December 9th

Today I went to buy some new Pekins (as I have killed 2 of mine :( ) and then we stopped back at Ickworth (a National Trust house) where the girls enjoyed their Christmas crafts (you did have to pay extra) and visiting Father Christmas who was fab! They made crackers, a paper box and a folded paper heart decoration.

Then we came home and made Christmas tree biscuits. We followed this

Nigella Lawson recipe:

 

We needed:

175g soft unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

400g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

First we pre-heated oven to 180c. Then we creamed the butter and caster sugar together until pale and then we beat in the eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. The dry ingredients were added to the butter and eggs, and mixed gently. The dough was wrapped in clingfilm and put to rest in the fridge for at least an hour. Then we rolled the dough out between clingfilm sheets to a thickness of about half cm. We then cut into shapes using a Christmas tree cutter and were placed on a limed baking sheet. We then pressed a smartie in to each branch of the tree.

We then baked for 8 - 12 Min's, by which time they will be lightly golden around the edges. WE removed from the oven and we left to cool down for a minutes on the baking tray before putting them on a cooling rack.

If I were to do this again I might add the smarties after cooking with a dot of icing as the oven heat faded the smarties.

We also read this book which told the story of a girl who lost her toy with her friend Ernest who tries to put it right. Then they spread seasonal goodwill by inviting friends and neighbours around to celebrate Christmas.  It is one of those books where the pictures speak more than the words.