Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts

Monday, January 4, 2016

snippets of december...


Some snippets of December via instagram...a sad & unexpected trip to Brisbane to farewell my Uncle...some tangling...christmas preparations...I really didn't take that many new images this past month - it wasn't an easy end to 2015, but we made it through & we're looking forward to what 2016 will bring.

Friday, December 25, 2015

merry & bright

Wishing you a merry & bright Christmas, full of joy, laughter, loved ones, good things to eat, rest, relaxation & a little sparkle.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

merry & bright


It's Christmas Eve & we're getting ready for a traditional(ish) Polish Christmas Eve dinner & celebration with family - the presents are wrapped & ready to be placed under Babcia's tree, dinner is booked (we're eating at the Dom Polski this year) & the cakes are baked, ready to be eaten while un-wrapping the presents. I hope that wherever you are, however you celebrate (or not), you have light, laughter, something yummy & someone to share it with...

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So, Merry Christmas everyone
may your days be filled with the people you love, good food & lots of laughter. 

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Monday, December 15, 2014

a few good things...

1. pretty market purchases - a ring, two prints & a card.
2. fuzzy purple blooms.
3. my new iPhone case - printed with one of my zentangles.
4. christmas lights & sparkle.
5. having library books to read.
6. lovely gifts from my godmother (+ a lovely day of wandering & talking).
7. home-made shortbread.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

five things | about christmas


Tonight (Christmas Eve) is a big part of our celebrations - we have a delicious, fancy dinner, exchange presents & generally have fun - celebrating with loved ones is the best. In the spirit of celebration, here are five things I love about Christmas (in no particular order)...


~ all the decorations, the sparkly tinsel, twinkly lights, trees, angels & stars.

~ food is a big part of our celebrations - all the traditional things, like uszka, pierogi, bigos, barszcz, fish patties in tomato sauce, herring, potato salad, roast & veg. Then there is dessert (home-made mint ice-cream this year) & of course all the baked goods - cheesecake, apple cake, fruitcake, honey cookies...(the biscuits in the photo are a batch of my Babcia's pastry, filled with jam....& long gone).

~ choosing, wrapping & giving presents....(getting them isn't too terrible either)


~ going through photos from the past year so we can choose which to use in our calenders - for the past few years we've been creating a calender of family portraits for my grandmother, a nature-y one for various relatives, a kitchen calender - featuring some of the more amusing portraits from the year (stuff like this) & I make one with some of my favourite photos from the year.

~ Christmas specials - Dr Who is always good fun & this year there's Miss Fisher as well.

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So, Merry Christmas everyone
may your days be filled with the people you love, good food & lots of laughter. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

  Wishing you a very Merry Christmas 
full of love, laughter, good food & special people.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

sweet somethings...


I think I already mentioned that we've been baking lots of goodies for Christmas...


we baked lots of honey cookies - they're something my Babcia (grandma) has always baked. Ours are never quite the same, but they're pretty good, if I do say so myself...


& I do mean lots...



I also baked a pair of boiled fruit cakes - we've already ah, 'sampled' one. Actually it's pretty much all gone - this is the recipe I use - with the addition of a teaspoon of coffee, dissolved in a little hot water - I also just used a mix of the dried fruit we already had (including sultanas, cranberries, apricots & peaches)...


& I baked these rye muffins last week, to help with the cleaning.  I adapted them slightly - in a double batch I added an extra egg, some mixed spice & some chopped dried fruit - they make a very nice snack.


Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas!


Just wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, may yours be filled with wonderful 
people, laughter, food, fun & memories.


Saturday, December 25, 2010

Although it’s been said many times many ways...

Although it’s been said many times many ways...

to you & yours, hope you're having a wonderful Christmas, full of many good things :)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

christmas treats...


This year we have made chrusti for a special christmas treat...


Chrusti are a Polish 'biscuit' - sweet pastry, rolled thin, twisted, deep-fried & then covered in icing sugar.

They are very light & easy to eat (possibly not such a good thing ;)  & these are coming to adelaide with us - part of Babcia's christmas present.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

all wrapped up...


spent the afternoon wrapping christmas presents...



Do you like the little gift tags I made? My stickers weren't sticking, so I needed an alternative. I'm quite pleased with the result.

sadly those chocolates are for presents - I didn't get to eat any

Friday, January 15, 2010

gifty goodness...



just a quick post about the lovely gifts I got for christmas last year (I started to type 'this' year, but realised that wasn't right, lol). Anyway, I got a hammer & anvil (for jewellery making, more about that in my next post), some sterling wire, a beautiful bangle from oxfam & a cute kitty cat.




isn't she cute? my brothers got together on christmas eve & made a cat for each of my sisters & I.


Saturday, December 19, 2009

food, glorious food...


Mum & I spend today preparing some of the food for Christmas...normally we arrive at Babcia's on Christmas Eve & just help with the last minute stuff, but as we're staying home this year, we have to do it all.

Today we made Uszka (little ears) which are pastry filled with mushrooms & rice, to be served on Christmas eve in clear beetroot broth. They're a traditional polish Christmas dish, kind of fiddly to make, but totally worth it.


& while Mum cooked tomato sauce (for the fish patties), I baked some of Babcia's apple cake.


I'm not sure if apple cake is also a polish tradition, but it is definitely a family tradition....along with baked cheesecake, which will be cooked in the next few days.


There are still some dishes to be made before the day...bigos, potato salad, barszcz (clear beetroot broth), the cheesecake...yum!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

it's December!

already. This year seems to have gone by so fast. Nearly christmas time.

This year will be a bit different for us...we're staying home for christmas. Usually we head to Adelaide to see family, but this year we're not going down until after christmas. It'll be kind of weird, but nice I think.