Happy Australia Day...and Happy New Year

As January is nearly over I thought it was time to end my "blogiday" and get back to posting :-)

I hope you all had an enjoyable festive season with friends and family, and that my northern hemisphere friends aren't freezing their !! off.

As usual we had an excellent day at the community Christmas lunch - this year there were over 100 people. Great food, good company, and bit of fun and games. Jerry enjoyed 10 days off work - much of it spent playing his new Wii game. I had a couple of last minute work projects so apart from Xmas day, new years day and my birthday it's been work as usual for me.

In between the work, I did manage to cook a few new things from my new cookbooks (Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion, Hugh's Veg every day book (LOVE IT), and The Real Food Companion. ) and made a few bits and pieces - updates coming over the next few weeks.

All the best for 2012 - looking forward to catching up with you all in the blogisphere!

It's a wrap!

The material I bought to replace wrapping paper is still going strong on it's 3rd year, as are the home made gift tags.

This year, as last we will be volunteering at the community Xmas lunch on Xmas day - really looking forward to it. Roast, all the trimmings, plus pud and ice cream and berries. And no cooking!

I hope you and your families enjoy a relaxing holiday season. See you in 2012!

Preserving p*rn

Blackcurrant cordial, strawberry balsamic vinegar, blackcurrants in syrup, and blackcurrant jam to be.

Sweet pickled cherries to be