10 of the best cookie recipes!

Everyone loves a cookie, right? The beauty of them is that there are a multitude of flavours available - definitely something to suit everyone!

They can be dressed up as a thoughtful Christmas gift, shared with those you love or just simply dunked in milk after a long day at school (or work!)

Here's my list of favourites, enough to last you all winter!

Millie's Cookies recipe

Peanut butter & white chocolate chip cookies

Frozen chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate mint cookies

White chocolate & coconut macaroon cookies

Anzac biscuits

Hazelnut cookies

Cranberry & orange cookies

Florentine biscuits

Butterscotch cookies

Have a go yourself... get the kids involved! They'll be some lucky teachers and classroom assistants this Christmas!

How many Santa's is too many Santa's?

Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person and a visit to a Santa's Grotto is on most parent's to-do list during the month of December. But without sounding a bit 'bah-humbug', just how many times does a child need to visit Santa!?

We live in a very small town/large village and even here, if (big IF) my children were to visit each Santa's grotto/party that is on offer in the place we live, they would see the big man himself over 10 times! I manage to tactfully avoid most of them - not because I don't want to support the particular group or charity that is providing the Santa experience, just because more than a couple of times is too many!

They also vary in, let's say, authenticity. One particular Santa is pretty good and sees the children in two different grottos. He cleverly remembers them by name (small town syndrome!) so that he can check if they have been keeping their promises of bring well-behaved, tidying their bedroom, etc, etc. 

My children have known for a couple of years that the Santa that we visit in our town are actually Santa's helpers. They cottoned on pretty quickly that they look slightly different at each visit and so the truth was told! Father Christmas does exist and lives happily in Lapland with assistants employed all over the world to help collect messages to send to Santa and distribute presents to the children.

Although... they do believe the Santa at Portmeirion Village is the REAL one, namely for 2 reasons - he has a real beard and can speak Welsh! Our first language at home is English but my children are taught through the medium of Welsh and so are fluent Welsh speakers, so only the real Santa would know that they could speak Welsh, right? That's a good enough reason for me!

This year, we didn't manage to visit the Christmas markets at Portmeirion, but if you are ever near there on the first weekend in December, it's well worth a visit!

So anyway, when you're planning your December fun and festivities, take care not to have a 'Santa Overload'! It can be more magical keeping somethings under wraps...

Advent Post #23 - Quick chicken pasta bake

As Christmas creeps up on us, quick and easy family meals are a must in our house! This chicken pasta bake recipe is a perfect winter warmer and is also delicious cold the day after (if you have any leftovers, that is!). And an added bonus is that it's low in fat so you can be on your best 'foodie' behaviour before the indulgence starts!

Image via www.bbcgoodfood.com

You can vary the recipe by replacing the chicken with pork or prawns; we used left over chicken so reduced the cooking time slightly. You could also swap the broccoli for similar veg - sugarsnap peas or baby sweetcorn would be perfect!

Advent Post #22 - Yummy Chocolate Brownies!

As much as we *try* to be good with our eating habits over Christmas, who can resist a delicious chocolate brownie!

Image via www.bbcgoodfood.com

However, fear not(!), I came across this recipe for some super chocolate brownies with a magic ingredient that reduces the fat and salt content quite considerably. OK, yes they still contain fat and sugar but without butter or spread on the ingredient list, they've got to be on the healthy side of the brownie fence, right?

Click here for the full recipe if you want to know the secret ingredient and try them out for yourself!

Let me know what you think when you've made them and then challenge your friends to guess the secret ingredient... I bet they'll struggle to get it right!

Advent Post #20: more edible treats! Butterscotch Cookies

Simple to make and delicious to eat around the fire with a hot chocolate, but also nice enough to give as a gift to a child's teacher, lovely neighbour or anyone you like really! Once completely cooled, wrap in cellophane with a pretty ribbon or in a small box or tin decorated however you wish!

Butterscotch cookies, makes 10, prep 10 mins, cook 20 mins

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the baking sheet

100g light soft brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

175g self-raising flour

25g puffed rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies

dark chocolate chips, for decoration

 

Method

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and golden syrup until smooth.
2. Sift in the flour and mix together, then fold through the puffed rice cereal. Roll into walnut-sized balls and place, well spaced, on a lightly buttered baking sheet. Decorate each ball with a few chocolate chips.
3. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden. Leave on the baking sheet for 1 min before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe source: BBC Good Food Magazine.

