Blogmas Day 19: Rocky Road Bombe recipe.

Here’s another delicious, festive recipe for you guys to try over, the Christmas period.

Its super easy and quite quick to make, but it looks impressive and really festive on a Christmas buffet/party table.

This is a Rocky road (are you sold already!!!) Bombe, decorated to look super festive as a Christmas pudding.

I love this idea and it’s so effective!! As soon as my husband saw this recipe he wanted us to give it a go.

The great thing about the Tesco Real Food website is that it has everything you need to know to make the recipe, tweak it if you want to add an extra festive touch but also, if you are doing your food shop you can add all the ingredients that you’ll need to your basket in one go, no hunting for everything you’ll need!!

You can add or take out too if you don’t want to strictly follow the recipe.

I’ll leave the link to the recipe below for you, definatly take a look at the page and some it their other yummy recipes too.

Tesco Real Food recipe

1. Melt the dark chocolate over some boiling water.

2. Whilst it is melting crush up the biscuits, don’t crush it too finely.

3. Once the chocolate has melted, pour it into the biscuit mix.

4. Add the raisins and mini marshmallows and stir altogether.

5. Make sure everything is coated in the dark chocolate.

6. Pour into a medium sized plastic mixing bowl. Flatten the top.

7. Leave to cool down and harden in the fridge.

8. Once it has cooled for an hour or so, take out of the fridge and ease it out of the bowl. Turn upside down onto a plate and lift off the bowl to reveal the dome.

9. Melt the white chocolate over boiling water. Once it has all melted pour it over the top to look like the icing on a Christmas pudding.

10. Garnish with a little sprig of plastic holly, to add the finishing touch. Serve.

Yummy!

Let me know if you have a go at making this.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 18: My top 5 festive foods.

Let’s be honest, for me at least anyway, food is one of the best bits of Christmas.

It’s great to get together and share some tasty grub with your nearest and dearest.

I’m such a foodie and I just love all the festive delights on offer at this time of the year.

I thought I would share with you some of my absolute faves, and Christmas must haves, when it comes to food and any festive buffet.

This is an unordered list, I haven’t put them in a definative order (It’s too hard to decide which ones I like more than others)

MINCE PIES

These Mince pies, that you get from the Co-op, are my absolute fave.

I really have developed a bit of a Mince pie obsession this year, it’s out of control haha.

They are so tasty.

I also love, love, love Aldi’s Salted Caramel Mince Pies, not to everyone’s taste but they are super yummy.

Mince Pies are perfect as part of a dessert section for any festive buffet or just as a snack with a cuppa whilst you play games or watch some Christmas TV.

SAUSAGE ROLLS

A buffet staple! I don’t think you can have a buffet without them to be honest.

I like making my own at Christmas time, with the extra special edition of red onion chutney inside and sesame seeds on top, so tasty. I also make cheese rolls too, a great veggie alternative and very delicious.

I’ve also seen some great recipes for sausage rolls with cranberry sauce, a great idea to add a festive twist to a classic.

A CHEESE BOARD

Another classic 👌🏻

I love a cheese board and they remind me of Christmas’s with my Nana.

They are SO versatile too as you can choose your cheeses depending on what you like or your guests.

(My favourites are Edam and Brie)

The same goes for the crackers and fruit too.

Personally I’m a traditionalist, I love a grape or two with some butter puffs, Cornish wafers and a Jacob’s cream cracker.

SHORTBREAD

My ultimate favourite biscuit and a absolute staple for me and my twin sister at Christmas.

As soon as I see those festive shortbread selection tins I’m there with my basket full and my purse empty.

I dread to think how many tins we get through 🙈.

My favourites are Tesco’s and Aldi. The festive tins are cute to keep too.

PIGS IN BLANKETS

These are one of my favourite elements of Christmas dinner and they are perfect for a buffet too.

These are just so good. They are a particular favourite of my husband’s too so we get through a lot of these.

What are your festive food faves?

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 17: Finishing my Christmas shopping 🛍

Hi guys!

I can’t believe it’s now less than 10 days until Christmas day!!

I love the build up to Christmas and I feel like it is going so quickly this year.

I’ve used the weekend just gone to get the last of my Christmas shopping done

I havn’t had time for a late night shopping trip this year, which is a shame, so I thought I would head into town on Saturday and finish up.

