7 sleeps left!!

Wow theres only 7 sleeps until the big day!! I can hardly wait!

Most people will be nearly sorted for presents by now and be well away with wrapping or just starting! I like to leave Chris and the kids wrapping to christmas eve its my own little tradition!

When will you be starting your wrapping?

Heres some of my fave wrapping paper available the moment if you haven't already got yours!

WH SMITH £5.99

WH SMITH £5.99

NEXT £6.50

JOHN LEWIS £3.00

JOHN LEWIS £4.00

PAPERCHASE £3.50

PAPERCHASE £3.50

Have a fab wednesday everyone!

Christmas breakfasts

Yay it's Monday (said no one ever) haha

Today we having our first Christmas themed breakfast - Ella the Elf has left Honey Christmas themed cookie cutters to make lovely shaped toast!! 

So we thought we would share some of our favourite breakfast ideas 

Yum yum yum - Honey and Sienna will love these!! How fabulous to have a magic breakfast!! 

Have a very merry breakfast 

All our love 

Jade and Leeanne 

Xxx 

Sunday Funday x

Good morning

Can't believe it's Monday again tomorrow! These weekends go far to fast! 

We are off to our Church Christmas Dinner today and mission wrapping is going to commence!! 

Now Honey has broken up from school and I'm trying to come up with things to do! 

So about some whole family fun, free, take your own snacks and music fun?? On Friday night (5pm) we went out in the car - me honey and rocco - and we went on a best Christmas lights treasure hunt!! 

Wow Honey absolutely loved it!!!! Some peoples houses are absolutely magical!! One house near us is amazing!!! Chris and Nick both think lights are tacky and they are Scrooges haha but next year I'm buying Lee the tackiest light up thing I can find haha!! 

But it's a lovely family adventure - you can always go to the drive through for dinner and have a wonderful hour!! Then when you get home get your little one to draw a picture of their favourite lights!!

The below houses will be mine and lees next year haha 

Lots of love 

Jade xxx 

Hey everyone! A big massive thank you to my lovely jade for doing my last 2 days posts for me I've been so super busy i have barely had time to even wash! (i have though i promise).

So today i'm going to share with you Jamie Olivers get ahead christmas gravy! We had this the year before last with our christmas dinner and it was delicious and...... (don't fall of your chair people that know my husband)... Chris made it!! Chris doesn't cook, he can do bacon sarnies and normal sarnies but thats about it so for him to make a contribution to the Christmas dinner was like a life altering moment!


He Watched Jamie make it on the tv programme he did and he said he really wanted to do it so he did and it was lovely! And the best thing about it is you can make it up ahead of time and freeze it so its one less job on the big day!

Here's the recipe hope you like it, have a lovely Saturday!

Get-ahead gravy

Makes 1 litre

Ingredients

• 2 celery sticks, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly sliced
• 2 onions, peeled and quartered
• 5 fresh bay leaves
• 5 fresh sage leaves
• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 star anise
• 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford
• 8 higher-welfare chicken wings
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• 60 ml sherry or port , optional
• 2 heaped dessert spoons cranberry sauce, for finishing
  
  
  
  
  Method
  I reckon gravy has the power to transform, or even save, a meal. What I want you to do this year is open your mind to a slightly radical idea: making it a few days, or even weeks before Christmas. If you do this, you'll have it on standby, so you can finish it on Christmas Day. I use chicken wings to give the gravy that roasted bird flavour base. Not only are they dead cheap, they're also the most flavourful part of the bird.
  
  Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put the veg, herbs and star anise into a sturdy bottomed roasting tray. Scatter the bacon on top. Break the chicken wings open then put them onto a board and bash the bones up with the end of a rolling pin; this will release more of their flavour. Put them in the pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over a few pinches of salt and pepper then toss everything together and put the tray in the oven to cook for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
  
  Take the pan out of the oven, and put it on a hob over a low heat and use a potato masher to really grind and mash everything up. Keep mashing, moving and scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you go. Gradually mix in the flour to thicken the mixture. The longer you let everything fry, the darker your gravy will be. When the flour is combined pour in 2 litres of hot water, turn the heat up and bring to the boil for 10 minutes, till thickened, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want to add 60ml sherry or port for flavour, do that now.
  
  When it's reached the consistency you're looking for, check the seasoning then push it through a sieve into a large bowl. Really push and mash everything through so you get as much flavour as possible. Discard anything left behind. Once it has cooled down to room temperature put it into containers or freezer bags and pop it in your freezer. You'll finish it off on Christmas Day.
  
  Finishing the gravy
  To finish the gravy, take your it out of the freezer when you're ready to cook your turkey. That way, it will defrost as your turkey cooks. When the turkey is perfectly cooked, put a carving fork inside the cavity and use that to pick the bird up and tilt it over the pan so all of the juices inside run out.
  
  Spoon away as much of the fat as possible, then pour your pre-made gravy into the pan with the rest of the turkey juices. Bring it to the boil over the hob and scrape all those flavourful bits and pieces from the bottom of the pan. Have a taste then add the cranberry sauce. It won't taste sweet but it will add a wicked background flavour.
  
  Once your gravy is piping hot, strain it through a sieve and into a pan. Leave that on the lowest heat to tick away until you're ready to serve. Skim away any fat that rises to the top and add any extra resting juices from the turkey before serving.
  