Advent Post #18: Angel, Fairy, Star... what's on your tree?

The 'fairy' at the top of the Christmas tree was originally a figure of the baby Jesus. In the late 17th century, this became a shining angel.

In Victorian Britain, little girls would take the angel down after Christmas and dress him in doll's clothes. Eventually, the angel turned into a thoroughly female fairy., complete with a wand. The transformation was boosted by the emergence of pantomimes which became popular in the Victorian era and naturally included a good fairy in the cast (... oh yes they did!).

Cherubs were hung on trees to represent the angels who heralded the birth of Christ. The star, which forms one of the most important ornaments, indicates the guiding star which led the Shepherds and the Magi to the new born in the stable.

In recent years, stars have knocked angels off the top of the nation's trees - demand has reportedly fallen so much that some larger retailers have dropped angels altogether! A decade ago, angels were outselling stars but now stars outsell angels tenfold!

What do you have on top of your tree?

 Text from a local Parish Magazine, December 2013.

Advent Post #17: It's a Christmas Cracker! Jokes, jokes and more jokes!

A bit of light hearted fun! Get ready to rival any Christmas cracker joke that you've ever heard! Be prepared to groan.....

Why are people so shocked about how quickly Christmas comes round? It's been on the cards for ages!

A pantomime horse walks into a bar. Barman says, "Pint?" Horse say, "No, two halves."

Christmas is the worst time to be on a diet because of all the carolies!

What kind of bug hates Christmas?  A humbug!

Where does Santa do his Christmas shopping? Tesc-ho-ho-ho!

Who looks after Santa when he's not well? The National Elf Service!

How do you know if Santa has been in your shed? You have 3 extra hoes!

What's the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the normal one? The Christmas alphabet has no 'L'!

Where did the three Wise men buy their gifts? From the Lidl donkey!

What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? Christmas Quackers!

And I'll just leave you with the hope that all your festive pizzas be deep pan, crisp and even!

Thanks to The Huffington Post and The Telegraph for the joke inspiration!

Advent Post #15: Christmas Recipe - Cottage Pie

At this time of year, simple to prepare meals are essential as often we have 'to-do' lists longer than the proverbial piece of string!

Cottage pie is a classic meal - pretty cheap to make, easy to prepare, basically cooks itself and can be stretched a little further if you end up with more guests than you planned for! Make it your own by adding a little twist to the side dishes; stir fried sprouts with pancetta, red cabbage or pickled beetroot are all favourites in our household.

Cottage pie - serves 4-6, takes 15 mins to make and 50 mins to cook.

Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
450g lean beef mince
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 sticks celery, trimmed and diced
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves or dried thyme
2 tbsp. plain flour
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. tomato puree
300ml red wine
400ml beef stock (made using 1/2 stock cube)
800g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
15g unsalted butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tsp oil. Add the beef and cook until browned. Place onto a plate and drain any excess fat from the pan.
2. Heat the remaining oil and gently cook the onions, garlic, carrots, celery and thyme for 10 mins until soft. Add the flour, cook for 1 min then add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, wine and stock. Simmer for 10 mins until thick. Pour into an ovenproof dish with the mince.
3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 15-20 mins, drain and place back in the pan to dry out. Add the butter, freshly ground black pepper and mash. Spread over the mince and bake for 20 mins. Serve with veg of your liking!

Recipe source: The Co-operative instore magazine.

Advent Post #14: Bean & Brush Family Art Cafe Review

 

Whilst visiting family over the weekend, we paid a visit to a great café near to my brother's house in Sale, Cheshire. Bean & Brush Family Art Café is a great place to meet, eat and make! Downstairs, there's a fantastic café offering a superb range of delights; from hot and cold drinks to tasty dishes with many items and ingredients locally sourced. (Their cupcakes and scones are fantastic!)

 

And then the beauty lies upstairs where there's a huge selection of pots and decopatch items ready for you to transform with your artistic talents (great AND small!). After much deliberation and decision-making, we decided upon our items to be painted. We settled on a cute gingerbread man plate, super-fast sports car and a little Welsh dragon - although I'm pretty sure the dragon may have been English, but it's Welsh now because it's home will be with me!

