Friday, December 20, 2013

this christmas




miraculously, after a few consecutive weekends of lazing about and procrastinating about what I wanted to make for christmas, I finally got my christmas cooking done with just one day to spare!

which also meant that I had the oven on for most of this heatwave.

I decided on chilli spiced nuts for family and wagga friends (so easy and ridiculously moorish), peanut butter and honey granola for tony's dad (who happens to be a fellow pb fan), banana granola with coconut shreds and almond (this recipe is the best!) and some mango and salted coconut popsicles. and then because I couldn't sleep this morning, I got up extra early and made some gingerbread and used all of my new cookie cutters. yum!






tony woke up while some of the cookies were still warm, so this was his pre-breakfast snack. I am so proud of how perfectly golden-brown it is. thankfully this christmas there have been few cooking disasters/meltdowns, although it was already so hot by 8am this morning that my dough was starting to sweat and the bear faces were stretching out into zombie expressions as I moved them onto the baking tray.





so far, I've been really lucky on the pre-christmas present front. we received a hamper from sophie and tim earlier this week and have been enjoying the cheeses, special crackers, and chocolates after work ever since. they also bought me a pair of PANDA SOCKS which bring me great joy.

my work friend from bega sent me this awesome book of letters and another from the southern highlands sent a selection of minimalist cds. I also got a silly rug with a cartoon of a pug on it and a mini chocolate and date loaf from my bread friend kristy.

the lead up to this christmas has been a little melancholic for a few members of my family.  this'll be our first christmas without helen. I had my last proper conversation with her on christmas day of last year. she was wearing this green and white kimono style cardigan that she'd bought the day she got the time wrong for her alternative vitamin c treatment. the next time I saw her she was in palliative care.

in the last year I've lost an aunt and become one myself. sometimes I think about the circularity of this but most of all, I am so thankful for the wonder my new little niece has brought me and my family. without her, I think we may have grieved or questioned for longer. my uncle remarked just yesterday that it was amazing that my niece was alive and here on earth.

this year, tony and I have set a spending limit on christmas presents, which is funny because when we were finishing uni and celebrating our first christmas together, we couldn't afford anything more than presents we could make. I ended up writing tony a non-fiction story and he made me a layered acetate painting. having received an engagement ring that still distracts me when I'm driving means that I'd be happy if I got no christmas present at all from him :)

and on a side note, here's a little end of year bloopers reel that I'm in.

happy christmas!

No comments:

Post a Comment