Let's Bake: Gingerbread Men!

Strictly speaking this post isn't just for gingerbread men it's for all kind of shapes - we don't discriminate! I'm a huge lover of gingerbread and Christmas time is the perfect time of the for indulging on them. This year was the first year I made my own and I thought it would be really hard but thankfully it isn't and the gingerbread was a success. If you fancy making some gingerbread for Christmas or to help you get in the festive spirit then read on for an easy recipe. If you don't have a food processor then not to worry, I don't either and they turned out great. 

What you'll need;

• 1tsp of ground cinnamon 

• 2tsp of ground ginger 

• 350g / 12oz of plain flour (plus extra for rolling out the dough)

• 1 egg

• 4tbsp of maple syrup 

• 1tsp of bicarbonate of soda

• 125g / 4 1/2oz of butter 

• 175g / 6oz of brown sugar

• writing icing / cake decorations
• a mixing bowl
• clingfilm
• greaseproof paper
• baking trays

• a wooden spoon
• cookie cutters

What to do;

• Sift the flour, cinnamon, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.

• Add the butter and mix until the mixture looks like bread crumbs.

• Lightly beat the egg and maple syrup then add it to the bowl of the mix and mix until the mixture clumps together into a dough.

• Tip the dough out and need until smooth before wrapping it in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minuets.

• Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4

• Line the baking trays with greaseproof paper

• Once the dough has been chilled for 15 minuets take it out the fridge and roll out to your preferred thickness

• Using the cutters, cut out the shapes and then place them on the baking trays leaving enough room between them
• Bake for around 15 minuets before taking them out the oven and leaving them to cool
• Decorate to your preference (as you can see decorating isn't my forte)

There we have it an easy gingerbread recipe, you can wrap them up in a little food bag and add them in to Christmas presents or eat them all to your self! I hope you are all feeling Christmassy, only two sleeps to go.

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Christmas Wrapping

 

The other day I lit some Christmas candles, popped on a Christmas jumper, put on Elf and started to wrap my Christmas presents, I got through half the presents before running out of sellotape - note to self always buy sellotape when you buy your wrapping paper. This year I bought most of my wrapping accessories from ASDA, the paper was only £2 for 5 meters and was also on 3 for 2! They had lots of gorgeous wrapping accessories and gift bags this year, I bought this cute merry Christmas holly print paper and matching tags. I also bought some ribbon from Clintons and this handy gift wrap accessory pack from Paperchase , in the set you get 12 large bows, 12 small bows, 15 gift tags, 6 spools (60 meters) of curling ribbon, 10 jingle bells and a pack of star confetti now all I need is some more sellotape and I can get to wrapping. 



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Edinburgh at Chistmas

 

Edinburgh knows how to to Christmas! With the German Market and Winter Wonderland filling up the Princes Street Gardens and the stunning Dome on George Street the city screams Christmas. I've been to Edinburgh at Christmas time a lot over the last few years and I'm always blown away by how festive it is, I love the German market especially the food stalls! On Sunday just past my mum, sister and I braved a super busy Edinburgh for a Christmas Day out and some Christmas shopping, we started out by walking around winter wonderland and browsing the stalls before stopping for delicious cheese pretzel.

After buying some cheese and other bits and bobs we grabbed a burger at the market and then we headed up Princes Street for some serious shopping and spent most of the afternoon in and out of shops and fitting rooms before we stopped for a much needed Costa. After being in the shops for ages it soon turned dark and we took a walk up to the dome to see the gorgeous Christmas lights. Our trip to Edinburgh made me feel really festive and I love looking at all the photos I took. I hope your in the Christmas spirit!

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It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas



The tree is up YAY! I bloody love Christmas trees, I love the lights and all the baubles. My mums pretty keen on putting the tree up just 12 days before Christmas but over the years we've worn her down and it's getting earlier and earlier each year. I spent yesterday afternoon putting up and decorating our tree, we went for a red and gold theme with lots of lights. Mixed in with the red and gold baubles we mixed in lots of personal baubles like the dove my sister and I got from St Pauls Cathedral when we visited London a few years ago, the silver star my nana gave me as a little girl that has gone on every year since and personalised stockings with the whole families name on them - I won't bore you by telling you about all the personal ones. We finished the tree by putting some candy canes on it, I wonder how long they'll last! I'm so happy with our tree it makes the house feel more Christmassy but the person who might just love it more than me is the cats, especially Soxs who you'll find nestled underneath it.

 

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A Christmas Netflix Night In



Awful post name I know but I couldn't come up with anything better so you've probably guessed what this post is all about from the title- yup it's all about the Christmas films on Netflix! If your looking for something to watch to get yourself in the Christmas spirit but can't be bothered to look out your Christmas DVDs then have a look on Netflix you might be surprised by what you find.

My all time favourite Christmas film The Santa Clause featuring Tim Allen is guaranteed to get me in the Christmas spirit but if that's not for you then you can also find Home Alone and Home Alone 2 Lost in New York on Netflix that you can binge watch back to back. If your looking for a heart warming classic why not watch It's A Wonderful Life and if your after a cheesy 90s classic then pop on Jingle All The Way. If you want something kid friendly then theirs a few Disney Christmas Films including Mickeys Once Upon A Christmas and Mickey Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse. There's also An All Dogs Christmas Carol that kids will love, I remember watching this a lot as a kid with my sister and we loved it. Netflix also has the 2009 animation of the classic Christmas story A Christmas Carol. Surely one or more of these films will soon have you feeling festive, what's your favourite Christmas film? Now if Netflix could add The Grinch next that would be great!

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All information was correct at the time of publishing.