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

The space is well used and there are plenty of staff on hand to offer help if needed, but they do let you just get on with it if you want to. There's a great selection of paints to choose from with lots and LOTS of brushes; from really really fine to sponge and foam stamps in many different shapes.

 

Items start at just £5 so it's not too expensive to return to on a regular basis as a monthly treat, for example. They also hold children's parties - in fact, there was a party being held whilst we were there and it looked like all the children were having a great time and were well-supervised.

 

As a side note, even though there were definitely more children than adults in the craft area (and probably the whole place) it wasn't overly noisy. The overall ambiance of Bean & Brush is very family-friendly, so because the parents are relaxed about  the children walking around and making happy 'children-noise', the atmosphere was definitely stress-free!

 

My only (very slightly!) negative point with the whole experience is something which is completely out of Bean & Brush's control - my indecisive mind! There's that many items to choose from, it took me ages to decide what to paint! But once I had finally decided, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole morning and so did the other 10 people who were in my family group painting as well!

 

We have to wait a week or so for the pots to be fired and so once they are ready, I'll update this review with the finished items.

 

I think on our next visit we will try decopatch - described as painting with paper, we can't wait!

 

 

 

Advent Post #12: A Special Secret Santa! Festive Shortbread Biscuits Recipe

When planning family weekends, making a Secret Santa present for Jamie Cullum's dad was definitely not on the list! Secret Santa 'events' are planned and carried out in many, many offices and workplaces nowadays. It takes the pressure off buying a present for everyone and often turns into a bit of fun with jokey and slightly risky gifts that you wouldn't be brave enough to give with your name attached to them!

 

To cut a long story short, my sister was the lucky recipient of the little slip of paper with said jazz singer's dad's name on it - he's chairman of the company that she works for! To add to the melee and confusion, the gift had to be homemade!

 

So... like any talented, crafty, cooking family - we opted for homemade biscuits! With the help of my kids(!), here we have the masterpiece itself!

 

Festive biscuits - just biscuit!

Mixing it up a little with the addition of sweetie glass!

 

The finished item - Bath Abbey at it's finest! (Or baffabbi as it was fondly known throughout the making process!)

 

I'm sure he'll be as proud as punch with the efforts made - well I hope so! :)

 

Here's the recipe for anyone who wants to give it a try!

 

Ingredients

300g plain flour

175g butter, cubed

1 level tsp ground ginger

1 level tsp ground cinnamon

100g golden syrup

24 clear coloured fruit sweets

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Sieve flour, cinnamon and ginger together. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the golden syrup and mix with a knife until lumpy. Then, use your hands to mix the mixture to form a dough.
3. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
4. While the dough is chilling, break the sweets into very small  pieces - a pestle and mortar is ideal.
5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to the thickness of a pound coin.
6. Cut into shapes as needed. Gather left over dough and roll out again.
7. Place on a baking tray. Cut out any 'windows' from the shapes and sprinkle a generous amount of crushed sweets into each 'window'.
8. Bake for 15 mins - the sweets should have melted and the biscuits should be lightly browned. Leave too cool on the tray for a minimum of 10 mins then remove with a fish slice. Cool completely on a wire rack.
9. Enjoy!

Adapted from a recipe in Morrisons instore magazine.

 

Advent Post #11: An afternoon with Santa!

Living in a little corner of Wales is great, but when your family seems scattered around the UK (and further afield!) it's hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time! So, each December after a few weeks logistically planning a weekend in Manchester, we all *try* and meet up and have a festive weekend together as on the 'real' Christmas Day, it's impossible for us all to be together due to work and extended family commitments!

 

So....  here are some snaps of our first Christmas of the year!

 

We were even lucky enough to take a ride in Santa's horse and carriage - definitely a first for us! The elves were raising money for the Manchester Children's Hospital; a very deserving good cause!

 

Santa gave my children some homework to do for next time he sees them (ad they happily accepted it!) We had to learn the names of all of his reindeer! We managed a few whilst still in the grotto but had to think long and hard in the car later on - but we managed it (without the use of Mr. Google!).

