The 2022 Poncetastic Christmas Thread

[VivaJen]

Welcome to the 2022 Poncetastic thread. With a nod to Fellatio (wherever she may be) at the stroke of midnight, let the poncing commence.

"OK, first of all, I know it's still September by we need to start this thread now because as you all know, having a truly Poncetastic Christmas involves precision planning, strategy, bravery, heroics, and frequently martyrdom.

So, if you, like me, actually want to make the next twelve weeks of your life a misery by hand-crafting your cards, finding a huge bucket for Nigella's turkey in brine, pickling pears, shrivelling oranges in a low oven for those rustic au naturel decorations, dragging half a holly bush back from the woods, and just generally being a smug annoying jobs worth ponce, join me on this thread.

Feel free to post photos of previous tree-trimming, cake icing or table centrepiece triumphs, discuss this year's bauble colour themes, debate the merits of Delia versus Gordon, road-test a selection of canapés and cocktails, (all in the line of duty) and link to lovely inspirational photos/craft ideas for a truly Poncetastic Christmas.

Warning: If your idea of a good Christmas involves Pizza, ITV, gravy granules or anything with 'Aunt Bessie’s' on the packet, this is not the thread for you".

I really am loving the idea of orange and rhubarb crumble. Did you follow a specific recipe or just a rhubarb crumble with added marmalade??

I've deep cleaned the living room today, ready for our decorations next weekend. It feels much fresher without alllll my craft stuff but not sure where that will live now 🤷‍♀️

Also started robin number 3, of four, and painted the base of baby Jesus for the nativity set.

@ShakeYourFeathers I normally do Delia’s rhubarb compote so I’m 90% sure that’s what was in the freezer. The crumble topping was basic flour sugar butter and the marmalade was rescued from the marmalade infused gin when straining it. I’d say no more than a tbsp of the marmalade per portion

Amazing thank you

@lucysmam I love this latest Robin!

@BeastOfBODMAS your gin crumble (thats what it is!) sounds amazing! I'm wishing I didnt bin the blood orange zest now from my gin.

@lucysmam your shelf looks so cosy in the dark! Beautiful.

@HannahDefoesTrenchcoat your stars are beautiful! Very very pretty. Could you make a large one and wrap it with fir, ivy and holly, pyracantha berries, some rustic twigs and battery powered fairy lights to use as a front door wreath?

@TangledWebofMincemeatDeception I do love your nutful advent candles. And the elves are so cute 😍

I have finished off my Trial cake and it is only through sheer willpower (and the leftovers of a large apple cake) that my 2 other cakes remain unscathed. They need 1 final feed then I need to make some marzipan, slice them in half and insert a layer, and coat them in the stuff too.
Home made marzipan is worlds away from the shopbought stuff, but you do need a high powered blender and mixer to make it. Plus you can add a touch of brandy to it too! The cake(s) I'm saving for us will have 2 layers of this stuff instead of icing, which is hellish stuff. I've tried fondant and royal icing and with both I ended up cutting them off and eating the marzipan. Its a pity marzipan cant be made whiter then we could do away with it once and for all.

I'm about to start to crochet a blanket for our bed made out of granny squares but only in 1 colour to keep it looking modern! Not done crocheting for a bit so watch this space.

@BeastOfBODMAS thinking about your marmalade- did you use it all up or could you freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays? I'm imagining it mixed into whipped cream to tart up a Victoria sponge, or obviously adding to an xmas pudding mix, or sprinkling onto an orange posset, or american pancakes with rosehip syrup, or a million and one other uses!

@ChristmasPickleRick I love those baubles !

@CuriousEats i didn’t keep what didn’t go in the crumble,no. Freezing it would be a good idea. A layer on the Christmas cake to stick the marzipan instead of apricot jam?

You'd have to heat and sieve it though, otherwise you'd have lumps sticking up through the marzipan!

Can I have thoughts on the last robin, please...I'm not sure about his right side so have packed him up for tonight

Oh I like him!

He's my favourite!

I love him, he looks so natural!

Oh that's a great idea! If you blended it first before you sieved, you'd get more mileage out of it too.

I've added bells and hanging ribbons to my embossed clay hearts. The embossing doesn't show up because of the light in here but you get the general idea. 😊

Ok, puddings are done at last, only a week late! I made some mince pies at the same time with last year's mincemeat. I was following Paul Hollywood's recipe, before realising I'd run out of butter. I used margarine instead and they turned out to be the best mince pies I've ever made (I didn't put the segments of clementine in, just the juice) and added some flaked almonds too. A-maze-ing 🤤

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/paul_hollywoods_mince_04604/amp this is the recipe.

I think this robin is my favourite too @lucysmam

I decided to turn my first attempts at cross stitch into cards, trying to do 1 a night.
I have no confidence in my card making abilities as I started with 30 wedding invitations which were never sent because of Covid.

@lucysmam that's your best robin so far. love how natural he looks

@BeastOfBODMAS love the cross stitch Christmas cards

@MammaWeasel your clay hearts, with the bells are very pretty.

Thank you!

@BeastOfBODMAS those are stunning! You should be proud of them!

Oh, really? Maybe I'm being over critical then. I've left him alone for now because I'm pleased with the rest of him, just his right side didn't seem quite right. I'll look again with freshish, after work eyes, tomorrow.

Your hearts are lovely @MammaWeasel . I may pinch the idea for with my Rainbows and Guides one evening.

@LaChatte I think we may make some mince pies at the weekend; dd1 is itching to get to them!

@BeastOfBODMAS your cards are fab, have more faith in yourself. The snowflake is my favourite.

I have been poncing away on these giant silhouette cut outs for our church windows! More pictures once they're up..

Wow @kiwi17 you are one crafty bird!

Wow! These look fantastic. Can't wait for the pictures of them in the church windows