Category Archives: Simple Christmas

It Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without A Few Repeats!

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Every year the TV companies get slammed for repeating the golden oldies of Christmases past.

But as Chris Evans pointed out last week, it wouldn’t be Christmas without repeats. It makes him feel all is well with the world. And I agree.

Who can forget the famous Only Fools And Horses Batman and Robin scene? It even featured at the 2012 closing ceremony – it’s such a part of our popular culture.

It’s copyrighted by the BBC so no original clip to share, just this newspaper article…

Or much more recently, but still heavily repeated Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special? Which is of course being repeated this year!

So in true Christmas tradition…here are a few repeats of my own from my first Christmas at my virtual home…

My Simple Christmas Pledge 2010

The Simple Christmas Guide – Making Time For Your Children 2010

The Greatest Gift I Can Give My Children This Christmas 2010

I hope you’re all having a lovely build up to Christmas Day. I’m not at my virtual home this week, so won’t be responding to comments straight away, but I’d still love you to leave them. There’ll be a Food Waste Friday post this week, and I’ll be back all guns blazing Christmas Eve with some festive cheer and maybe a surprise visitor!

Fancy Getting Festive With Some Gingerbread Fun?

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There’s nothing quite like Gingerbread to get the festive feeling…

And it’s super simple to make!

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Check out this download for my Gingerbread House Biscuit Recipe

Or alternatively if construction’s more your thing ;-)

How about an Aldi Gingerbread house kit?

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The kind people at Aldi have sent me a couple of kits.

(Above is actually their ready-made house – not the kit – but you get the gist!)

I’ll be making mine up with the Kid’s on Christmas Eve, but if you’d like to try it out also then just pop a comment in below and express your interest!

I’m posting the kit out tomorrow – so will draw the winner at 9am tomorrow.

As it’s so close to Christmas I can only post to the UK – sorry international Guys!

PS – I highly recommend downloading the free e-book – it is fantastic (made all the better by a guest appearance by moi – only joking ;-) ).

PPS – I also highly recommend checking out Aldi’s seasonal product. There’s some good stuff in store at the moment. In fact I’ve just treated myself to a new ski helmet (not edible but still as exciting! More to come on that!)

PPS – I am not compensated for any of the above links or recommendations, and provided my recipe to Baker Ross out the kindness of my heart. Aldi sent me a kit to try out and I requested a second for you Guys (to share the festive cheer), but I’d probably have purchased one anyway! I never post about any retailer, product or service I would not myself use or part with my own hard-earned cash to ;-)

See y’all tomorrow….busy busy busy….

The Art Of Improvisation

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I am the self-proclaimed queen of improvisation.

Which, this week, has been a good thing.

As I was knitting scarf number 3 last night, with a deadline of today, I discovered I had a ball of faulty yarn. My double-knit thick yarn suddenly became quite thin!

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With no opportunity to purchase new wool or any time to start the gift again, it was time to improvise. Step 1 – I knitted through it.

I heard a great quote the other day. Highly paraphrasing – it was that the situation we find ourselves in is 10% the event and 90% our reaction to it.

Such an important thing to remember.

Step 2 – I decided to make a feature of the fault, that fortunately was toward the end of the scarf.

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I quite like it! It’s unique – a design that can never be repeated.

Quite proudly I added my signature….

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Have you any tales of improvisation to share?

Taking Stock & Setting A Schedule

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Leading a simple life doesn’t mean your to-do list is empty.

In some ways I have more to do. But the aim is, for me anyway, to have prioritized what is important and only to have such things on that list.

For school holidays I now set a schedule. This has worked incredibly well. There’s been less time wasted. Waste isn’t good in my book. Be that food, money or time. I really do not like wasting time, which I believe to be the most precious resource of all.

“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time” Narrator – Fight Club 1999

With the decision to end the spend from Friday. I have put myself under a little pressure. Pressure can be a good thing, particularly if you are prone to procrastination, as I am. There is now a deadline. I need to take stock of where I am and set a schedule.

December, for me, is going to be about spending time with the family, and doing festive things that we all enjoy. It isn’t going to be about stress and shopping. I don’t like shopping, so it isn’t a good use of my time. I feel it’s waste, and not a priority. Others may feel differently. It’s horses for courses. Spend time on what makes you feel good.

My priority this week is to take stock of where I am with gifts. Whether or not I am ready, the big guy in red is making an appearance in little less than a month.

Time to tidy up.

Next on the hit list will be wishing one and all a merry Christmas and this is how I intend to do it. But it still takes time and needs planning. There are cards to be made, and e-mails to be sent. A donation to be made. Cakes are to be made and stored.

