiser and perhaps the Sarah raven book too!

Next do standard bay trees, I've sent them before as housewarming gifts.

I spotted this standard holly tree standard holly tree and I'm tempted it's £35 plus £3.99 P&P and very poncy, for another £10 they'll pot it.

I'll investigate my local garden centre tomorrow, although pre potted and delivered to my door has more of a Margot Leadbetter feel to it, essential for Christmas poncing.

oh! i would love bay trees for my front door........:(
Are they dreadfully expensive?