Category: Life

Blogmas 2024: Day 17 🎄Christmas Pudding Rocky Road 😋

Hi guys 👋🏻

I’m here with another delicious recipe for you, and this one really is worth your attention. If you are looking for something to really wow your guests but is also super easy to make, then look no further – a Rocky Road Christmas Pudding centrepiece is what you need.

Ingredients:

  • Dark chocolate 200g
  • Milk chocolate 100g
  • White chocolate X1 bar (topping)
  • Unsalted butter 125g
  • Small pack of digestives
  • Mini marshmallows
  • Golden syrup
  • Festive sprinkles (topping)
  • [You can add cherries/Raisins etc but I didn’t on this occasion]

I don’t usually use a specific recipe as I have made Rocky Road how we like it, for many years haha and we like lots of dark chocolate and golden syrup and we don’t add Raisins/Cherries etc.

I crushed up my biscuits, leaving some dust, mostly medium-sized pieces. I then melted my butter and chocolates (dark and milk) and mixed this all together. I then added my golden syrup (measure with your heart) and marshmallows.

I used one of my bowls as my mould, lined with baking parchment that I scrunched up so that it is easy to use.

I packed it in, making sure the bottom was flat, and then I popped it into the fridge to cool.

Whilst it cooled I melted my white chocolate.

Once it was cooled, I carefully spooned the white chocolate on top, allowing it to cascade down the sides to create the icing effect. I then added my sprinkles as the holly (you could use a fake or real sprig if you have one)

Leave this to harden up again in the fridge and voila! You have a very delicious, choc-tastic, and very impressive looking treat for any Christmas table.

It looks so effective when you slice it with all the bits of biscuits and marshallow, adding to the ‘Christmas pudding’ effect.

I took this one to my husbands work Christmas Wreath Making workshop, and it was a hit!

This recipe actually previously won us his works ‘Great British Bake Off’ comp, so why not try our winning bake! Haha.

Let me know if you give this a go and what you think!

8 days until Christmas!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 16 Christmas Market & craft fun ✨️

Hi guys 👋🏻

We are in to single figures for our Christmas countdown now!! Whoop whoop.                                    One excellent way to get you into the festive spirit is a Christmas market! A few weeks ago, I went to one with my sisters, nephews, and niece.

We started off with some much needed sustenance in the form of hot chocolates and mince pies, both of which were delicious.

We then had a little wander around the Christmas market.

Very festive!

I picked myself and my older sister up a pair of these earrings each.  I love them! They are handmade and super colourful.

I had booked my nephews and niece onto their craft afternoon as we went to their Halloween craft event, and it was brilliant. Such great value and only £5 each (per child)

They had a great time, and once again, there were loads for them to do. They could decorate their own little bag to put their creations in, make Christmas cards with a variety of festive resources, Christmas Colouring, DIY fridge magnets and badges, make your own jewellery and garlands as well as design your own wooden tree decorations. It was fab!

We all had a really fun time dressed up in our festive jumpers, and we stayed for the whole 2 hours. The kids were engrossed!

All in all, it was a fun, festive way to spend a Saturday!

Have you been to a Christmas market yet?

9 days to go!!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 15 My Work Christmas Meal (no 2)

Hi guys 👋🏻

We are on to the 15th of December, which means there are only 10 days until Christmas!!!! Whattttt. December is flying by.

Last night, I had my second work Christmas meal. We went to Ask Italian (our usual spot) for a yummy dinner together.

I really enjoyed my food – for the main course I went for the Festive Carbonara (which I enjoyed last year)

Fresh egg frilly tagliatelle with smoked pancetta & Brussels
sprouts in a velvety mascarpone & cheese sauce, topped with
crispy prosciutto

Me & my mum shared a couple of sides with our mains.

Bitesize lasagne pieces coated in crispy breadcrumbs, with a spicy tomato dip.

Sweet mustard roasted Brussels sprouts, green beans & pancetta.

For dessert, I had a really yummy sticky toffee coffee pudding.

Toffee sponge with a coffee infused sticky toffee sauce,
with a scoop of salted caramel gelato.

Annoyingly, I forgot to take a photo 🤦🏼‍♀️

And I always like to try one of their nice cocktails 🍸  they do have some yummy sounding ones every time I go!

Buttery toffee sauce shaken with spiced Caribbean rum & milk, with toffee popcorn on the side.

