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

Right cake is now out of the oven after a slight mishap earlier (turning itself off! Wtf?! )

I don't like marzipan and only really like nice slightly crunchy icing...what are people's recommendations for decorating based on this? Oh and no nuts please.

Marking place.

I found Dunelm Mill to be the best place for Kilner preserving jars. £2.99 for the one litre ones, £1.99 for 500ml.
www.dunelm-mill.com/m/shop/kilner-preserving-jar-201515

Marking place- will be back to ponce properly.
I loving pinterest this year

I too need something for the top of my tree
Can't be too poncey atm as have the sodding builders in but they have promised to be out by 24 November which giving them at least 2 weeks grace gives them a chance to get out in time to decorate

humphry the only things I can kill without remorse are feckin bluebottles and mosquitoes. I have a day of guilt if I stand on an ant. Fair play to you. I like to pretend my meat died of natural causes after a long happy life :o

Marking place. Long time poncer ( been hand gathering, swagging, and wreathing holly and fir and making elaborate Xmas dinners since I got my first shitty house at 17!) lurked on this thread the last 2 years. Ready to make my ponce public this year!
Really want to tap into sort of Bloomsbury/omega workshops vibe this year with my yuletide mise en scene...
Falalalalalalalala

Someone mentioned three wise men mini loaves but I can't find who now, sorry! What are these loaves please?

I'll trade that info for tree top fairies and stuff here

Yes Bobbys, proper crunchy royal icing, none of that bleddy fondant stuff.

Ooh I love crunchy icing!
I have done my Phoenix Trading Christmas order, complete with poncey paper chains.
I have the bottle of Baileys ready!
I wonder when the Bottle Green Spiced Berry Cordial comes out?
Cake and pudding making are on my to do list as is giving birth.
Think I'll make truffles this year too.
I'm going to make mince pies and freeze them uncooked, I can do that in October yes?
I'm thinking I may do the same for sausage rolls?
I need to spend some time with Nigella this week. Her spiced nuts and honey soy sausages are fab.
I will be awaiting the postman for my CK organiser!

Christmas is a perfectly acceptable middle name yes? DP is looking all disapproving.

Thankyou FN, Iliketomoveitmoveit and Monthlychange. DH was working away last year from Oct to Jan, so filled my lonely evenings after the kids were in bed with Christmas poncing! It was all easy stuff to make but I really went to town with the packaging/display. I was sadly disappointed with the reception my lovingly prepared hampers got though , so won't be going to so much trouble this year for gifts - sticking to jams, chutneys, flavoured booze which won't spoil.

Monthly I got all the recipes for bath salts etc from either Pinterest or the homemade Christmas thread from last year.

Going to direct my poncing towards decorations this year

Last year I bought a white china angel with silver wings from Homesense (she was £10 from the ornaments section). I have a fake tree and wove the branches through her wings to keep her steady. She is very very poncy and stands about 7 inches tall!

I'd looked for a decent angel for years and really recommend thinking outside the box. Our living room is the opposite of nordic (all creams, duck egg and soft greys) and the few decent angels seem to be of the rustic variety.

I too am old! We have Delia's Winter recipes. I make the Pears in Marsala for our Christmas Eve pud, it has become a tradition. Other recipes which are wonderful in there are the Chocolate Bread and Butter pudding (INCREDIBLE and nothing like a traditional B&B pud) Pancake Cannelloni and also Braised steak in Madeira with Five Kinds of Mushrooms.

Someone upthread asked where to get Marsala, it is located with the port/sherry/madeira/ fortified wines and also vermouth. A good tip is to use the bianco vermouth as a substitute for wine when you only need a small amount and don't want to waste your best wine in cooking. Tesco sell a brand called Bellini which is very good and cheap as well, I use it in risotto. Plus it keeps well when opened unlike wine.

Zeeky, shame on all those ungrateful recipients of your lovely hampers, they should count themselves lucky to get anything this year.

I have a Sarah Raven book (it may even be the Christmas one - I need to check) - but I also got the Hairy Bikers Christmas last January (on sale), and a Kids Christmas Baking one (that DD already spotted on the shelf - poor au pair!! ). And about 12 years worth of Good Housekeeping, Good Food, House and Home, and other special Christmas editions. As well as a couple of Christmas crafts mags too.

So far, I have the rhubarb vodka steeping, last year's slow gin and raspberry vodka "proving" and the last of the previous year's mince meat maturing nicely. I think I need more mince meat this year though (once the kilner is finished with the rhubarb concoction). And I am determined to make my own pudding this year, and perhaps even a cake too.

