Christmas in July

Christmas came early this year.

It started with a gift for my mum, who is basically Christmas crazy. She has all manner of decorations and even has her own shed to store them in. What she didn't have was an Advent Calendar.

I'm not sure where I found the idea. Probably Pinterest. Or maybe I morphed a couple of ideas together. Anyhoo, I'm sure Pinterest is the reason I held onto my old baking trays when Mr Frog bought me new ones from Aldi. It can't just be because I'm a bit of a hoarder. Right?

Here's what I came up with.

It's one of the simplest crafts I've done in ages.

1.Take one old baking tray/cookie sheet (FREE) and go at it with a can of spray paint. I chose white (because I had some. FREE)

2. Measure some xmas coloured scrapbook paper to size (already had because I bought it on sale ages ago. FREE)  and wrap around some matchboxes (ten of which I already had because I had to have them when I first saw them. FREE) from the craft shop. They come in packs of ten, so I bought another pack ( stupidly expensive when you're buying this many!) and then they didn't have any more. Commence swearing like a sailor, then save the day by buying actual matchboxes and turf the contents. (Seriously thought about keeping the matches, because surely I could use them for something, but after two weeks on the dining table they had to go.)

3. Adorn each box with a number from a purpose made sticker sheet. Thank you Kaisercraft for making my life easier.

That's basically it.

But then I realised that mum could display some of her massive magnet collection on the tray during the year, so I found a box to house the little boxes in (also FREE).

I love it when  a gift does double duty.

So, not long after I posted this off, we were invited to Christmas in July. Of course, I'd need a hostess gift and it would need to be homemade. I've got a rep' to protect.

I've been dying to make Mulled wine "teabags" almost as long as I've been obsessed with handmade tea bags. So, I went to Pinterest again, and used this and this as guides. The American measurements annoyed me no end, so there was a little bit of educated guessing going on.

Sadly, there was no time for a tasting so I can only hope they're as delicious as they look!

One "teabag" will do one bottle of wine, so I figure two bags will generally do for the winter. And of course they need to be packaged just so...

The morning of our lovely lunch date, Mr Frog trimmed the herb garden, so they came too.

Properly dressed of course...

And that is how we Christmas'd in July.

 Mr Frog has decided that next year, from Yule (in June...yes, I'm Pagan. The nude dancing is optional.) until Bastille Day on 14th July we will be celebrating Xmas, with decorations and everything.

You've been warned.

Now, it's time to start preparing those xmas crafts... don't leave them till the last minute, you'll just do yourself a damage.

What do you have planned for Xmas? Or is that a dirty word right now...?

MC

Lemon Curd, And My Little Matthew Evans Crush

I've got more lemons than I know what to do with, but I'm giving it a red hot go.

If you've been playing along at home, you'll know this isn't my first go with the Lemon Curd. The last time I made it though, I fell in love with it and so it makes sense that the millions of lemons I am always in possession of get made into this beautiful balm.

While the fabulous packaging (if you ask me) is all my work, I can't take credit for the recipe. It's my boyfriends recipe.
Mr Frog knows, don't worry. At least I think he does. Although he forgets anything he doesn't take seriously.
Anyhoo, the recipe comes from the gorgeous, and heavy, tome "The Real Food Companion", written by (my boyfriend) Matthew Evans.

I realised I had the hots for him somewhere near the middle of the original Gourmet Farmer t.v series. I'm not sure what it was... the way he narrates, cooks or talks to his pigs. When I saw his book during my Angus & Robertson days, I had to have it. Aside from the crush, the book really is beautiful. It's all about how our food is raised, grown, killed and harvested and the best practices for all of these methods. It's not preachy, it just tells you how it is and how it could be if we all made better choices. Beautifully styled and shot, it's one of those books you can read from cover to cover, and if you're familiar with the series, you can hear Matthew reading to you.

Is it getting creepy yet?

Sadly, unbeknownst to me, during the filming of that first series, Matthew had already hooked up with his extraordinary wife, Sadie. This is a woman who stuck with a bloke who had not only just bought himself a little farm he had no idea how to run, but was being filmed while doing so. Since then there has been another couple seasons of G.F, a series on the labelling of Fish for consumption, and then he filmed him and his mates traveling around Tasmania on a boat. All the while Sadie has been running not only the property where they live, but also the other farm they own a few k's away. (I'm not actually sure how far, I'm not a stalker!)

Did I mention they have a little boy?

So, as much as I enjoy your shows and adore your books Matthew, you'd better hang on to that Sadie. She's a keeper.

So, back to those lemons. I use Matthews recipe. It's super simple, and I always feel better when he says "Don't worry if there are lumps - that just proves it's homemade".


Ingredients:

Finely grated zest of six lemons and their juice
8 eggs, lightly beaten
200g unsalted butter, cubed, softened
400g (1 2/3 cups) castor sugar

Sit a large bowl (Matthew says stainless steel, I use glass) over a saucepan of boiling water. Add all the ingredients, stirring occassionally with a wooden spoon until melted. Cook for a further 10minutes or so, stirring and scarping the bottom as you go, until the mixture thickens slightly. Remember ot to worry about the lumps, Matthew says it's ok! (And so do I!) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Transfer to sterilised, airtight jars and once cool, store in the fridge. It'll keep for up to two weeks.

Excellent on crumpets, pancakes, your favourite bread, turned into little tartlets, or even dolloped into your yoghurt.

Bon appetit!

MC

P.S Matthew, please don't sue me for sharing your recipe... it's an act of crush!