Armed with my list and some determination to finally get it done I managed to power through and grab all the last little bits that I needed.

It was quite a chilly day which did make it feel quite festive and with the Christmas lights on and the Christmas market in full swing it was quite lovely.

So festive 🎄❄

Before I headed to the football with my dad I had enough time to stop at a coffee shop for a nice, warming caramel latte and a little read of my new Christmas book.

(The Christmas stocking & other stories by Katie Fforde)

I felt very Christmassy after this. All we need to do now is get the last foodie bits for a few hampers I am putting together and of course Christmas party/snacky bits. We are going to grab these when we do our food shop.

How is your Christmas shopping going?

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 16: My work Christmas meal 🎅

On Friday I had my annual work Christmas meal. Every year we go to Ask Italian but, this year we decided to try somewhere different. .

..Not that different though, it was still an Italian haha but we went for Zizzi’s this time.

I think we had picked the same night as a lot of work groups, it was very lively!!

It was officially Christmas jumper day on Friday too so I wore my newest festive jumper to the meal.

The food was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

I went for the Super Festivo menu starting off with the Mushroom style bruschetta (I can’t remember the official name)

Anything with cheese and mushrooms is brilliant in my book and this was very tasty.

For my main I had my favourite calzone from their menu, the pollo al spinaci.

I’ve always been a fan of the creamier pastas and sauces so this is so up my street as it has a white sauce instead of a red sauce. I was filled with a delicious creamy cheese sauce, mascarpone, mozzarella, spinach, chicken and mushrooms, SO.GOOD.

It also came with a really yummy tomato dip which was perfect for dipping bits of the crust in 👌🏻

Dessert was absolutely fantastic. Hands down one of the best desserts that I have had in a long time. It was a Christmas special and is a combination of two of my faves. It was half brownie, which was so rich and decadent, and half panattone, so orangey and fruity and festive, it was incredible.

Plus, you got an adorable chocolate pine cone on top!! How cute.

Amazing.

It was a lovely evening and nice to have some yummy food and a chat, away from the workplace.

Have you had your Christmas do yet?

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 15: My Harry Potter stocking gift guide 🎁

As you’ll have seen from my early Blogmas post (Which I’ll leave here for you) I love a Christmas stocking.

I thought it would be really fun to do a post themed around Harry Potter and after researching merch this seemed like the best fit.

Besides, what could be more magical than a Harry Potter stocking!

Here are just a few Harry Potter themed ideas to make your own Harry Potter themed stocking, or to just add a bit of Harry Potter magic to what you have already got.

There are only a few weekends and late night shopping evenings to go!! It’s definatly time to get those stockings sorted.


To start ⬇️

Harry Potter Hedwig themed Christmas stocking Primark £6

Various Harry Potter stockings Geekcore £8.99

Various Harry Potter stockings Amazon From £7.99


Books


The Crimes of Grindelwald: The original screenplay WH Smith’s £8.49

Wizarding World pop up book of curiosities Amazon £12.81

Hogwarts library books: Fantastic Beasts and where to find, Quidditch through the ages, The tales of Beedle the bard (Indivdually) Amazon £4

The Harry Potter books: House cover editions Amazon £9.98

The archive of magic: Fantastic beasts book Amazon £14.99


Games/toys


Harry Potter Lego: Grindelwalds carriage Amazon £15.99

Harry Potter Trivial pursuit Groupon £8.99

Harry Potter top trumps Amazon £5.40

Wizards Battle game Very £14.99

Harry Potter playing cards in tin Tesco £4

Various Harry Potter Pop! Funko figures, varying prices.


Wearables


Harry Potter inspired necklaces Platform 9 3/4 shop £12

Harry Potter inspired bracelets Platform 9 3/4 shop £6

Harry Potter pin badges Platform 9 3/4 shop From £3.95

Harry Potter socks (adult) Primark £2.50

Harry Potter Cosy socks gift box (adult) Primark £3

Various Harry Potter night dresses (adult) Primark £5

Nightie & sock set (Kids) Matalan £10

Harry Potter socks (Kids) Matalan £6


Beauty


Harry Potter make up palette Amazon £13.99

Wand make up brushes Amazon £7.99

Hogwarts house bath bomb Amazon £8.99

Butterbeer lip balm Etsy £4

Harry Potter wash bag Primark £5


Stationary


Harry Potter 2019 calendar Tesco £5

Harry Potter notebooks Amazon From £5

Harry Potter stationary set EMP £12.99

The Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts colouring books, available in most book shops or online on Amazon.

