Mince Pies?

Did I say I was going to bake mince pies yesterday?  Well, somehow on the way to the kitchen I decided that as we had no biscuits in the house (and C does like a biscuit with his cuppa at the weekend) I would try my hand at making some.  Biscuits are something I have never made, don't know why, I guess I just bake what I know will turn out okay, but I had this urge this morning ... so out came this little book:



Its donkey's years old but in here I found a recipe for Ginger bread men or biscuits.  Perfect!  So I followed the recipe very carefully and ended up with these:

And they tasted as good as they look!  Not very gingery though, so next time I will add a bit more, but all the same for a first attempt they have turned out extremely well.  A little crisper than I had imagined, more like those little italian biscotti that you get in posh coffee shops, but they are so more-ish I don't think they are going to last very long!  This new found success has got me thinking that I will always make my own biscuits; certainly I will be making some over the next few weeks and I may even be giving them away as 'a little something' to friends and family over the festive period.

I really am chuffed to bits about these.  Its the little things in life that make one happy, don't you agree?

In The Mood

Hello and thanks for stopping by today.  I thought I'd share a few old favourites to get us all in the mood for Christmas.

These have been doing the rounds of email land for many years but they still make me chuckle.

Now I'm off to bake mince pies and other Christmas stuff, write the few remaining cards still left to do and sing my heart out to the Christmas Carols CDs.  TTFN x

I'll Show You Mine

I thought as everyone else seems to be blogging about the snow and showing photos of their patch, I'd join in!  Here's what my back garden looks like today:

As my garden is quite sheltered, it is not as deep as at the front of the house, and the village in general, helped by the blizzard we encountered last evening, drifting the snow into high banks. The roads are still just passable, but I have rung hubby to say "come home early" as its snowing heavily and I don't know how long the roads will remain okay.  I am fortunate indeed, that the company I work for has recognised the difficulties and has closed the office for today.  It has been stressful this last couple of days deciding whether I should attempt the journey to work or not, and then feeling guilty at my decision to not go in.  So much so that I woke up this morning very down in the dumps and decided that I would go for a walk in the snow.  I put on hubby's wellies (I still don't own a pair yet, having thought about buying a pair during the last two summers, but looking and not finding the 'right' pair and then deciding that they are a waste of money 'cos they'd only be used once or twice!) and I went out.  I discovered that the snow is that lovely dry kind that is a pleasure to walk through, and with wellies on, I walked through the deepest most virgin patches and felt like a child again.  I kicked, I played.  How exhilarating!  I came back indoors a couple of hours later, made a cup of tea and logged on to Blogland.  And, the very first blog I read was Crochet with Raymond.  Alice must have know I was in need of some therapy and her blog post  sent a massive hit of energy and healing through my body.  Thank you so much Alice.  I am fully recharged and can concentrate on finishing writing the last few Christmas cards (most of mine I posted this morning, but have the neighbours and friends ones left to do), tidying up the house, and doing the washing up (as I went out straight after breakfast) and then maybe there'll be time for a little hookiness before C gets home and I need to prepare dinner.  So, TTFN and take great care in this wintry weather.