Happy Crimbo 2010, innit?

And it was! We had a frosty, white Xmas. Not what you would normally expect in sunny England! We got snowed in the week before Xmas and our sun room became our freezer room. We ran out of space in our fridge and kept everything lovely and chilled in this room. I usually dry our washing in here and only use the dryer for bedding and towels, but it was so cold the clothes were covered in icicles. Almost. At least it felt like it. I think it was -12 one night.

a beautiful morning

frosty

I tried my best to put some Xmas cheer into the small living room of the cottage. It's not easy with limited space, but it almost had that Santa's Grotto feel, and I liked it.

rocking Santa

spot my home-made garlands :0)

the big Santa wobbles

As usual we started the festivities with our tradition: games on Xmas eve, followed by the opening of our presents. I wanted to change the tradition a bit this year by only opening the presents on Xmas day, but we failed miserably. An impossible task. We couldn't wait!

our little tree

So on Xmas eve I made a delicious Parsnip, Cranberry and Nut roast that we veggies would have on Xmas day when we're with the family and friends, and I baked two batches of cupcakes (almond & vanilla and chocolate brownie with nuts) that I had been planning for weeks to give as Xmas presents. I decorated them and wrapped them up in their little boxes. I had made the boxes, cards and cupcake decorations beforehand and I am so glad I did! Time was very tight.

The Vanilla/Almond cupcakes looked like this

and the version for our little nephew

The Chocolate brownie cupcakes with 'shooting stars'

and for our little nephew

The boxes, cards and wrapping

When Mr Fluff got home from work we made some finger food - Peppadews stuffed with green olive tapenade & mozzarella; Mini potato roasties with crème fraiche; Filo triangles with artichoke, feta and mint; Sticky butternut squash squares with sesame seeds - all made from scratch, and lastly some lovely veggie spring rolls that I picked up earlier from M&S. The Pièce de résistance was the Moose Milk! It is a Run/Kahlua/Ice cream cocktail - a traditional Canadian drink that is made on Remembrance Day, but it sounded so yummy I had to give it a try. Mmmmm... loved it.

Moose Milk

After dinner we got the crossbow out. Let the games begin!! We had to shoot at the targets that I stuck on the wall, hoping to hit the numbers that would win us prizes rather than forfeits. Mr Fluff won quite a lot of the silly stuff and had to wear/play with his prizes because those are the rules.

the master

the targets

the prizes and forfeits

Here is Rudolph...

Mr Fluff also won a set of pink pom-poms and performed a bit of a cheer, much to the delight of the whippets and my screams of laughter.

I won the best prize of all though, I got the camper van mug!

Mr Fluff was not impressed, but his Pac-Man mug is not too shabby either. It is really cool, Pac-Man and the ghosts only appear when there is hot liquid in the mug.

We both got slippers (amongst other things) because one can never have too many slippers, right?

Mr Fluff

SpankySparkle

We were all spoilt rotten this year. I got one of these (to run with) yippeeeee

And Alula, Kaya and Jetje-cat gave me this! Yay! The coolest charms and cards ever!!!

all my favourite things

How insanely lucky am I?

I have to show you this gorgeous candle stand we got as well. As you can see I still need to give it a wipe to get the dust off it. I found it on e-bay and simply fell in love.

The whippets got PJ's and toys for Xmas. They love their cuddly pyjamas and sleep so much better now. They can't wait to get them on! It is super soft and thick, so they're lovely and warm at night. That doesn't mean they don't still want their blankies, or to sneak under the covers, though!

Jetje-cat got a pretty collar, but we're holding on to it until we get to our new house (whenever and wherever that is). Sadly for her she had to wear this instead

Ooh, we also won glow in the dark bracelets, and tried to write a message with them.
Mr Fluff wrote B 4 E

and I wrote Love

Unfortunately we forgot to take pics on Xmas day. Hopefully we can get some copies from my sister-in-law. We got up early, packed and drove to London to Mr Fluff's sister's place with the whippets in tow. We spent the day with her and her hubby, our little nephew and some of their good friends. There were more presents to give and unwrap and much too much good food to eat. After lunch all the girls and Mr Fluff took the four dogs for a play in the park. We finished off the day with some great games on the wii.
Lovely day, marvellous company. What more could we ask for?

Next year, perhaps we will play host. Who knows?

more cupcakes

If you thought I was done with my cupcake experiments, you'd be wrong. Very wrong!

I made the most amazing chocoholic, dark & rich brownie cupcakes filled with bits of chocolate and nuts. They were so good people have been known to fist fight over the last one. This is no lie.
I sent them to work with Mr Fluff after we taste tested them and nearly died of yummyness in the process, and they were so loved that when Mr Fluff announced a few days later that there was a new batch of cupcakes (this time vanilla & almond) it caused such a stampede they had to call security and put his building under lock down! Fine, I'm, laying it on thick, but you get the idea.

Let me just say that the pictures DO NOT do them justice. They have to be tasted to be appreciated. Pity I can't send them to you through a worm hole, eh? Have a look at them... bet you wish you were here

And last but not least, here are the deliciously scrummy-yummy Almond & vanilla cupcakes with white chocolate frosting (the best I've ever tasted) and a few hand made Xmas decorations

The point of this exercise was to find truly fantastic recipes and to get unbiased feedback from Mr Fluff's colleagues. It worked! I am very happy with these cupcakes and the feedback was 100% positive. The next step is to bake some as Xmas presents wrapped up in my home made boxes. I promise I'll post pics after Xmas.

Meanwhile, I wish you all a very happy, jolly and fun Xmas and a spectacular 2011!!!

PS. Remember, don't drink and drive, smoke and fly! HAHAHA just kidding. Be safe all you beautiful people. We love you and miss you like crazy. Wish we could be celebrating with all of you in body rather than spirit :0) xxx