Hogwarts letter writing set Amazon £8.99


Homeware


Harry Potter mugs Primark £5

Harry Potter cushions Primark £4

Harry Potter egg cup & cutter Tesco £5


Christmas


Harry Potter Christmas character decorations (2 pk) Primark £5

Hogwarts house baubles (4 pk) Primark £4

Large glass baubles Primark £5


Other


Niffler Coin purse Amazon £12.98

Harry Potter/Fantastic beasts mini figures Most newsagents £1.99 each, lots to collect.

Magical Miniatures: Bowtruckle Amazon £7.99

Other miniatures are available too.

Fantastic Beasts and where to find them DVD Amazon £7

Mystery pocket Pop! funnko keyrings EMP £6.99


I hope this helps you to make someone’s Christmas magical ⚡

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 14: DIY Christmas cards.

I love making cards. I’ve been doing it for probably 8 or 9 years now and it’s a hobby that I really enjoy.

Its definatly something I need to make more time for.

I think that it is always lovely to receive something homemade and I love coming up with my own designs and ideas too.

I usually stick to a traditional colour scheme of red, gold and green and I use this as my starting base.

I then like to get some papers that are in this colour scheme.

I then look at the designs on these papers to see what embellishments I need.

My fave places for supplies are:

  • Hobbycraft
  • The Range
  • The Works

I also love Pinterest for ideas and inspo.

Choose your papers wisely and carefully as these will be the base of your cards.

This is the paper I chose…

You can get some great selection pads of paper, for card making. These are great as they have different themed ones and you get lots of variety within that theme that you have chosen.

They are also better value for money than buying lots of single sheets.

Lets take a look at a few that I have made so far.

I like to keep it simple and just accentuate the paper designs with a few nice embellishments.

I always think ‘less is more’ but of course that’s personal preference.

I hope you have found this helpful and it inspires you to give card making a go.

Let me know if you want any more tips or if you make any cards, I’d love to see them!!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 13: The Shoebox appeal with Noah.

This year, as Noah is now 4 and old enough to get involved, I thought it would be nice to create our own shoebox present for the Shoebox appeal (Link above to the website if you’d like more info)

The appeal consists of sending your own christmas present to a child in need, in a different country.

You wrap up a shoebox, choose a gender/age range and fill the box up with age appropriate toiletries, toys, games, accessories, arts and crafts, writing tools and so on, and send it off to the appeal to be delivered to a child in need.

Noah really enjoyed picking out the items to go in the box for ‘the little boy’. He wanted to give it to a little boy who is the same age as him (4 years old).

20181121_203504

We went into town and into Wilkinson’s (Wilko), to see what we could find to fill our box. Wilko has a variety of departments so I thought this would be a good place to go to get lots of different things for the box.

Wilkos is brilliant and their stuff is so reasonably priced that it is perfect for a project like this.

So, here’s what we chose together.

20181121_203033

Toiletries

Kids Tooth brushKids Tooth paste Shark sponge Paw Patrol bath & shower gel

Toys

Mini RoadstersTrain Bubbles

Arts and crafts

Stickers Colouring pencils Chunky Crayons Plain sketch bookPencil case stationary set including pencils, rubbers etc Two different sized note books Paint set with brush Superhero stickers Pirate colouring/activity book.

Once we had got everything that we wanted we headed home. Sarah wrapped up the box for us and then we filled it up with the goodies we had bought.

Its lovely to think that a child will receive the items you chose, and that they will get something fun but also useful. We are very lucky to be in the position that we are in so its nice to give something back.

There will also be a video up on mine and my twin sisters youtube channel ‘Roseanne & Sarah’

Our shoebox for the appeal

So take a look at that too if you like 🙂

Its a lovely Christmassy idea that gives something back.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 12: Our Christmas panto tradition

Every year me and Tim go to the local theatre to see their Rock N Roll Panto. It is always on at Christmas time, running from November through to January.

It has become one of our favourite Christmas traditions together and it is a lot of fun.

The pantos are fantastic, hilarious and the people starring in them are so incredibly talented. They sing, act and play all the instruments throughout the show.

