Mummy & Moose
clapping, napping and yapping our way through the day

Christmas Gift Ideas – For foodies

Post contains some gifted items

Do you have a foodie to buy for this year? If you do then this is the gift guide for you! Read on for some of the best ideas around for the food or drink lover in your life.

Hot drink lovers

Beanies have a great alternative advent calendar idea. A wonderful gift for anyone who loves coffee but also people who are watching their calorie intake as each cup is only 2 calories. Beanies coffees are available in 20 flavours including Cookie Dough, Caramel Popcorn, Irish Cream, Amaretto Almond, Chocolate Orange and Coconut. A flavour for everyone!

 

 

I absolutely adore filter coffee but it’s usually just me drinking it and I have to limit my caffeine so putting a big pot of coffee on would feel like a bit of a waste. The Pact Hario v60 is perfect for me! I love the Christmas blend coffee which comes as part of the Newbie Gift Set and the Pact Advent Calendar is a great way to try new blends!

Something new I did this year was to start drinking tea! I love the idea of this Organic Herbal Tea advent calendar. It would be a great way to try out new teas for the first time as well as a good way to keep hydrated during those busy weeks of Christmas preparation!

For those with a sweet tooth

When I was a child I used to love getting a Thorntons Easter Egg with my name on it and now you can order an personalised advent calendar too! It doesn’t cost any extra to have a name added so it would be rude not to really! I also love the cheeky elf and snowy bear – the children will be thrilled to find them in their stocking come Christmas morning!

We always grab Kinnerton advent calendars for the children. They feature an array of characters and the kids just love them – plus they are usually really easy on the wallet!

Chocolate is always a winner. My Mum has always been a big fan of the Guylian Seashells and I can see why! Guylian invented Sea Shell chocolates as a souvenir at the Belgian coast. It soon became a bestseller and synonymous with the brand. Every elegantly crafted Sea Shell chocolate is filled with their original hazelnut praliné filling, that is still made according to the recipe of their founder.

 

This cute penguin shaped gift box from Haribo makes the perfect stocking filler – full of polar bear or penguin shaped jellies in strawberry & vanilla, blackcurrant & vanilla and peach & vanilla flavours.

 

We absolutely love Fiona Cairns so we simply had to include some of their products on our guide. Christmas in a tin (£12) looks so luxurious.  The Christmas cake is made with premium French culinary brandy and topped with an attractive snowflake design.

We thought that the Iced Gingerbread Penguin was both adorable and delicious and Moose loved the little gingerbread men! Both £4

Harry Potter is definitely a firm favourite in our house and these sweet treats from Jelly Belly would be great stocking fillers for any Potterhead! If you love Harry Potter too why not check out review of the Invisibility Cloak!

Festive Kitchenware

Have you tried wish.com for any of your Christmas shopping? I absolutely love these embossed rolling pins. They come in an array of designs suitable for use throughout the year. I think that they would make a great gift!

If you have a taco loving teenager like me then you could do worse than this fabulous taco stand from Aldi and burrito blanket from wish.com!

What better time of year than Christmas to get into the kitchen and rustle up some gorgeous homemade fare? If you have a baker to buy for then Tala Homeware have you covered. Tala have been a household name in our kitchen since my own childhood and they have a beautiful range of products that would make great gifts this Christmas. Every master baker needs baking beans in their kitchen cupboard, a shaker to add that finishing touch and of course somewhere to keep your cakes tasting fresh!

Some of the products featured were sent in exchange for inclusion. All opinions remain my own.

[Ad] Spice Up Your December With Schwartz. 3 Ways With Cinnamon and Christmas Stollen Cookies Recipe

This is a paid post in collaboration with Schwartz.

I don’t know about you but even though I love the pretty lights and the decorations at Christmas, it is the smells and tastes that make me feel festive. Nothing beats cinnamon when it comes to christmassy smells! 

Food is such a huge part of our festive season. Whether it’s curling up with the Supermarket food catalogues and planning out our food selection – just me? or perusing the Christmas markets. It really is all about the smell and the taste at this time of year!

3 ways with Schwartz cinnamon 

The king of the cinnamon recipes is of course, the cinnamon roll. They always feel like an indulgent treat. I love them with a nice frothy coffee. Admittedly I eat these all year round but I do like to make them too! My favourite recipe can be found here at This Farm Girl Cooks. 

Cinnamon can be used in savoury recipes too – and it is beyond great! Not your usual festive fare but you can only eat so many roast dinners, right? I love these Moroccan Lemon and Cardamom Meatballs. So good for warming you up on cold nights! 

