christmas baking

it's lucky this baking got done this year to be honest... i have delayed it over and over, dougs dad is in hospital - and it just felt like it was all too much to actually get it done... but i persisted and pushed through and the western power boys got their treats! yay!

it's been a while since i have shared all the recipes on one post - so stay tuned, they are all following...

merry christmas boys! 

top left: brownies

top right: peanut choc chip cookies

second row: mars bar slice

third row left: fudge 

third row right: salted cracker toffee slice

fourth row: apricot and white chocolate slice

fifth row: chocolate rocky road

sixth row: chocolate truffles

bottom row: white chocolate rocky road

Brownies

200g butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup plain flour

2 eggs

1. grease a 20 x 30cm tin, pre-heat oven to 180 deg cel

2. melt butter in a big saucepan on a very low heat, add brown sugar, allow to melt a bit and mix together. do not boil!!

3. add cocoa and vanilla, stir very well

4. take off heat, sift in flour, stir it in

5. add eggs, beat in really well

6. spread mixture evenly in tin, bake for 20 - 25 mins

Peanut choc chip cookies

125g softened butter

1/4 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth doesn't matter...)

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup choc chips

1. preheat oven to 180 deg celcius, cover oven trays with baking paper

2. beat butter, peanut butter, sugar and egg in bowl with electric mixer until smooth. stir in flour and soda, then nuts and choc chips

3. roll small balls of mixture and place on trays, flatten slightly with fork

4. bake for 12 minutes, then cool on trays

Mars bar slice

50g butter

1 tablespoon golden syrup

200g (ish) Mars bars (use the fake ones! They totally work) finely chopped 

3 cups rice bubbles

200g milk chocolate

20g copha

1. Grease and line the base and side of a slice tray

2. Combine the butter, golden syrup and 3/4 of the Mars bars in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until Mars bars and butter melt and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

3. Place the rice bubbles and remaining Mars bar in a large bowl. Add the Mars bar mixture and stir until well combined. Spoon into the prepared pan and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Set aside to cool completely.

4. Place the chocolate and copha in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water, stir until chocolate melts. Pour chocolate over the top of the slice to evenly coat. Set aside until to set. Cut into squares to serve.

Caramel fudge

125g chopped butter

395g can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white choc chips

1. grease and line metal dish

2. in a saucepan, stir butter, condensed milk, golden syrup and sugar together over a low heat until simmering (and sugar is melted!) stir constantly for 10 minutes until slightly thickened and golden brown

3. remove from heat, add choc chips and until mixture is smooth and chocolate is completely melted

4. pour into dish and refrigerate until set. slice with a hot knife into small squares.

Salted cracker toffee slice

1 cup salted butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 cups choc chips

premium crackers

unsalted peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg celcius, line a baking dish (i used a lasagne sized one...) with baking paper then grease the inside of the paper well.

2. Lay a flat layer of crackers on the paper

3. Melt sugar and butter in a saucepan until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, until it thickens and sugar is dissolved. Pour this mixture over the crackers and spread to coat evenly.

4. Bake for 8-10 mins, until toffee is bubbly, then remove pan from oven and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.

5. Sprinkle choc chips over, allow them to soften and melt and then spread them into an even layer. Sprinkle peanuts (optional!) over top and top with ground salt to create a sweet salty flavour.

6. Set in fridge then cut into slices.

Apricot and white chocolate slice

250g packet scotch finger biscuits (crushed in a food processor)

1 cup chopped dried apricots

1 cup desiccated coconut

395g can condensed milk

100g chopped butter

1/2 packet white chocolate chips

50g melted white chocolate

1. Lightly grease and line an 18 x 28cm slice pan with baking paper. 

2. In a large bowl, combine biscuit crumbs, white chocolate chips, apricots and coconut. 

3. Combine condensed milk and butter in a medium saucepan. 

4. Stir over low heat for 4-5 minutes, until smooth. 

5. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. 

6. Press mixture firmly into prepared pan. 

7. Chill until firm. 

8. Drizzle top with cholate, then chill again until set.

Milk chocolate rocky road

500g melted milk chocolate

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup chopped peanuts

1 bag pink and white marshmallows (halved)

1pkt coles honeycomb squiggle biscuits (chopped)

1 pkt party mix lollies

1. Melt chocolate on a low heat in microwave for short intervals until completely melted and smooth.

2. Mix all ingredients into melted chocolate and pour into prepared tray, refrigerate until just set and then cut into bite sized pieces. 