Their audience interaction always makes for a laugh too.

This year the panto went back to its roots, re doing the first show it ever did, Cinderella.

I love this story and it is a panto classic, which didn’t disappoint.

‘It’s time to Shake a Tail Feather and head Downtown to Ipswich Town Hall to meet the Mayor, Baron Hardup! It’s not easy being Mayor, with Prince Charming due in town for a Royal visit and a staff of only two – his beautiful, feisty daughter, Cinderella and the loyal and loveable Buttons. But when his lonely hearts ad is answered by the mysterious Rubella De Zees, who brings along her two dangerous daughters Hernia and Verruca, it seems he’s far more than Three Steps to Heaven. Thankfully, there’s a Fairy Godmother to make sure Cinderella is ready to Rock Around The Clock!’

It was lovely to spend the evening together and have some festive fun at the theatre.

I cant wait to see which show they will perform next year.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 11: Five fun, festive arts & crafts activities 🎄

Children love Christmas and they certainly make it even more magical.

I work with children and I have two nephew’s and a niece as well.

I love getting creative and having a bit of fun with them and these ideas are so simple and easy.

These don’t require lots of expensive resources, you might even already have some of the stuff. Plus, you can use some things for more than one of the activities.

Just have a bit of fun 🎄


Lollipop Christmas trees


We stuck our lollipop sticks onto green paper to save having to use a glue gun. If you wanted to make them without the backing a glue gun would be best to stick the lollipop sticks together.

Then you just need to add a stalk, a star on top and decorations.


DIY Christmas cards


These are a super simple and easy idea and are perfect for getting the kiddies involved in the festivities. This is not only fun but saves you a job! Who doesn’t love receiving a homemade card!?! Plus, you can do whatever you like so it’s open to you and your childrebs interpretation.


Cotton wool snowmen


This one requires a little bit of cutting out but after that it is just an assembly job so you could always try and cut out a few bits before hand or, depending on their age, get the kiddies to help you.


Paper chains


This one only needs strips of your chosen colour paper and some cellotape to complete. They look really effective and they make a great decoration once you are done. The kids love seeing their paper chains hanging up.


Cotton wool painting Christmas trees


This one is a little bit messy but good fun and they can get as creative as they like.

You can just use paint or add mini pom poms and glitter to the mix if you want some really jazzy Christmas trees.


These are all lovely, quick and easy ideas for a fun and festive arty session.

Let me know if you try any of them!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Blogmas Day 10: Mini mince pie pastry bites

This is my first foodie post of Blogmas 2018 and it’s a tasty recipe for all you mince pie fans!

I have developed a real love of mince pies over this recent festive season but as I follow the SW plan I’m trying to find ways to enjoy my favourite festive treats and stay on plan (ready for the inevitable over indulgence on the main days of Christmas)

So, this recipe, although SW friendly is still great for anyone looking for a twist on a classic, a bite sized treat of Christmassy goodness that won’t add to the waistline as heavily as a traditional mince pie might.

This recipe uses Light puff pastry, so a bit different to the traditional short crust.

It is so simple, and those recipes are the best kind.

Ingredients

-One roll of Tesco light puff pastry (Not frozen)

– A jar of Tesco Mincemeat

-One egg, beaten. (To egg wash)

-Sweetner (To sprinkle)

(This post is not sponsored by Tesco but I did an online shop when I ordered these and wanted to keep it simple when working out the syn values using the Slimming World app)

Recipe

Roll out the pastry flat and cut into squares (roughly 5cm x 5cm)

I weighed each square to make sure that it was 20g each. If you aren’t on SW you won’t need to be so particular.

On each square add a teaspoon of mincemeat.

Fold over the pastry from one side to the other and crimp along the edge to stop any leakage.

Lay the back onto the baking parchment that the pastry comes in, on a bakig tray.

Beat the egg and brush over the top of each one to help them turn golden.

Sprinkle each one with a little sweetener.

Bake in the over for 10/12 minutes on 200°.

Enjoy hot or leave to cool.

I prefer them warm with a cuppa.

These work out as 5 syns each which I don’t think is too bad. One with a cuppa would be perfect to get that festive mince pie hit.

20g (ish) of light pastry 4.5 syns

1 tsp mincemeat (0.5 syn)

Total: 5 syns each.

Enjoy!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