Linaloo

Merry Christmas

Santa Hat brownies inspired by pinterest.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas and healthy and happy new year!

Graham Cracker Houses

A bunch of neighbourhood mums got together with our children this weekend and decorated these mini gingerbread houses.  I made the houses up with a friend the day before using graham crackers and icing à la Martha and then they went to town with icing and candy.  Not before I photographed them in the dusting of snow we had in the morning.  Madness, but they looked so magical!
The Christmas after we first moved into our house, a neighbour, who we barely knew and who has since unfortunately moved away,  delivered one of these on a plate with a bag of candy and a bag of home made icing to each of the children in the neighbourhood, ready to decorate.  Such a wonderful and unexpected gift that my children have never forgotten.

Simple Christmas: Less is more

This year, I'm opting for a simple Christmas in my home.  That doesn't mean I don't want to put up decorations for the house, buy gifts or make the season any less special for my family, but I just really want to focus on simple this year.

As I get older (and although you wouldn't necessarily realize it looking at the state of my house) clutter and too much "stuff" bothers me more and more.  And although I am certainly not a minimalist by any stretch, this time of year the thought of Christmas decorations everywhere makes me feel slightly overwhelmed instead of joyful.  I recently came to the realization that although we have amassed quite a few Christmas decorations over the years, many of them highly sentimental, I don't have to use all of them, every year. 

A revelation I tell you. Why did it take me so long to work that out?!!

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas....

I'm feeling in a festive mood so much earlier than usual this year. I wanted my house to smell like Christmas, so, in the spirit of Emma's Making Winter series, here's an easy recipe for a Christmas simmer pot which makes the whole house smell amazerful with just a few simple ingredients.

Mix of all the above ingredients with 2 cups of water and a cup of apple juice in a saucepan.  Gently simmer over a low heat for a few hours, making sure that the liquid doesn't evaporate. Once you're done, remove from the heat, let it cool and you can keep it in the refrigerator and re-use it again a few times. There really is no exact recipe, it's just trial and error...you could use cranberry juice, oranges, clementines,add a few sprigs of evergreen...whatever takes your fancy.