Wednesday, December 23, 2009

christmas eve and cranberries...

'twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house
not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse

In our house any mouse (or mice!) would most definitely be hunted out and gobbled up by our two very efficient little cats.

Its finally Christmas eve - one sleep to go! I always used to 'count the sleeps' till Christmas when I was a child, and I still retain that childlike love of Christmas and all things seasonal. No matter how hard the year has been or how horrible, Christmas day is always beautiful - its a time for family and friends, good food and wine, and lots of love and sharing (and receiving) of gifts. I absolutely adore this time of year and tend to go all-out on decorating and celebrating!



A real tree is a must in our house - nothing smells as good as a fresh Christmas tree. And yes, our decorations are always colour-coordinated.



The presents also have to match - I love finding really pretty wrapping paper and ribbons and tags, and making them look beautiful (even if their beauty is fleeting - that wrapping and ribbon will be ripped off and littered on the floor tomorrow!) This year it was the gorgeous decorative stylings of kikki_k that caught my eye.



Our advent 'calender' (read: quilt). I made this myself about 4 years ago and am inordinately proud of it, as I am NOT a crafty person, and it took me a long time. All of the little pockets contain Lindt chocolates. Jasper approves, and is lending his magnificence to this photo.

Every Christmas I make my famous cranberry sauce, so delicious my family have been known to buy and cook additional turkeys in the weeks following Christmas day, just to eat up the leftover sauce. It is a Donna Hay recipe and is very, very simple.



500g of frozen cranberries, two cups of caster sugar and half a cup of malt vinegar.



Mix it all up and it will look like this!



Cook in the oven for half an hour or so, until it goes all yummy and thick and sauce-y.





Sososo yummy!

4 comments:

  1. Oh, how fun! And I love your matching presents + decorations :D

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  2. I agree about the smell of a fresh tree- there will be no fake trees in this household!
    And the sauce looks delish!
    Merry Christmas
    x

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  3. hehe i love your cat's expression! and your tree and presents are all so pretty. love it all! hope you're having a great Christmas (:

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  4. Thanks girls! Hope you all had magical Christmases! x

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