Christmas tips

It's coming up to Bonfire Night and I've bought a nice pumpkin but it's for Christmas. I make Pumpkin Soup (recipe already on site) and freeze it for a meal at Christmas. We either have it with some lovely bread as a lunch or as a starter to a 3 course meal. Either way, it's delicious.

I cook my christmas pudding in the slow cooker. It means I'm not confined to the house whilst it cooks. I also reheat it on Christmas day in it as it saves hob space.
Just made stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread sauce and red cabbage to go in the freezer as I don't know yet if I'm working and have 13 for Christmas lunch.

Buy a tin of wrapped sweets and use them to decorate your Christmas tree. Tie to the tree with some brightly coloured cotton, the GCs will love searching the tree for the treats (if you can keep your hands off them!)
If you run out of clips to hang baubles use paper clips - just carefully unfold them so that you have a hook at each end.
Hang your cards from lengths of ribbon..pin up one end and let it hang then, using paper clips or pegs, attach the cards. They look lovely if you use different lengths and colours of ribbon. Also a good use for those bits of wrapping ribbon that are too short to wrap around a present.
I also make cranberry sauce, mince pies and sausage rolls well in advance and store in the freezer.
Have fun and be flexible....you can't enjoy Christmas and neither can your family if you're stressed out.

dissyblonde - if you've just made all those Christmas goodies for the freezer you certainly don't live up to your name. You put most of us to shame

lucid - lovely idea about the wrapped sweets but I think our new rescue dog would find them first!

Sorry dizzy - I can't even spell tonight - and I had "previewed " the post too...

My daughter and I do the majority of our Christmas shopping during Boots' Loyalty points events.These events offer £12 worth of points for every £50 spent in store. This includes all the 3 for 2 deals.
They have a huge selection to choose from, including toys and gifts and we get so many presents free that it is now our first port of call. In one day shopping (in one store) we have done the majority of our Christmas present shopping already. Can't be bad!

You'll probably all be shocked at my family's solution to the Christmas stress of accommodating all the traditions of different families.

For years everyone came to me, including my dear loved but very awkward aging and infirm mother, the son-in-law who likes nothing I cook, (I am an great cook , any waifs and strays. Everyone had their own ideas of how it should be, when the prezzies are opened, what to eat, when to eat it and on and on. Stress levels were high and even though we had fun it wasn't good for my DD and family as they had to visit DSiL's family too and there are only so many hours in a day. No-one was really happy.

So since my mother's death DP and I go away to a lovely cottage in the centre of our Dream Town. We shop locally at the organic shops and framers market. We cook our Mushroom and Chestnut en Croute and peel all the veggies on Christmas Eve. We walk through beautiful countryside on Christmas morning, call at the pub for a drink in front of a roaring fire before Christmas lunch in all its glory.

When we get home we have Christmas at our house, a huge meal, everyone opens their presents, the children aren't overwhelmed. it is really great.

My stomach no longer tightens at the thought of pleasing everyone as I know that everyone is pleased and happy. It's not everyone's ideal solution but it works for us, especially as various friends and family come to visit us in our Dream Town.

My previous post was a story not a tip!
Sorry!

My tip for pre-Christmas fun with the family is to make a cauldron of soup, bake or buy some lovely bread, get the mince pies and YuleLog ready, make some mulled wine and have a family and friends get-together to gather the makings of Yule wreaths and decorations.

We set out wrapped up warm with secateurs and baskets at the ready to gather Holly and Ivy and any other greenery that we spot. It is such a Blessing to be out in the fresh air and is a lovely beginning to the celebrations.

We sing and talk with the children about the old days, about why a Mid-Winter celebration is important, about how lucky we are.

We are really competitive about our wreaths and the house is full of leaves and bits but it is such a great celebration.

As Pagans DP and I are reticent about our beliefs but our Yule celebration is very special to us.

I thought it was rather a good tip actually, Earthynana.

My daughter gave me a brilliant idea this year. She's bought some personalised chocolate bars and is going to give them to neighbours, her doctor and the man who delivers the paper instead of a card!

It's a great idea, and means you don't have to get a separate gift as the bar is a card and gift combined! She found me one for my vet too, as we've had a tough year with our dog, she's been brilliant. I will find out where she gets them and let you all know!

Hello Nanapug, glad you liked the 'pass the parcel' game idea. My GC are 17&11, but they are used to Nannas games & it is all part of our Christmas & Boxing Day together. When they were younger one of the forfeits would be a small bag of dressing up bits & pieces, lipstick,hair clip,ribbon,clip on earrings etc & they had to choose their favourite person to dress up, it was usually Dad! Much to his delight, not! This was my GD's favourite & it was always included in some form. We ended up with the last present being box of chocs to hand round to everyone.. As they are older now, I include more card games, we have a very old cardgame called 'Wot' that is an old favourite. I keep an eye out in the run up to Xmas for small gifts to put in & make sure everyone gets a small gift as well as a forfeit. It is a good game to play on Boxing Day, I try to make the parcel as huge as possible, with lots of padding, use old wrapping paper, or crepe paper and finish off with big glitzy bow! You need someone to be in charge of music, to stop & start randomly. My SL tries to get this job to get out of playing! Good luck! It is great fun and we do enjoy it.

Here is Joanna Gosling in her craftroom.
www.telegraph.co.uk/property/interiorsandshopping/8874222/My-space-Joanna-Gosling-newsreader.html

The craftroom is such a great idea - I have a similar room that just needs a Velux window, and I could sit up there reading or crafting, with a view over the wood behind my cottage. Must save up and do it next year.

I have tried using the spare room, but as soon as I get it nicely piled up with plastic carrier bags of this and that, and the bed covered in stuff, DD1 announces that they will be up tomorrow for a weekend, it all gets stashed away hurriedly and I can't find anything for weeks.

Then I put a table in the (very small) conservatory, but I can't sit there owing to the clothes horse full of damp laundry, the plants brought in from the greenhouse, the painting easel (actually an Ikea trestle with a board fixed on it), the three comfortable old chairs, the welly boots and the rolled-up rugs to throw down when my brother visits with the dog. Oh and the ironing board, but that spends most of its time folded up and leaning against the wall.

Treat Christmas day dinner just like any other Sunday dinner, we all end up throwing so much uneaten food away. Any left overs could be served in sandwiches in the evening.

Thank you Gilly70, sounds fun. Will definitely do it and will think of you!! x

Dont try to be superhuman!! Plan, start shopping early, and accept that some shop bought goods are as good as your own! Also I am learning to accept offers of help with a smile, the kids now each bring something to the day, and we all have more time to sit together and enjoy the kids.

start preparations as early as possible

Is it too early to put the sprouts on?

Sorry Hilda W but you really must get your sprouts on-tonight if possible-in a very slow cooker. Mine have been simmering for several days now, the house smells delightful, but they have still not turned mushy-long way to go yet!! (PS I hate sprouts with a vengance)

Aaargh! What's so great about sprouts that they are obligatory at Christmas?

I really like them and we've already had several helpings already this year, sorry to everyone who hates them

A certain member of my family needs no encouragement to fart er...break wind and his partner, with my full agreement, bans sprouts.