(really the sky is the limit, you can add pretty much anything you want... glace cherries, any kind of nuts, honeycomb, biscuit chunks... let your imagination run wild!)

Chocolate truffles

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 pkt (250g) milk arrowroot biscuits

2 cups desiccated coconut

1. Crush biscuits finely in a food processor

2. Add to milk and cocoa and mix well

3. Take teaspoon sized amounts and roll into balls

4. Roll in coconut

5. Place on baking paper in fridge to set

White chocolate rocky road

2 x bags white chocolate melts

1 x bag  marshmallows (cut into pieces)

1 x bag lolly bananas

1 x bag lolly raspberries (cut into pieces)

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 packet gingernut biscuits (chopped into pieces)

1. Melt chocolate melts in low in microwave

2. Add chopped lollies, biscuits and coconut, stir well to mix

3. Pour into greased lined pan and place in fridge to set

(As with the other rocky road recipe, this is totally a make it up as you go recipe, add anything you want (within reason) and it works!)

road to bethlehem 2019

every year we go as a family to the "road to bethlehem" presented by the livingston seventh day adventist church. it is absolutely one of the highlights of our christmas season. we love being able to help the children experience something that allows them to feel the true meaning of christmas. it's not about santa, or reindeer or gifts. it's about the birth of jesus christ.

i know the kids enjoy it and look forward to it (maddie used to call it mary and jesus drive when she was a little younger haha) but this pictured child was not very happy to be there this year. who knows why, but everyone else had a good time.

i love the songs, the scenes (king herods court is my favourite!) and pretty much everything about it

all the members of their church are super welcoming and never pushy about wanting to pass on their religious beliefs, which sure is handy when we have our own!

grumpo got over it after a while, but was not letting go of aunty dom for anything while he listened to the different stages of the journey. i love these two and their bond.

maddie and one of the guards. she is so outgoing and never has a problem talking to anyone she meets along the way.

this year they had this wonderful prayer tree at the end of the of the trip. i took a moment to write some family names on there. dougs dad has been unwell for a long time and has been in hospital for a few weeks, with no end in sight. i know we are all praying to the same god and i am happy for others to be praying for him along with us. ❤

afterwards the kids went off and made soldier swords in "joseph's workshop" hahaha. they had the best time making them. can't wait to see them fighting away with them. oh dear. 

maddie busily working with aunty dom on hers

joseph and his own personal workshop hahaha

thanks for a wonderful night! we will see you again next year, no doubt!

oh christmas tree

i was on the ball this year - with our christmas tree up on the 1st of december. go me! haha

these two loved every minute of putting it up and quickly ran off to get red and green pjs on to pose in front of it, even though alexander had already been put to bed.

i love a traditional tree, but have a few surprises in there, like mini gold pineapples, pale green macarons, some gold swans and some new decorations this year, like these cute glittery initials from our local big w

which the kids loved finding a spot for and putting on the tree themselves

and some gold glittery seahorses, one of which you can see tucked away on the lift hand side here. my all time favourite ornaments remain the silver praying angel my mother gave me on the day of my baptism, just ten days before christmas in december 1991 and this glass bauble filled with leftover white satin from my wedding dress. i am hoping it's something my daughter will keep hanging on her tree in the years to come.

i love having the tree up, because it feels like the christmas season has officially begun. i am hoping christmas rhis year will be special, being that alex is a lot more mobile now and not a newborn - and the other two are really starting to understand what it is all about.

merry christmas everyone! i can't wait to start the celebrations! 

the road to bethlehem 2018

tradition reigns supreme and this year we went once again we went to the seventh day adventist church's walk through nativity "the road to bethlehem." this year, with the parsons family. i love that our kids love each other so damn much and i know they enjoyed their night out together so much!

one of my favourite scenes is always the throne room with king herod. he's always portrayed as such a villian (which of course we know he was) but i love how much the guys who play him get right into it and throw themselves into character. he also always has a bunch of harlots off to one side that just wander about flirting with the crowd and throwing out random comments. they crack me up too.

as always the scenes were set beautifully to remind our children (and us!) what christmas is all about and how important it is that we remember the birth of our saviour.

i love how much effort goes into the completely free evening. you only have to book because it is so, so popular! 

even baby alex seemed to enjoy himself and was very well behaved as he was wheeled about the place. (isn't he the cutest!)\

as we got into the final room, where we see the baby jesus laying in the manger, madeline insisted that she be able to hold alex as we watched the scene play out before us. i love how much she loves him and i was so touched by seeing this in front of me.