So I’ll be setting a schedule – a stitch in time saves nine.

This weekend kicks off the start of Christmas at Chez Wright. The tree goes up as do the decorations. Some planning is required as there’s lot’s to do, but we all want to enjoy it. Who has seen the UK Christmas advert where Mum is run ragged – Poor Mum! Does that look like a fun way to spend December?

(The ad has sparked some controversy!)

So that’s where I’m at. It’s time to take stock and set a schedule. It may sound boring, but a minute spent planning can be an hour saved…

What’s your take on it? Plan in advance, or grab a turkey on Christmas Eve ;-) ?

How I Wish A Merry Christmas! We’re Talking Greeting Cards

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I have a rather complicated relationship with greeting cards.

I love them, but also hate them.

I’ve also always detested doing things for the ‘sake of it’ or ‘because I have to’.

You may recall this post. I’ve spent a lot of money on cards in my earlier days. This is because I am a sentimental person, and feel a need to extend that sentiment to others. And in most cases a greeting card hits the spot.

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Santa Ain’t Shopping (Much) This Christmas

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This year Santa will not be hitting the shops. Instead there’ll be homemade gifts given by The Wrights to family and friends.

Okay, well maybe not all homemade. There’s some experience gifting going on as well as a little overt re-gifting and also some tasty treats. But we’re headed in the right direction.

See if you agree?

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Simple Christmas Traditions – Taking The Tree Down And Leaving Christmasland

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It’s all well and truly over, a month of living in Christmasland now it’s back to reality.

My favourite saying at the moment to the Kids is ‘New year, new rules’. First-born is loudly complaining that the ‘new rules are boring’.  One of the hardest things of leaving Christmasland behind is getting back into some sort of routine. That’s what’s currently going on here at Chez Wright.

I thought I’d share our last tradition, and give you all a glimpse into how our departure from Christmasland went.

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Christmas Dinner 2012 – The Plan (because there always is a plan!)

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There are just 4 days to go until at 2pm we’ll be sitting down for Christmas Dinner at Chez Wright.

((I don’t have a photo for this post – so have used the photo I took last year of our outdoor Christmas tree – We had snow! I was rather proud (and surprised) at how well this photo came out!))

This year I’m anticipating 8 adults and 2 Children seated…

As a fanatical meal planner, Christmas Day is no different to the other 364 days in the year. It’s planned for. And the aim is to keep waste to as much of a minimum as is possible on such a day.

So what’s the plan…

Well…

Guests will be met with Slow-cooked Mulled Wine and Home-made mince pies on arrival.

The mulled wine recipe is taken from my current favourite slow-cooker book by Sara Lewis. It’s a lovely mixture of red wine and cranberry juice with spices. The mince-pies the Kids and I will make fresh Christmas Eve as part of our Simple Christmas traditions.

I don’t do a starter, as it is typically a rather large and varied meal.

Christmas Dinner will consist of:

1. Maris piper potatoes slow-cooked to soften then roasted in goose fat.

2. Fresh carrots cut into batons and steamed

3. A stalk of sprouts removed from the stalk and steamed

4. Fresh parsnips roasted in olive oil and sprinkled with dried rosemary

5. 2 heads of broccoli cut into florets and steamed.

6. Home-made cauliflower cheese (consisting of 1 head of cauliflower)

7. Home-made yorkshire pudding – 2 per person

8. Pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon) – 2 per person

9. Slow-cooked gravy

10. Turkey! Of course!

The side-dishes are all being made by my Big Sis, and will consist of cranberry sauce, stuffing and bread sauce.

After dinner we will be eating the Christmas Pud I made the end of November with custard or brandy sauce. The alternative will be panetone bread and butter pudding with Irish Cream flavoured double cream.

The equipment I will be using is:

1 x Large Slow Cooker to soften the potatoes (Big Ben)

2 x Standard size Slow-Cooker’s for the mulled wine and gravy (Lil’ Bill and Brenda)

2 x 2-tier steamers for all the vegetables (I’m borrowing 1 from a friend as I only have 1)

All the vegetables will be prepped and kept in covered containers in water overnight in the garage – it’ll be cold enough! The pots will also be prepped and stored in the slow-cooker overnight in water.

The cauliflower cheese has already been made and frozen (from some I had left over) and will be taken out Christmas Eve to thaw out overnight.

The pudding batter will be made fresh Christmas morning and stored in the fridge in 2 pyrex jugs – this will make about 24 small puds.

