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........................

Het? Hey

Ooh, has anyone mentioned reindeer poo? A few years ago I got some dollops of manure from a friend with a shetland pony and left them on the garden path, with a bit of glitter and a bell nearby.

The big DCs no longer believe, but they still go all misty eyed about the day they discovered the "reindeer poo".

Love the recipes for snowman soup and reindeer food!

Right I'm inspired by but not 100% loving the SR book. However today I have bought a book that I am in love with.

It is available from the works and is only £3.

It has the most gorgeous ideas, every page is beautiful, and it has simple instructions for the less able ponces like me!. Also has some basic templates in the back.

Its all about decor and gifts - no food.

Honestly I love this book!

I'm just finishing this cuppa then I'm off to bottle up some more homemade booze!

The kid friendly version of reindeer poo (that went down very well with DD's classmates as her Christmas/birthday treat) is a handful of chocolate covered raisins in a bag with the poem printed onto a piece of paper used to close the bag.

Christmas is coming along with Santa and his Deer
Listen closely on Christmas Eve and maybe you will hear
While Santa leaves bhis gifts tied with ribbons and bows
The reindeer leave these droppings in neat little rows

I know I've found a few different versions of that poem, and even printable toppers for bags of the stuff all over the net (which I never saved but a decent search on crafty sites and blogs should get you somewhere).

Santa;s poop is supposed to be mini marshmallows, and I know I've seen a snowman poop poem toom (which would also be marshmallows).
Santa looked at his list,
Even checked it twice.
And he has seen that you
have not been very nice.
Since coal's so expensive,
Here's the scoop,
Santa's filling your stocking
with SNOWMAN'S POOP!

Oh I'm sooooo late to the thread (hides behind poncetastic Christmas craft book)

So, I need a gorgeous Christmassey table runner to go over my very dull beige table cloth. Any suggestions?

Runners here, bleddy love this website!

I love those Fred but they are too small for my table It extends to 2.5m I think (table top being repaired at moment) and it will be open at Christmas. Any other sites you can recommend?

I'm a newbie, can I please join? I love a poncey Christmas. The Book Peeps have sold out of Sarah Raven so I'm off to The Works tomorrow to see if I can find an alternative. I have a couple of chutnies made and some blackberry jam (which includes elderberries as I couldn't find enough blackberries - glad it's not just me then!). Will also make some truffley choc things, soft bake cookies and gingerbread stars. My sis usually does the cakes, puddings and fruity alcohol. As a full time, commuting, working mum my poncing hours are limited but I'll do my best. I made my wreath last year from a willow circle, and used ribbon to tie on bits of driftwood, shells and stones with holes in them and threaded ivy round. Didn't look too bad. I also bought the cinammon loo roll and washing up liquid....do I score highly enough on the ponce-o-meter to join?

I'm with oreocrumbs looked at the Sarah Raven book when it came from the library today and decided it's not for me. No floristry ambition here ;-)

HoneyKate you sound like you're well ahead! I've got three batches of chutney lined up for this weekend, apples are picked, missing ingredients (mainly vinegar!) have been bought, jars are in the dishwasher...

Picked up a second hand copy of the Sarah Raven book and am not impressed at all, DH seems more interested in it than me.

I have it, I can't see what all the fuss is about.

S'aright I spose, but give me Nigella anyday.

I've just bought a duck crown from sainsburys for $6 :) Not sure what to do with it yet.

Has anybody got Good Housekeeping Christmas edition. I can highly recommend it. Loads of lovely food for throughout the whole week plus some extra food gift ideas.

The best thing is the advice for every menu of how far you can make ahead. It has things you can be doing from this month to freeze ahead :)

Sorry a bit off-topic but all this talk of make-ahead has reminded me:
I need a bigger freezer... :( struggling as it is and already working on making space for the goose that will have to go into it in November (can't really afford to buy a premium fresh one but we've been happy with the smaller frozen ones from Lidl...) I might have space for a smaller half-height freezer if I throw out the unused tumble dryer - would anyone recommend getting a chest freezer or one with a door as usual?

Has anyone got a limoncello recipe they can recommend

Don't get a chest freezer, the stuff at the bottom gets completely buried. Also my mum spent a lot of the 1980s terrifying my db and I with stories of children falling in them and suffocating when the lid shut. I have therefore developed a life long fear of them (although I accept this reasoning may apply to me only)

We have a chest freezer & I love it.

I have cheap collapsible plastic baskets in the bottom, the handled type, so I can reach in and grab a basket easily, solves the 'getting lost' problem.

Also allows me to store different things in different baskets - pre-cooked meals, frozen milk, frozen veg etc - so I always know what I have got!

oreo Am gutted! Was on a rare trip into town from the deepest darkest, was in the Works & didn't spot that! It looks fab!

I so want a chest freezer so that I can fill it with poncey made-ahead mince pies, sausage rolls, tarts, etc etc. Not sure I can fit anything in our little freezer due to all the fish fingers and chicken nuggets!

Zeeky my point exactly! Ours if full of chicken...
Thanks everyone for your input.
Mmmmh something to discuss with DH next ;)

While we're on the subject of freezing, would anyone please share their "getting ahead" christmas lunch secrets?

Does anyone pre cook the roast potatoes and other roast veg in advance and then either chill or freeze it?

Any tips to prevent christmas morning stress would be appreciated.

We're getting a chest freezer next week!

It's only tiny but I'd love suggestions of what I can make ahead for Christmas. I already have a giant gammon boiled/baked and glazed sliced into lots of tin foil parcels, it's gone down very well for quick meals with everyone so I'll do another for Christmas. :)

You freeze slices of cooked ham? Never heard of that. How do you use them?

I just slice up the Gammon once its baked, wrap enough for a meal for all of us in a foil parcel with a spoonful of the juices. When I want it, I take it out the freezer the night before and usually serve it cold alongside baked potatoes and salad or cut it up for omelette or make sandwiches. The juices keep it lovely and moist when defrosting, it tastes like its freshly cooked so no loss of quality.

That's a good idea. We often get tired of gammon when I make it because we have to eat it so many days in a row.

That's what we were finding, plus I tend to get deals from my butcher, the bigger the quantity I buy the cheaper it is per kg so last time I got a huge one and it made a huge platter of sliced meat. :)

I tend to do the Nigella cherry coke recipe. Should I just spoon over some of the liquid it's cooked in?