DH is talking about going to the family this year (haven't been down in about 3 years) so I will have to get the fake tree out of hibernation (I use that on travelling years ONLY). I am thinknig about getting a decent fake for home, and putting the cheapo one in the car for whatever house we rent - I definitely have enough decorations to manage that!

Otherwise, I need to get planning....

I have just ordered the Sarah Raven book and already made Green & Black's Maya gold chocolate mousse cake for Christmas Day tea time (it's in the freezer, just defrost & dust with edible gold powder - poncery!).

The rest of Christmas dinner rests with DH, & he's brilliant at it so I let him get on with it. I'll hopefully be bfing DC2 (due this Sat!) & running round after DD & assorted GPs.

Planning on making up hampers with cookie ingredients in jars, the Hairy Bikers Christmas Pudding vodka, a box of handmade tree decorations (I am into paper crafting), chocolate bark or truffles or both, but would like to make a body scrub or soap or similar to go with. Does anyone have any tried & tested recipes that can be made well in advance?

Biddypop, a good quality artificial tree will last many years if looked after. I would recommend looking at independent garden centres for good ones. Get one with a sturdy metal stand that isn't easily knocked over.

I have the fruit soaking for Christmas cake (to be made this weekend), the first lot of Christmas puddings in the slow cooker steaming (we're always back home in the US over Stir-up Sunday and since I have a gazillion about 10 puddings to make we start at the end of September) and Cherry Brandy (thanks to whoever posted that up thread!) started.

Though, with the Cherry Brandy -- was I supposed to poke the cherries before putting the brandy over them?

I need to sort out what other Christmas goodies will be made for the day and/or gift giving. We're always at my PiL so don't need to sort out dinner though I always make contributions like homemade cranberry sauce for the turkey.

Toddler (he turns three at the end of next month) and I are making our Christmas cards and some of the wrapping paper for gifts (probably just enough for the Grandparent & Great-Grandparent & Godparent gifts as our family is so big I can't make meters upon meters of it to wrap up everyone's gifts). He is also making some of the gifts for grandparents/great-grandparents/Godparents. A lot of this needs to be done before we go back for Thanksgiving (and we might be going home earlier than usual this year). Eeek!

Who is Sarah Raven and do I need to book to go with all of my others (both British and American) as well as all of my special issue/Christmas issues of magazines, etc.?

What recipe do people recommend for Christmas pudding? Last year I made Bero's version (subbed some of my own preferred fruit/nuts). I like to make mine in the microwave though as don't want to be committed to being in the house to steam in a pan.
I am also going to make my own Christmas cake this year will be making the Bero recipe, really excited about decorating it! I started working my way through the Bero book last year (and blogging the results) hence my loyalty to Bero. I was going to do it all in 12 months but it proved impossible!

"I've done the doilies, I've done the candy canes, I'm sick of brown paper and raffia. 2012 is going to be the year my gifts look like they actually contain something worth having."

Same here, Skirt! Last year I had brown paper with green silk bows tied with bells and cinnamon sticks.

May I please have some wrapping theme ideas, pretty please?

I'm busying finding green buttons in order to make these with the children.

Need to pick a theme before I can properly start ponce-ing.

All of the booze sounds fab! Hic.

Need to pick something to make. Xmas pudding vodka sounds interesting.

I bought the Sarah raven book last year and got it out last night. Am another non-fan I think. Nothing jumped out at me I'm afraid. I think she assumes a level of expertise that I don't have! I need more pictures.

Tamsin Day-Lewis has a Christmas chapter in her Kitchen Bible book, plus useful section on preserving. It isn't available new on amazon though.

I also have Delia and Nigella Christmas books.

I thought I was doing well with my damson gin and jam.. reared your own goose! [Shock]I fear I'm out of my depth here!

Inspired by this thread I'd like to make truffles this year. Does anyone know of any little gift boxes available to put them in? (like you get in shops, one space per truffle)
Don't want to use cellophane - used them for fudge last year

I don't have my forever cake and pudding recipes yet, I don't think; last year's cake was quite nice as far as I remember but I'm not fully convinced, and I've never found a pudding recipe that I really love.

Do I need to Delia?

Thanks for the piccalilli advice Exasparated and Onlyaphase - sounds like I need to get experimenting now!

I'm in awe of people raising and slaughtering their own geese though. I have some way to go to reach that level of poncery!