All in all it was a fun evening and I really enjoyed my food.

Have you had your work Christmas do yet? What did you get up to?

10 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 14 Christmas Eve boxes

Hi guys 👋🏻

With 10 days until Christmas Eve (WHATTT), I thought I would share with you what I am putting in my nephews and nieces Christmas Eve boxes this year. These things aren’t really expensive and are super easy to get hold of, so if you need some last-minute ideas, look no further.

Let’s get into it…

Personally, I feel like chocolate coins are a must!!

I picked up these big ones from Flying Tiger. The little ones are from Tesco.

I also popped in these yummy marshmallow pops and chocolate pops, too.

I did a theme for the 3 boxes I was doing so that I could keep track of what I had got for who.

All the Santa bits are for one nephew, the Reindeer is for my other nephew, and the snowman stuff is for my niece.

I like to pop something cosy in, so this year, I went for some cosy and cute little Christmas socks.

These were £1.50 from Asda.

I also like to put some fun things in, something they can do. I had to think a little this year as they are all getting a bit older now. I went for a Christmas suprise squishy because they seem to be all the rage. I also went for a little Lego Christmas figure that they can build.

On the theme of ‘something they can do’ I shared out a pack of wooden DIY decorations so they have a few of them to do each. I’ve also included a couple of little ‘Crack the Christmas Code Sheets’ that I printed off because I used to love doing those as a kid so I thought they’d be a bit of fun for them to so.

I always, always have to include a book! No explanation is needed. I picked up this children’s copy of ‘A Christmas Carol’ based on the Charles Dickens novel to pop in there. My niece and youngest nephew still enjoy picture books, so I had to get that in there. I’m sure my oldest nephew will still listen to the story with his brother.

I love this little tradition, and hopefully, I’ve still got a few more years to do it with my nephews and niece. They love it, and it does add a little extra magic to Christmas Eve.

I hope this gave you a bit of inspiration if you needed it!

What would you include in yours?

11 days until Christmas!!!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 13 A festive film night

Hi guys 👋🏻

This time of year is perfect for a cosy film night, and there are plenty to choose from, who doesn’t love a Christmas film!

Now, one of my favourite Christmas films of all time is ‘It’s a wonderful life’. Now I know this is a bit of a rogue choice for come people but I think it is a brilliant Christmas film. It’s a classic and if you’ve never seen it watch it, give it a chance because it’s lovely and it had a lovely message. I was always very sceptical, but I am so glad I gave it a chance. I honestly think it’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen.

I introduced my twin sister to it last year, and she also loved it, so we thought we would watch it together one evening last week.

Once we’d had dinner, we settled down with our snacks to enjoy the film!

It’s definitely worth a go! Let me know if you watch it and what you think.

12 days to go!!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 9 New Christmas decs

Hi guys 👋🏻

I hope this finds you well. I have bought us (me) a few extra little decorations this year, so I thought I’d share them with you!

Lets take a look!

These are some cute little string lights, battery-operated, that I found in Aldi.

They are little red and white  Santa’s.

I’ve popped these in our lounge.

I picked up these three from a little Christmas market/shop with my husband and friend. It was quite a fancy place but they did have some quite reasonably priced little decorations. These little ones were only £1.75 each. A great gift or stocking filler.

I went for a big glitter Santa (See below) and two of the little ones, I like their shiny retro vibes. One is a Nutcracker and one is a little red van transporting a Christmas tree.

This Santa is so retro and nostalgic. As children we had a little version of this Santa that used to hang on our family Christmas tree and I LOVED him in all his glittery, festive glory. He eventually became a decoration on mine and my twin sisters little tree that was in our bedroom,. His glitter all came off eventually, he was well loved. This one will help keep his nostalgic, glittery awesomeness alive on our Christmas tree.

He fits our theme of red, gold and green so well too!

I also picked up this little penguin from Aldi, he was too cute and dare I say a little tacky (I love tacky!!), to leave behind!! He has pride of place in the lounge too.

I had to add a bit of extra festiveness to my book corner! I used to have these lights but unfortunately they broke. I love the retro lights and especially the pink ones, they are my favourite. They just look so lovely and nostalgic to me. Colourful Christmases for the win.

I reckon these will end up staying here all year to be honest, I just love fairy fights- especially in my book corner.