  

13-12-13 i love dates haha

Today is the 13-12-13 - another cool day to be born on!!

Today we are all off to Snow White on Ice!! So we are going to wrap up warm and get in the Christmas Spirit!

So this is a Christmas jumper blog!! Nick really wants a christmas jumper so i think i'm going to find the worst one and make him wear it Christmas day haha!!!

Here are some that i'm loving at the moment!!

www.ebay.co.uk £18.50

www.newlook.com £27.99

www.asos.com £19.99

www.asos.com £30

I've got this one for Rocco 

direct.asda.com £7

direct.asda.com £10

www.asos.com £38

Love this for christmas day with thick tights! super comfy

www.newlook.com £17.99

www.newlook.com £24.99

www.Next.co.uk £25.00

www.next.co.uk £18-£25

I can't believe how many there are to choose from this year, last year they were hardly any! 

Hope you have a fab Friday!

11-12-13 - Hubby Christmas

Today is 11 - 12 - 13 yippee how cool is that! And what a cool birthday to be born on - so to all mummy's having babies today - good luck xxx

Its Wednesday which means Present ideas!!!

So i've done all of my Christmas Shopping except for Nick!!! I find him really hard to buy for - so heres my top 10 list of presents for husbands hope theres some good tips for you!!

1. Golf Lessons - Nick is golf obsessed at the moment! So i think it would be nice for him to get some time out practicing and getting some tips from a pro!

2.  Clothes - Nick loves clothes so i was thinking about getting him a really nice jumper, he's mentioned a few bits in Abercrombie that he likes but i love this from Lyle and Scott £90 www.lyleandscott.com

3. Mousemat - I thought i would get Nick a mousemat with an up to date picture of the children on for his desk at work! Vistaprint do them for something silly like £4 

4. Shoes - You can't go wrong with shoes - either going out, work or new Converse! Always a great mens gift in my opinion!! 

5. Wall Calendar - I really like the idea (i hope he's not reading this and any friends of Nicks don't tell him!) but i like the idea of a wall calendar - but once month at the weekend setting aside a saturday or sunday for Nick to play golf! - So this idea basically costs nothing but it means i won't plan for us to do things on those weekends as they are a present to nick! And i might throw in a couple of vouchers for a round of golf too! - This is £22 from www.notonthehighstreet.com - Nice to do with Nicks friends wives too so they all get to play! maybe not once month but atleast a  couple of times they have a day arranged without having to ask us wife's for a golf pass haha! 

6. Chocolate or Wine - Nick has specifically asked for a selection box in his stocking so thats easy!! But he also loves red wine - so maybe a nice bottle of vino! He also has started drinking scotch like an old man so i was thinking of something along those lines with a nice scotch crystal glass! 

7. Its cold on the commute to town and a nice new scarf is always welcomed!!! Along with pants and socks haha! I really like this Ted Baker scarf £49 www.tedbaker.com

8. A Massage!!! I know most women don't think about getting their men massage's but i think its a nice treat! A time out from work and family! A bit of a relax and pamper for them is just what the Doctor ordered! There are so many deals on Groupon!!! 

9. A new wallet or man bag - Nicks wallet he's had for 6 years now and he deco needs a new one! I love Paul Smith wallets! Prada and Gucci do lovely wallets to and they are miles cheaper at Bicester Village! They last for ages and they are a really lovely present!!! 

10. Number 10 - so many choices from golf clothes, blazer, shirts, aftershave, kiehls moisturizer  etc but i'm going to go with ……. da da daaaaaa - Magazine subscription! no shock its going to be Golf haha - I think Nick would really enjoy reading a golf magazine once a month on the train - with tips and new products etc…. there are so many different magazines out there with loads of good deals!! Its the gift that keeps on giving!!! 

Happy shopping for the man in your life

Beauty Gifts

It seems like a bit of a cop out to get a female a beauty gift set for christmas, but i have not met a woman yet who really doesn't like them!

We love to give ourselves a little pamper and when you have a new gift set you can't wait to open it up and use all the complimentary products. Well i can't anyways i love it! I like being able to try new things without having the full sizes as if i don't like it i feel bad throwing a full sized product away do it stays in my drawers for months never used! A little set is perfect as if i like something i can then go out and buy the full size and i love trying new products!

Here are some of favourite gifts sets available this christmas in the beauty world

Benefit 'little love potions' £29.50

Clinique 'a little happiness' £30.00

Clinique 'smoother, softer, skin' £32.00

L'Occitane 'Protecting shea butter collection gift set' £28.00

Ciate 'Corrupted Neon Shout Out' £18

REN 'body gift set' £24

Shaveworks 'Get Smooth Duo' £10

Cowshed 'best of the best gift set' £40

Noem 'perfect night in bathing collection' £22

Soap & Glory 'bubble barrelled gift set' £18.00

Clarins 'cleansing vanity' £22

A gift doesn't always have to be something wonderfully sentimental or handmade etc to be a good gift! If its what someone likes then they will love it! I'd be delighted with any of these gifts.

So lets find out what our Elves are up to today....

and Ella brought some snow back from the North Pole and a postcard from The real Santa reminding her to be good! X

Have a lovely Wednesday, Jade will see you tomorrow for 'That's Cool Thursday'