 

So here we have them! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and of course Rudolph!

 

My daughter has them written down now so that she can send the list off to Santa - along with some homework of his own! Learn the song 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' in Welsh! :) Good luck with that one Santa!

 

Have you celebrated an early 'Christmas' yet this year?!

Advent Post #10: Cranberry & white chocolate chip cookies

Try these really easy and tasty cookies - perfect as a gift in a ribbon-tied box or just lovely to munch!

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and grease 2 baking trays.

In a bowl, cream together 150g caster sugar and 175g butter, softened, until light and fluffy.

Stir in 175g plain flour, 1 beaten egg, 100g white chocolate chips and 75g dried cranberries.

Drop spoonfuls of this mixture on to the baking trays, spaced well apart to allow it to spread, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 20 mins until golden.

Cool on the tray for a few minutes then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Recipe source: Morrisons instore magazine.

Advent Post #8: Christmas Craft - O Christmas Tree!

You can spend a fortune at this time of year on the little extras which are sold to you promising to bring that 'Christmas Magic' into your home. But for me, my most treasured Christmas decorations and ornaments are the ones made by my kids! And I'm sure that's the same for many of you.

Many items are made at school and brought home on the last day of term, proudly passed over to Mum or Dad at the school gate (quite often, there's more than you can carry and it will probably be raining!). Don't forget the carrier bag!

To help with ideas to make some lovely decorations at home, have a look at the links below. There's plenty of ideas to fill a quiet Sunday afternoon while you get on with some Christmas present wrapping!

Printable Christmas tree craft

Christmas tree hanging decoration

Handprint Christmas Tree

Scrap ribbon Christmas tree

Toddler crafts - pom pom Christmas tree

You can also pick up 'colour your own decorations' kits from various shops - or even design your own if you're handy with programs such as Paint!

Happy crafting!

Advent Post #6: Christmas Gifts - Giving & Receiving ... With a Smile!

Anyone have an all-weather camper on their Christmas list? Why not check out Camping Insider's great gift guide! There's gifts from under £10 to as much as you want to spend. From practical items to things to bring fun to your camping trips next year.

Camping Insider is a great source of outdoor offers, freebies, reviews and lots more cool stuff. Click this link to sign up to receive their newsletter direct to your inbox every month for free!

While you're here reading, have a giggle at this infographic! Camping Insider asked nearly 500 people what their worst Christmas gift was that they had received - and this was the result! I must think myself lucky that I've not been on the receiving end of most of these presents! Or given them for that matter!

Giggle away....

This blog post is an advertorial.

Advent Post #5: Keeping on top of the seasonal stress!

Why do migraines strike at the times when you're busiest!?

Imigran Recovery Tablets have launched their Facebook quiz contest to help educate the online community about the true impact of migraines on the UK. Supported by a competition to win a night at a luxury spa hotel, entrants are required to share their contact details and complete 3 quick fire multiple choice questions about migraine.

All entrants who successfully complete the migraine quiz will be entered in to the sweepstake to win the prize, whether they answer the questions correctly or not.

The campaign is designed to reward users who take part in the Migraine Matters Facebook quiz and "like" their Facebook page. With migraines affecting parents and children alike, every family could be affected at any time.

       

How to enter:

1. Click here http://bit.ly/1jrRe4E and ‘Like’ the page.
2. Click 3 multiple choice questions around Migraine when prompted
3. We will randomly select one entrant at the end of the contest to win the luxury spa weekend.

The campaign starts on 1st December 2013 and closes on the 15th January 2014.

This blog post is an advertorial.

Advent Post #3: Christmas Recipe - Mushroom Bourguignon

Mushroom Bourguignon - serves 4, takes 30 mins, vegetarian, suitable for freezing

Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
15g (1/2 oz) butter
125g (4 oz) shallots or pearl onions, halved
1 carrot, thickly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp. tomato puree
2 tsp. plain flour
125ml (4fl oz) fruity red wine
150ml (5fl oz) vegetarian stock
2 sprigs thyme
625g (1 1/4 lb) mixture of mushrooms, halved if large

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and butter in a heavy-based pan. Add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes, then add the carrot and cook for 5 minutes more until soft. Stir in the garlic, tomato puree and flour and cook for 1 minute until the vegetables are well coated.
2. Pour over the wine, stirring well to ensure the sauce is smooth. Leave to simmer for a couple of minutes until the wine had reduced by half. Add the stock and sprig of thyme and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp. oil in a frying pan. Cook the mushrooms for a couple of minutes, add to the pan, along with any juices and simmer for 5 minutes. Scatter over some thyme leaves and serve.

