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

Yay my Sarah Raven book has come :)

I bought some vodka today to make some chocolate vodka. Going to get more at the weekend and the mars bars and cream needed.

If you are in London Goldhawk Road shops are uber cheap. Better for clothes making than upholstry fabrics.

I got jersey fabric for making some pajamas for Dp and sis and it was £3.50 a metre. Lots of cottons 'on sale' for £2 a metre up. If youwanted calico for crafts they were v cheap.

You can get some fairly good stuff on ebay too.

I've just been to town and bought 6 rolls of the stag wrapping paper from Wilkos. It's really nice. I also got some twine instead of ribbon.

This is the first year I've had a 'theme' for my wrapping. I think the stag ones will be for under the tree in the living room and I just need another kind for the under the tree in the dining room. Anyone else seen any nice wrapping paper?

Sorry, me again I know I'm talking to myself but I just went to another town to go to home bargains and found they have smallish tins, which would be great for truffles and things, for 39p each. I bought 20 I'm hoping that's enough!

Also they have wine bottle holder things (which I'll put the vodka in) for 89p.

They have some good stuff in for if you're making gifts.

just did my sloe gin too. 4 litres. Plus the 2 litres of raspberry and one apple and blackberry. Yum! Am in my panicy middle period where i try and get gifts sorted. Looking forward to doing pine cone garlands next. Stag gift wrap sounds nice, am going to have a look in Ikea for mine, hoping for whimsical Swedish gnomes on brown paper or something.

My Xmas pudding vodka and limoncello is coming on nicely but my sister goes loopy if she drinks it. What gin based drink can I make for her in next 5 weeks?

Bit late for this but I'm marking a place because Christmas has officially started for me with buying the December Country Living to drool over.

Ikea have got great brown-paper type wrapping this year BTW, tags and everything.

@prattling can you get them on the website? How big are they? I was considering doing tea blends for people as gifts.

Ethelb I'm not sure if they're on the website, but they don't seem to have much on there anyway.

They measure 14 cm length, 10 cm width and 4 cm depth. I'll try and put a photo up.

They should be on now. They had another design too, I think they were red with white snowflakes on.

Oooh I am feeling so poncetastic today, Christmas pudding vodka is underway, kilner bottles ready for it, kilner jar ready for cherries in honey whiskey, and best of all I've just finished making some hand embroidered felt decorations! I rarely sew except for mending clothes, so a real achievement

Wish I could do chutneys and stuff, but we are still eating last year's chutney and jam, and I have no one to do a hamper for - last time I tried it with my parents they just looked at me as if to say, where's our real present! Will be making some cookies for my sister though.

Have ponced my way around the Ideal Home Christmas exhibition today which was fulfilling my expectations nicely until I was struck down by d and v and had to endure 4 hour train journey home.

I saw Laurence Llewelyn thingy doing table decorations - well he threw a duvet on a table and covered it with a roll of his own wallpaper if that counts.
I also saw Gino d'campo making some tiramisu before I had to rush off to the bog.

Oh you poor thing ! Hope you feel better soon !

Hope you feel better now, WineGless

I'm jealous you saw Gino

I have two massive mixing bowls full of frozen mixed summer fruits and jam sugar. I will be making loads of jam with them tomorrow. I'm using this recipe (I've doubled it)

Then the day after tomorrow (or tom afternoon if I have time) I'll be making mincemeat and Nigellas chilli jam.

I have "Christmas Cake spiced sugar" bought in M&S last January to use, and am considering making a cake one evening next week (once DH is gone away on his travels again).

But I am slowly gathering my supplies, I have started the wrapping (beautiful paper, lots of curled ribbons, lots of fabric ribbons, and lovely Poncetastic luggage tags that I have stamped up as gift tags). And the girls in the office are looking for some of the results of my infusions for a "12 Cocktails of Christmas" party the week before we break up (chilli vodka, raspberry vodka, and rhubarb and ginger vodka are all being requested - they are NOT getting their hands on the sloe gin!!).

BiddyPop, that sugar sounds lovely. I'd love to bake with that. All the vodkas sound delish too. I'd really love to work with you

I've written my Christmas cards ready to send on the 1st December. I started wrapping presents yesterday. I've got that lovely stag wrapping paper from Wilko and the labels that match. I've punched holes in these and used twine instead of string. I've used a lovely dark gold ribbon and neutrals/golds and green bows to put on the ribbon that wraps the present up. All this stuff was in the same area as the wrapping in Wilko (they have different sections with different themes). I've never had matching wrapping before and I'm loving it! They look so poncey

I've made one batch of summer berry jam this morning and will do the other in a bit.

How's everyone else getting on? It'll be the 1st of December before we know it!

Hello fellow poncers, has anybody seen a nice, not too expensive red berry wreath (artificial) in the shops? Obviously it would be more poncetastic to make this fresh myself, but from last years experience with cranberry candle settings going mouldy after 2 days, I'm willing to take the hit. There was a beautiful one in cox and cox last year but it was £££££ so I didn't buy. Any bargains spotted?

Do you mean this sort of thing?
Not seen it in real life but will have a look today

Wineglass, yes, exactly that!! Thanks a lit! How was it, did you see it in store? Does it look nice or a bit plasticy?

*lot

They didn't have them in our local one unfortunately -

Oops sorry posted too soon. I've seen one somewhere else but can't remember where. Sainsburys do click and collect so you could order and if it doesn't look right then take it straight back

Hi :)

I have some quick mincemeat questions. I am making the Hairy Bikers mincemeat that normally goes with the orange pastry but I am going to put it into jars and give it as presents.

My questions are

1. To make the lid of jars stop popping does the food have to be hot when the lid is put on?

1. The recipe only says to cook the mincemeat in the pastry as I pie how can I heat it?

1. The recipe says to leave the mixture in the fridge over night, should I do this and then heat it to put it in the jars.

I think that is all I need to know.

Thank you.

Also while I am here Morrisons have small Kilner jars with screw lids for £1.50 each, Small flip lid kilner jars for £2 and larger flip lid kilner jars for £3 I think.

lightrain, I saw a red berry wreath in Wilko today, it was just like that Sainsburys one. I think it was about £8.

Forgive me, it must have been a heart shaped one. I was sure it was like the Sainsburys one.