My Mum did lots of baking when I was a child. With 5 children to look after (plus all of our friends of course) I suppose it must have worked out lots cheaper to make rather than buy our snacks. Sadly I don’t bake very often but when I do, I like to involve Moose. It’s usually good fun and keeps him busy.

So, last but not least and one of our favourites to make at this time of year is Stollen Cookies. They are really yummy and definitely make my house smell wonderfully Christmassy while they are baking. Double win! 

stollen cookies

Makes approx 24 

Ingredients

150g salted butter
80g light soft brown sugar
80g granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
180g plain flour
60g ground almonds
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp (or a big pinch) salt
80g marzipan (chopped)
50g sultanas
50g dried cranberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice

Method

  1. Heat your oven to Gas 4/350F/180C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
  2. In a bowl pr using a mixer, cream together the butter and both types of sugar. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg.
  3. Sift in the flour and bicarb, add the salt, ground almonds, cinnamon and mixed spice, and stir with a wooden spoon.
  4. Fold in the cranberries, sultanas and marzipan.
  5. Put equal sized amounts on the baking trays and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown.
  6. Cool on a wire rack.

 

How To Be A Savvy Christmas Shopper

I think most of us have been there. Despite knowing full well that Christmas is on the same day every year, we are simply not ready for it. 

Each year I promise myself that I will be prepared and therefore make the whole ordeal of being “the organiser” just a bit less stressful. Guess what, it doesn’t happen. Well. It does, but not as much as I would like ideally? I always manage to improve a little but ultimately I can only do that by not embracing the Christmas crazy. 

With a fairly large family to shop for I need to have a plan, and here it is. My guide to living your best Christmas shopping life.

shopping arcade

Make a list – and stick to it

This is the first and most important tip. Make sure that you are buying because you want to and not out of obligation. Nobody should be forcing this on you. If your financial situation would be improved by having a shorter list then it’s time to talk to the people on your list – they may well be relieved that you did! 

Remember, it is only a bargain if you were going to buy it anyway

Join a community

There are loads of groups on facebook and websites like Latest Deals which are updated by their members with news of the best and newest bargains around. I love places such as this because it saves a LOT of legwork. 

Use Cashback sites

Just the other day I was reminded by KatyKicker to use one on a Fridge Freezer purchase I needed to make. It saved us nearly £100 and cost nothing but a minute of my time to login. You really cannot argue with a return like that! 

I always try to check 

  • Top Cash Back – Always check to see if the retailer your buying from is listed and take advantage of money back and promotional codes
  • Swagbucks – You can earn cashback on your shopping as well as taking part in short surveys.
  • Quidco – Again, another one to check out before making purchases to see if there are any savings to be had.

Use the 5 gift rule 

Something they..

  • eat
  • wear
  • read
  • want
  • need

Really simple and very effective. Use this to reign yourself in when you need to! 

Be Honest

If you are low on funds then perhaps there is a gift you could make or something you could do for the recipient instead? If you are going to offer babysitting though, do make sure you like the children in question because trust me, those babysitting vouchers WILL get used.. 

Most of all though, if it will hurt you to buy them a gift then you shouldn’t be doing it. The person you are buying for would much rather you be happy than be stressed out because of this (and if that’s not the case then you should have crossed them off your list years ago anyway) 

christmas gifts

 

Good luck with your shopping this Christmas and most of all remember that it is meant to be fun! Do what you can to take the pressure off and make sure you take time to enjoy the sights and smells all around you. 

I would love to know your tips for Christmas shopping?

 

 

Personalised videos from Santa with Portable North Pole

[AD] We were gifted a Portable North Pole Magic Pass for the purpose of this review

Portable North Pole is part of our Christmas tradition. I love the magic of Christmas. The mix of yummy food and drink, the shopping, the twinkly lights. I loved it as a child but it might be even slightly better when you have little ones for whom you can help provide that Christmas sparkle. 

If you are in this position this Christmas you really need to check out Portable North Pole. It’s hands down the best app ever. Strong words I know but it honestly is. As you know from this post here, I try not to go too crazy at Christmas. But this is different! This is part of the magic for us. 

The idea is that you input your child’s info into the app/website and at the end you get a video message from Santa at the North Pole personalised just for them! 

How much is it?

This year there are 3 options but I definitely think that the magic pass offers excellent value. For just £12.99 you will receive

  • Unlimited access to all Premium videos and calls for unlimited kids

    Includes all Premium videos and calls

  • The reaction recorder

    with the mobile app and web browser (Chrome)

  • NewEnhanced videos

    All-new multi-device scenarios

  • NewFamily options

    Create a message for more than one child (available in 2 scenarios)

  • 1080 HD downloads

    of all your videos

  • Video calls from Santa

    You can see and hear Santa on a face-to-face video call

  • BonusFirst name guaranteed

    If requested before November 15th

  • BonusPrintable nice list certificate

The Magic Pass is especially great value if you happen to have more than 1 child (or adult, there is an option for Santa to send a message to grown ups too!) as the Magic Pass entitles you to create unlimited videos for an unlimited number of children! 

pnp prices

The message from Santa can be as full of info as you decide to make it. You can add photos of your child and on some videos you can even add friends and siblings names as well as pets. On some video messages you can add their interests or what they have excelled at this year for Santa to mention. 