Have you bought any new decorations? If so what did you get?

16 days until Christmas!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 5 My Harry Potter Christmas Tree 🎄

Hi guys! 👋🏻

This is always one of my favourite posts to do for Blogmas! Anyone who knows me or has followed me on here will know that me and my twin sister are big Harry Potter fans, so this is of course one of my favourite parts of decorating…

The Harry Potter Christmas tree.

I have collected quite a few different Harry Potter tree decs over the years, and in more recent years they have become much easier to come by with shops such as Primark selling quite a vast range each year.

I have also bought a few from our various trips to the Warner Bros tour in Watford. We went for the ‘Hogwarts in the snow’ event and it was truly magical , as was the Christmas merch in the shop.

The Harry Potter tree has a brand new location in the flat this year. We have had a lot of redecorating done and with added furniture etc it couldn’t really fit nicely in the master bedroom, so it has taken up residence in our spare room, which is basically an office (So my husband will feel very festive when he works from home, whether he likes it or not haha)

Lets take a look!

I love it!

I was so chuffed a few years ago when I found Christmas lights that were the Hogwarts house colours. I also love the way that Gryffindor house ribbons look instead of tinsel.

I do have a Harry Potter tree topper but I was unable to locate it this year so I went back to my original tree topper of my Sorting hat (which tbf looks pretty awesome)

Do you have a themed tree? If so, what is it?

20 days to go!!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 3 Decorating the Christmas Tree 🎄

Hi guys! 👋🏻

Here we are with day three of Blogmas 2024, and this one is a very festive one… putting up the Christmas tree.

This is a staple Blogmas post and I love snapping pictures of our lovely tree (Biased I know!) Plus there is nothing quite like a Christmas tree twinkling in your lounge to get you into the festive spirit.

Our Christmas tree colours are red, gold and green – very traditional. We also have some more personal ornaments, creations from my nephews and niece, sentimental ones from different years, and holidays etc.

I love getting all our decorations out each year and enjoying them and reminiscing whilst you hang them up. Me and my husband always decorate our main tree together.

Lets take a look!

The flat is feeling so festive and cosy now – I love it! Walking into the lounge just makes me smile (although it does take an age to turn all the different plugs on haha.)

Have you put your tree up yet? When do you traditionally do yours?

22 days to go.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024: Day 2 Advent Calendars

Hi guys! 👋🏻

Welcome to Blogmas Day Two. I thought we could kick it off with an advent (or many advents because apparently I have no self control) within an advent.

So, lets take a look at the different advent calendars that I have picked up for this fun, festive countdown.

Of course a chocolate advent calendar is a standard… my calendar of choice is of course a good old Cadbury Dairy Milk one. Delicious.

My lovely husband kindly bought me the Hotel Chocolat Hot Chocolate advent calendar. I may have dropped quite a few hints haha, but it was good all-round because he got it in a Black Friday deal, and he loves a bargain, so all’s well that ends well.

My twin sister very kindly made me a advent calendar, it cones with little Harry Potter themed boxes, one for each day, with little treats inside so I’m looking forward to opening that!

I also have my Harry Potter pop up advent calendar. I bought me and my twin sister one of these a few years ago and the cool thing is that each year you can reuse it! You never remember what each mini decoration you are going to get each day as you packed it up a year ago! Its a really beautiful advent calendar and such a cool idea.

and finally, I picked up a couple of mini advent calendars at a Christmas market that I went to. These are s sweet and I thought these would be fun to include too. One is a mini pop up advent calendar and one is a mini picture advent calendar.

I’m super luck to have these fun things to open each day just to add to the festivitiy.

What sort of advent calendar do you have?

Only 23 days to go!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Blogmas 2024! Day One 🎄

Hi guys! 👋🏻

It’s that time of year guys, December has arrived and with it another month of festive blog posts – BLOGMAS 2024 IS HERE!!

For those of you who haven’t heard of ‘Blogmas’ before, its basically a blog post a day, every day, leading up to Christmas day. An advent of blog posts if you will. Very fun.

This is my 9th year of taking part in Blogmas and I am very much looking forward to sharing some of my festive plans with you, as well as some fun gift ideas, recipes and of course BOOKS.

So, if like me you love Christmas and all things Christmassy then stick around 🙂

24 days until Christmas – Let the countdown begin.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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