all too quickly it was all over and we headed back out into the real world again, past the donkey - who i adore and look for every year ♥

i noticed this prayer tree as i went past, i don't know if they have had it in previous years, but i thought it was such a beautiful idea and added a few names to it myself. i read once that as we prayer for others, unseen help rises to assist them right as we do so and i have never forgotten it. obviously i know how prayer and the lord works, but i loved how it was worded. i think loving people of other religions and their way of worshipping and praying is a really important thing. especially now at christmas time.

we finished off the night taking these nuggets to get some nuggets at the local hungry jacks. what a night. it just gets better every year, and there is no way you could keep us away... we'll be back to do it all over again next year ♥

gingerbread houses

another tradition has been added to our christmas prep as we shared family home evening with the pinkers tonight and then made gingerbread houses. what a night it was too. joseph surprised everyone by getting right into it and making a beautiful, stable house with the help of nannaleah...

madeline had a great time with hers too, but was annoyed when one side kept falling in, until aunty dom stepped in and made it look like there was a snow drift falling down the roof.

doug and i made a pretty good attempt, but our house was such a fail that i can't even bear to post a photo of it, it just wouldn't stay together and in the end, i ended up smashing it and pulling pieces off it to eat while i watched everyone else. bryan and niques made an igloo which was awesome and quite possibly indestructible...

it was such a fun night, we had the best time, especially the kids... and most of all loved spending time with our pinkers. how lucky we are to have them, and to spend times like this with them... because after all, isn't that what christmas is about?

 love, friends and family, celebrating the birth of our saviour. ♥

road to bethlehem 2016

road to bethlehem (a live walk through nativity run by the seventh day adventist church in canning vale) is over for another year, and i am so glad we have made it a family tradition to attend each year. the kids (and we!) love it so much and it is so nice to do something centred on christ during this special time of year. we went with the pinker family (as we go most places...) and a new member to our crew, dominiques "friend" (i'll keep you posted if that changes haha) bryan from texas. he flew in today and so far we are all well impressed with him.

maddie is especially impressed with him, as you can see, he is tall as and is very obliging with shoulder rides.

joseph as usual found his place with uncle theron and got comfortable.

my favourite part of the night is always the last scene where we find christ laying in a manger with his parents and the stable animals. (i looooove the donkey!) this scene reminds us of the true reason for the season, that we celebrate christmas because christ was born, no matter what the world may tell us.

quick trip to maccas afterwards for some sustenance and to play with the pinkers, then home for some well deserved sleep. we love the road to bethlehem, it's one of my favourite things about christmas!

christmas decs are up

i am a sucker for beautiful, traditional christmas decorations. we bought a new tree this year. a beautiful full green tree from myer with frosty tips like a real snow edged tree. it looks absolutely stunning, especially with the gorgeous decorations we got (snowflakes, birds in glass domes and deer heads from target australia, red and gold balls from big w australia.) and the twinkle lights from kmart australia. they are brilliant, with a button for multi function twinkling.

i must stop and confess here, doug and i stayed awake until 3am ish putting all the decorations up, 1. because we love to see the kids eyes when they wake up and they are just there waiting for them and 2. let's be honest, any one with even one child knows how much easier and faster it is to put them up with no little hands in the way. sad but true.

i love to set up my nativity scenes, including the first one i purchased, the original willow tree... my last big spend before doug and i got married... which my dad made a creche for (not without grumbling i might add) he said it would never be happening again - 

until i bought the large size willow tree holy family and my mother convinced him yet again. what a good man he is.

this is my newest and i love the way it looks, tall figures with a word of inspiration across the base. super cute.

and my mini one that came with the pictured book from deseret books (which is still available here and worth every cent!) i love nativity scenes so much, because they remind of us of the true meaning of christmas and bring such joy to our home, as well as giving us the opportunity to teach our children. madeline moves between them, touching the figures and telling me about baby jesus. what a sweetheart, having children at christmas truly brings magic to your home. 

goodie plates

(left point, up to right in rows...)

caramel fudge, chocolate caramel slice, clinker slice

brownies, white chocolate rocky road, chocolate truffles

salted cracker toffee slice, white choc chip and peanut cookies

every year without fail, my lovely mother makes goodie plates for family and friends, people she and dad work with  - and quite often some other randoms that she thinks deserve them. this year she wasn't here to do so, and when doug mentioned he would like to do something nice for the men he works with, i thought about it for a while and then decided that it must be my turn!