When your child sits down to watch their personalised message you can also choose to watch their reaction which is captured for you to watch back later! I love this aspect. 

Moose is absolutely going to freak out with excitement when he sees his personalised video from Santa – my only problem is trying to decide which video message to create first! 

Find out more about Portable North Pole on their website here or use this link to get a 15% discount on your order. 

 

 

 

Bah Humbug! A beginners guide.

This week, in the midst of a flurry of last minute frantic Christmas preparations, an oddity has appeared in Peterborough.

Bah Humbug! Fest is a welcome break from all things festive. With not a Christmas tree or even a mince pie in sight, families are invited to spend some time having (non festive) fun together. We were lucky enough to be invited to attend the opening and so I thought it might be helpful to offer a beginners guide to all thing Bah Humbug!

Here’s what you need to know

What is Bah Humbug! Fest?

Bah Humbug! Fest is comprised of over 40 fairground rides and attractions. Once your admission is paid the theory is that you can enjoy your 4 hour allotted slot – either 12 until 4pm or 5 until 9pm depending on your preference with very little if any additional expenditure. No festive decorations or songs will be around to irritate your senses here – if you recoil at the thought of hearing THAT Slade song one more time then this is the place for you!

But what is there to do?

I was a bit dubious about the poster. “Over 40 rides and attractions” was the claim and I wondered what the quality of those rides might be considering that they are all free and unlimited upon entry. So. Here is a list of just some of them:

For the younger guests
  • Thomas The Tank Engine ride
  • Runaway Train
  • The Fun House
  • Frozen Swing
  • Helter Skelter
  • Mini Miami
  • Flying Planes
  • Teacups
  • Wild West Coaster
  • Go-Gator
  • Mini Wheel

For the older ones
  • Dodgems
  • Freak Out
  • Superbowl
  • Waltzer
  • Miami
  • Extreme
  • Ghost Train
  • Crazy Bulls
  • Haunted House
  • Twist

A well as the fairground rides, Bah Humbug! Fest also offers a whole host of inflatables including some Wipeout style big balls! Moose spent ages playing on the inflatable slides and also the Toxic Labyrinth – think mini inflatable assault course. I don’t THINK it was actually toxic…

 

What age group would this suit?

I think 4 to 14 would be a safe bet here. There is plenty to keep this age range occupied at Bah Humbug! Fest. The younger ones spent ages playing on the inflatables. Especially the inflatable slides! It was great that the smaller rides were indoors too which offered a bit of protection against the colder weather for the younger children. Outside, the larger rides appealed to the older ones – so much so that Bess doesn’t appear in many of my pics. She disappeared to try out those bigger rides while I enjoyed the smaller ones with Moose.

What can I eat?

I always feel a bit apprehensive about the costs of refreshments at this kind of an event. This Mum needs her coffee – especially when I am in charge of some very excited small people. A cup of tea or coffee here will set you back £2. There is also a covered seating area if you get the chance to use it.

There were a few food vendors selling burgers and jacket potatoes which were priced at around £5 each. Pretty much what you would expect to pay I think. Donuts were 4 for £3.

There is no signage to suggest that picnics are unwelcome but it was really only toward the end of our session that the children seemed to feel like they might want to eat something. They were having too much fun to care!

How much will it cost me?

Individual tickets priced £20 per person

Family of 4 – reduced ticket price £70

Spectator only tickets priced £6

Under 3s go free

Tickets give unlimited access to a four-hour session at Bah Humbug! Fest

There are two sessions a day: 12-4pm and 5-9pm

 

What’s the parking situation?

It’s free and there is lots of it! Peterborough arena has 22,000 spaces. There is also a half hourly bus service nearby for non-drivers.

Is it really worth it?

£20 per ticket could be thought of as quite steep. Especially so close to Christmas. However, rides at a fairground can be anywhere between £2 and £5 per ride. That soon adds up!

Based on a cheap night at the travelling fair where rides are £2 a go, you would need to ride 10 times to get your moneys worth. My lot went on 10 rides in the first hour easily.

If your child isn’t really into fairgrounds then I would say it would be one to avoid. Maybe the panto instead? But if  like mine, your kids love rides then Bah Humbug! Fest will be a massive hit!