Christmas Fudge Recipe

I found it!

Oh my goodness, it doesn't get much easier than this:

(I make a double batch because it disappears quite quickly)

1 can of Condensed Milk (395gms)
125 grams butter
375 grams milk chocolate
200 grams dark chocolate

Melt the ingredients together. You can do this on the stove top, on a medium heat, or in the microwave ( 1 minute at a time, stirring in between, being careful not to overdo it).

My daughters always make this recipe, and usually do it on the stove top as it is easy for them to monitor the melting.

Once it is all amalgamated together, pour it into a baking paper lined container - I use a rectangular plastic container, so I can put the lid on it and keep it in the fridge, or pour it into a flat baking tray.

It is difficult to cut, but it is so easy to make, and makes a wonderful Christmas gift.

I once made a white chocolate version of this, but found it tasted too sweet. You can also make it with all milk chocolate.I prefer the version with the dark chocolate in it.

Our friends, the Gospers, who passed the recipe on to us also make it with macadamia nuts in it - that is really delicious.

Enjoy!

Merry Making

Although I’ve decide to take a low key approach to Christmas this year, I can’t help but get my hands busy and the girls have joined in too.

They love to make rocky road every year, and fudge, which we then gift to family and friends. The Fudge is amazing and so easy to make, once you’ve made it, you’ll be sorry you did, because you will just want to eat it all…

I will have to post the recipe later because I can’t find it right now!

I’ve been making “yo-yos”, also known as “Suffolk puffs”. They make a wonderful garland (the idea came from Soule Mama), and I also made little ones to make cute little gift tags.

For the gift tags, I cut a circle template with a diameter of about 7 cm. The final yo yo has a diameter of about 3 cm.

Freya and I used a bread and butter plate for the garland template. It is 18cm in diameter. The finished yoyos have a diameter of about  9 cm, depending on the fabric.

To make the yoyos:

Cut your fabric circle.

Pull the thread to gather the edge into the middle.

Fasten with a few over-sown stitches.

Then sew a pretty button in the middle

To make the gift tags, I sewed a row of red stitching around the edge of the card. It has a nice effect, and glued the yoyo onto the card. They are very cute and affective. Next year I may progress to making Christmas cards, but I really left my run too late this year.

To make the garland, I used wide cotton tape and sewed the yoyos onto it. It makes a wonderful Christmas Garland.

You could also make them into tree decorations.

I do feel inspired by how quick and effective the yoyos are, and I’m wondering what I might make next. I remember yoyo dolls were around when I was a kid, but haven’t seen them for years, so might have to look into making one of those.

It’s a busy time of the year. We’ve been doing a lot of socialising and my great Paleo diet has suffered a bit. But I’m not beating myself up about it, I’ll get back to it after the crazy festive season has settled.

We are looking forward to a quiet day at home with all our lovely children. We are hoping for a warm day so we can play at the beach, and plan to have a delicious lunch of roast pork and salad. We might even throw a few prawns on the barbeque!

Merry Christmas Everyone.

Christmas 2011

What a beautiful day we had. It was quiet, just us, and the children loved their gifts, their lunch and the cruisey time we had together. Sadly, we didn't have the camera out to take photos. Silly isn't it?I should have some lovely photos of the kids opening their gifts. Especially Charlie who couldn't quite work out what was going on, and wanted to open everybody else's presents!

 Our tree was a bit scrawny. Had to find it at the last minute in the bush on our block. It did the trick, and at night, with the lights on, it is fine.

 Pretty glass baubles bought new this year to adorn the bare branches of our decorative tree (also used at easter time).

 Solar lanterns. So pretty, but we had such overcast days that they didn't work terribly well! We need some sunshine.

 My beautiful Christmas treat for myself: A wonderful blue hydrangea to brighten the front doorstep.

And how the laundry has mounted up! Looks like I've got some catching up to do. Taking time off for the festivities has left at lot to be desired on the domestic front...I'd better go and hang out a load of washing. At least these ghastly Easterly winds we've had for days on end will dry the washing...there's an upside!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas too.

Christmas is almost here!

It seems to have crept up on me. It is almost here...Freya is very excited, the other children are pretty cool about it, Charlie has no idea, and I had my annual Christmas meltdown yesterday!

In my attempt to stay focused and organised, writing lists, checking them twice...I suddenly start to feel overwhelmed, become stressed and wish Christmas didn't exist. It's awful, because Christmas is all about joy, celebrating the birth of Christ, remember those we love, being thankful for all we have, and being generous. That's why I hate the way I get so stressed and become cranky and certainly not generous! Luckily for me I have Michael, who understands me so well, recognises what is going on and talks me down...Thank goodness for him!

So, now I have a renewed view of it all.I will not get stressed about cleaning the house. I will not get stressed about having lots of perfect food. I will not stress about each child having exactly the same amount and types of presents.

Instead, I will put my feet up when I start to feel stressed, take a breath, have a cup of tea, watch a movie, play with my naughty, beautiful,amazing toddler.
I will make simple,fresh food with love for the family and in-laws;
I will be thankful for all the excitement that surrounds Christmas, and ignore the hype (that's gonna be hard!);

I find it so hard to believe that 2009 and is almost gone. It has flown for me. When you have a baby, time seems to become more obvious - it drags when we are having a tough day, but it flies when you realise all the milestones he has reached. The difference in one year is unbelievable. My smiling,gurgling baby is now a walking,running,expressive,screaming,shouting, talking toddler. He has just started clearly saying"no","more","mum","don't".

"So this is Christmas and what have we done?"(Thankyou, John Lennon) Quite a lot actually, been very busy. Beans are 5 foot high, tomatoes colouring up (skinks stealing them again), zuchinni plants just coming up, lettuces beautiful and ready for Christmas lunch, crunchy carrots ready to eat, Michael's potatoes looking good, and strawberries colouring up, ready for the birds to steal.

On top of that, we managed to have a couple of lovely holidays - to Broome and Darwin, then to Rottnest in October.

I'm looking forward to the summer break at home, to enjoy our glorious beach and our wonderful family!