I am borrowing a slow-cooker off my Mom to slow-cook the Christmas Pud for 2 hours – it’s a large pud so will cover all those who eat it. My Big Sis is making the panetone bread and butter pud in advance and will bring it round to be reheated after dinner.

This year I am buying Turkey joints, pre-stuffed. I swore last year was the last I would throw any turkey away, even if it’s just the carcass. We don’t carve the turkey at the table, so it won’t ruin the effect!

I haven’t finished the shop yet, so do not have a total cost, but most of the ingredients are pretty basic, and made from scratch (keeping the cost down). I will update this post when I have a total.

I’ll take some photos on the day and post to Facebook!

What am I going to do with leftovers?

Well the aim is to not over estimate. However if there are leftovers, they will be chilled and reused on 27th, as I am hosting another dinner – this time for some friends who are visiting.

How are the Dinner plans going at yours? All in hand, or still much to think about?

Here’s a couple of posts I ran last year if you’d like to read more:

<a href=”
http://simplybeingmum.com/2010/12/16/the-simple-christmas-guide-christmas-dinner-part-1/
“>Simple Christmas Dinner Part 1</a>

<a href=”
http://simplybeingmum.com/2010/12/20/the-simple-christmas-guide-christmas-dinner-part-2/
“>Simple Christmas Dinner Part 2</a>

Don’t forget I am now updating daily on Facebook

Simple Christmas Traditions – Simple Gift-Giving

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Hey Last Christmas by Wham just came on the radio as I started typing! My very favourite Christmas song ever – Thanks Radio 2!!

It’s Christmas Guys! Cue Sleigh Bells!

We like to lead a simple life over at Chez Wright, but the tradition of Christmas still includes the exchange of gifts for us.

As I said we keep it simple, that includes how we do gifts. I call it my “Christmas Box” system. This is how we do it for the adults in our close family. Our Kids get a visit from Santa ;-)

(The Hubby and I don’t exchange gifts – Santa drops off one small token for each of us so that the Kids get to see us open a gift on Christmas morning)

This is how my ‘Christmas Box’ system works:

  1. One box per person
  2. In that box there is:
  • Something to eat (normally chocolate)
  • Something to drink (normally alcohol)
  • A pair of socks (well it wouldn’t be Christmas without socks would it?)
  • An experience (gift voucher for those that shop, a theatre/event ticket for those that like to be entertained, a book or DVD for those who prefer a physical specific item)
This year the plan was to make each box by taking a used box and sticking pieces of Christmas paper to it and gluing over. However on one grocery trip to Home Bargains (affectionately known as Bargo’s at Chez Wright) I spotted this:
A bargain (that’s why they are called Home Bargains!) at £3.99 for a large great quality box that can be used by the recipient time and time again.
Then it just got better, as I opened it, I discovered 3 other boxes contained for the price.
How could I resist? (I’m partial to browns and creams – have you noticed the decor in the background?)…
These boxes are part of the gift themselves and can be reused. Next year I will be making all the boxes but will allow a little more time (one box can take three days to complete including drying time!).
The Kids and I have made a couple of our own decoupage boxes… First-Born’s teacher is the recipient of one.
Hats off to Home Bargains (Bargos) once again… This gift cost less than £5!
This system works for me because we do exchange gifts at Christmas but I hate shopping. It’s simple to get all the consumables in one trip when I get my groceries (even the socks can be purchased from most grocery retailers). The vouchers, tickets, books and DVD’s can be ordered online.  All items are contained in one box so it looks neat and is very easy to hide away from my Kids prying eyes as I store them before the big day.
When the gifts are exchanged there isn’t hours of opening presents, and when the recipient takes them home they are all contained in one box. Very simple in my opinion!
The added bonus is I’m not cluttering anyone up, 50% of the items can be consumed, the socks are a usable item, and the experience can be taken at their leisure after the holidays. The beauty of gift vouchers is that everythings reduced in the New Year so it’s better value for money for those who like to shop!
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I’ll be doing another post on card-exchanges (we don’t send cards we make a donation to charity instead). There will also be photos of the completed gifts as it is still to be wrapped up (ribbon, twine and home-made gift tags) – pardon the pun!
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Don’t forget I’m updating daily on Facebook! Yesterday I even found time to take this photo (to upload) as I sat waiting for Mom and Big Sis to join me for another of our Christmas traditions – a pre-christmas pub lunch:
Over on my Facebook page there’s also a video message I received from Santa this morning… see even if you believe in a simple Christmas there’s still room for a little of Santa’s magic :-)