so two nights in a row, well into the night i baked and baked and baked and managed to have the trays ready for doug to shuttle to work this morning. done done done. and i was so (maybe a little too) pleased with myself. i truly felt like superwoman and thought how proud my mum would have been that i was keeping the tradition alive!

it was a lot of cutting as well - something i am sure i will perfect if i decide to have another go in years to come, as all mums slices seem to match perfectly, never ever have a cracked top - and sit perfectly on the plates when complete. hmmmm. we'll work on that.

and now... for the recipes! - mainly so i can find them when i want them, but just in case anyone wants to try any of these... they're well worth it!

caramel fudge

125g chopped butter

395g can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white choc chips

1. grease and line metal dish (side note, i just buttered the heck out of it, no lining used here - and it still came out okay with a spatula)

2. in a saucepan, stir butter, condensed milk, golden syrup and sugar together over a low heat until simmering (and sugar is melted!) stir constantly for 10 minutes until slightly thickened and golden brown

3. remove from heat, add choc chips and until mixture is smooth and chocolate is completely melted

4. pour into dish and refrigerate until set. slice with a hot knife into small squares.

chocolate caramel slice

base:

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

125 gms. melted butter

mix altogether and press into greased tin, bake at 160 about 15 minutes.

caramel

1 tin condensed milk

2 tablespoons of golden syrup

60 gms butter

melt altogether in a saucepan, pour over base and cook about 20/25 minutes. let it cool completely

chocolate top

125 gms dark chocolate

tablespoon of butter

melt together and pour on top.

chill but not too long only until firm, then cut into squares

tip onto a board and cut from the bottom with sharp knife

clinker slice

180g pkt clinkers

250g pkt malt o' milk biscuits

395g tin sweetened condensed milk

125g butter

250g block milk chocolate

1. crush biscuits and clinkers in a food processor and mix together

2. heat butter and condensed milk in saucepan on low

3. once melted mix with biscuit and clinker mix

4. spread into slice tray and allow to set in fridge

5. once set, melt chocolate and pour over slice - return to fridge to set

brownies

200g butter

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup plain flour

2 eggs

1. grease a 20 x 30cm tin, pre-heat oven to 180 deg cel

2. put cocoa and butter in a big saucepan on a very low heat, melt gently and mix together. do not boil

3. add sugar and vanilla, stir very well

4. take off heat, sift in flour, stir it in

5. add eggs, beat in really well

6. spread mixture evenly in tin, bake for 20 - 25 mins

white chocolate rocky road

2 x bags white chocolate melts (i think they were 375g each?)

1 x bag 4 colour pascal marshmallows (cut into pieces)

1 x bag lolly bananas

1 x bag lolly raspberries (cut into pieces)

1 cup desiccated coconut (can be more or less to taste)

melt chocolate melts in low in microwave

add chopped lollies and coconut

stir well to mix

pour into greased lined pan

place in fridge to set

this is totally a make it up as you go recipe, add anything you want (within reason) and it works!

chocolate truffles

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 pkt (250g) milk arrowroot biscuits

2 cups desiccated coconut

crush biscuits finely in a food processor

add to milk and cocoa and mix well

take teaspoon sized amounts and roll into balls

roll in coconut

place on baking paper in fridge to set

salted cracker toffee slice

1 cup salted butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 cups choc chips

premium crackers

unsalted peanuts

preheat oven to 180 deg celcius

line a baking dish (i used a lasagne sized one...) with baking paper then grease the inside of the paper well.

lay a flat layer of crackers on the paper

melt sugar and butter in a saucepan until boiling.

reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, until it thickens and sugar is dissolved.

pour this mixture over the crackers and spread to coat evenly.

bake for 8-10 mins, until toffee is bubbly

remove pan from oven and allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.

sprinkle choc chips over, allow them to soften and melt and then spread them into an even layer.

sprinkle peanuts over top and top with ground salt to create a sweet salty flavour.

set in fridge then cut into slices.

peanut, white choc chip cookies

125g softened butter

1/4 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth doesn't matter...)

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda

1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup white choc chips

1. preheat oven to 180 deg celcius, cover oven trays with baking paper

2. beat butter, peanut butter, sugar and egg in bowl with electric mixer until smooth. stir in flour and soda, then nuts and choc chips

3. roll small balls of mixture and place on trays, flatten slightly with fork

4. bake for 12 minutes, then cool on trays