Each serving contains 159 calories, 4g sugar, 10g fat, 2.9g saturated fat, 0.2g salt.

This recipe is ideal to double up as a delicious mid-week evening meal and then freeze the leftovers for a quick and tasty meal for Christmas week. Just don't forget to label it correctly and reheat thoroughly once defrosted (defrost overnight in the fridge is best)!

Recipe source: Tesco instore magazine, December 2013.

Advent Post #1: Christmas Craft - Santa Hat Ornament

Santa Hat Ornament

Decorate a red party hat or make your own smaller version to create this jolly ornament.

What you'll need:
Red party hat or red craft paper, glue, tan craft paper, scissors, black and red markers, white pom-poms, yellow paper, ribbon

Make it:

1. Remove string from party hat or form red craft paper into a cone and glue to secure.

2. Cut a 2" to 4" circle (depending on size of cone) from tan paper; draw eyes and cheeks on circle. Cut 2 ear shapes and glue to back of circle. Glue to middle of cone.

3. Glue white pom-poms at the top point of the cone, around the cone above the face, and as Santa's beard.

4. Colour a black band around the bottom as the belt. Cut a small rectangular shape from yellow paper and glue to the centre of the belt as a buckle.

5. Glue ribbon hanger to top of hat.

Source: http://www.parents.com/holiday/?sssdmh=dm17.696093&day=76&esrc=nwprnts100days13_a_day76_113013#page=11

Moxie Girlz™ are rockin’ out this season!

The Moxie Girlz™ are really rockin’ this season with several new magical ranges added to the popular brand.

Moxie Girlz™ really love music and this season they have started their own band in the fabulous new range: Moxie Girlz™ Rockin Band. Each doll comes with its very own instrument, which girls can actually play themselves. Avery comes with a guitar, Sophina has a drum set and Lexa comes with a keyboard. Each instrument also plays the Moxie Girlz™ theme music instrumental.

 

Moxie Girlz™ Rockin Band dolls are priced at around £29.99 and suitable for ages three years plus.

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The amazing new Moxie Girlz™ Magic Swim Dolphin dolls love having fun in the water, and this season they’re playing with the dolphins! Each doll is dressed in a colourful bathing suit and comes with a dolphin that really swims when placed in water. Girls will watch in amazement as the cute dolphin glides the doll through the water on the included fun board.

There are two cool characters to collect in the range and are priced at around £24.99 and are suitable for ages three plus.

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The Moxie Girlz™ are having fun by the sea pretending they are real mermaids in the magical range, Moxie Girlz™ Magic Swim Mermaid. Ready for an underwater adventure, with their glittery tops and shimmering mermaid tails, the dolls magically come to life and swim by themselves when placed in water. Once you take the doll out of the water it will automatically stop swimming. The dolls have posable bodies and even feature a magic colour changing tail when placed in warm water. Moxie Girlz™ Magic Swim Mermaid dolls are suitable for ages three years plus.

 

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The Moxie Girlz™ aims to encourage girls to reach for their dreams and embrace their individuality through self-expression, friendships and fashion.  Every girl has the strength to do something amazing. Anything is possible as long as you stay true to yourself and never give up on your dreams.

 

This blog post is an advertorial.

 

Katie's Advent Calendar!

Throughout December, I'll have a different, daily festive craft activity, gift idea, recipe or something else that has caught my eye to share with you! Some simple and kid-friendly and some a bit more complicated but perfect for entertaining your families over the Christmas period.

Don't forget to follow or subscribe to receive the updates straight to your inbox - share with your friends too, so everyone gets a taste of Christmas, 'Katie-style'! Thanks for keeping up with my news and recipes! Hope you all have a busy but manageable December!

On the twelfth day of Christmas...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... twelve drummers drumming.

Eleven pipers piping, ten lords a leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a milking, seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying, five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree!