Homemade with Love
Simple gifts to bring joy
Bonjour! This post is for all of my lovely subscribers wahoooo so lovely to be here with you and thank you so much for all your support as I continue the wonderful journey that is Substack and what a bumper one this is! I want to give you all inspiration and enthusiasm for the festive time ahead. How are you? Are you feeling in the Christmas spirit yet? I definitely am, I love this time of year the season for feasting and a carousel of merriment and love.
Coming up this week I share with you one of my favourite homemade foodie Christmas gifts, Pistachio and Almond Biscotti. Simple to make, and delicious as an edible homemade gift. I think often, the simplest of homemade gifts can bring the most joy. You will also see links below to two more delicious homemade gift recipes, upgrade to paid to see the full recipes, I would love you to join my paid community.
This week I also bring you some Christmas table inspiration. Keeping things simple, I show you how to create a beautiful tablescape which can easily be recreated using many items you will probably already have in your home, or can be easily picked up locally. Read on below for more.
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Recipe: Pistachio and almond biscotti
Ingredients
500g plain flour
pinch sea salt
Zest of 2 oranges
125g pistachios, roughly chopped
125g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
4 medium eggs
250g sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
Method
Cream eggs and sugar along with the vanilla. Combine all the remaining ingredients and mix into the egg mixture. Briefly knead the dough before dividing in 3. Roll into 3 rolls of equal dimensions. Place in prepared baking trays and flatten. Bake at 170 for 15-20 mins until golden. Remove from oven and slice at an angle. Place the biscuits back on the baking tray and return to the oven for a further 8-10 minutes each side until starting to colour.
Make this a gift by wrapping a few of the biscotti in brown greaseproof paper and tie it with rustic twine or coloured string. Add a sprig of bay, rosemary or fir to your brown paper package to finish it off.
Recipe: Chocolate and Hazelnut Fudge
Recipe: Sugared Ginger Shortbread Snowflakes & Baubles
Homemade edible gifts for Christmas
Christmas Table Inspiration
For me laying the table is as exciting and as creative as deciding upon the ingredients and menu you will serve to guests. I love thinking about the small details which bring together the theme of the evening, using mostly what I already have a home, and where possible using foraged flowers and foliage.
What I add to my Christmas table:
Rosemary wreaths, see description on making these below
Green foliage; use fresh bay or small fir tree branches in vases to add some natural festive touches to the table
Twinkly lights down the table add a sparkling touch
Tea lights in white scallop shells keep things coastal, but still feel Christmassy
Washed white linen table cloth and paper white napkins give that clean fresh vibe in contrast with the verdant greens of the foliage and rosemary
Jolly paper decorations down the table add texture, I love honeycomb baubles and paper stars
Pine cones on the place setting keep things rustic, and who doesn’t love a pine cone at Christmas time
Rosemary Wreaths
These jolly mini wreaths make the perfect place setting for a festive table. Take one long rosemary stalk and gently bend it into a circular shape with the two ends meeting at the top. Woody rosemary is likely to break, so go steady. Take a piece of rustic twine or any string you fancy and tie the two ends together, adding a bow at the top. Remember we are not looking for perfection here, rustic is great. If you wanted to take this one step further you could add a name tag for each place setting for your guests. I like using luggage labels or simple gift tags to write each guests name.
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