Daisy Chains and Picnics

We had a lovely Christmas, pretty quiet and relaxed. Scott had made a Christmas sandman a few days previously so on Christmas eve we went to seven mile beach to get some Christmas photos of it on the beach. It was a lovely warm day, the beach was quite busy. Cerys and I baked some cookies on the 23rd December. We went to Sandy Bay beach in the afternoon of Christmas eve for some hot chips and ice cream. Christmas morning the kids woke up and opened presents, we had our usual Christmas morning breakfast of Cointreau French toast. Darren's girlfriend came round for lunch, we opened more presents, then they played games with the girls until lunch was ready. After dishes were done and Darren and Sophie had gone, we opened the last of the gifts then settled down to watch a movie. Merry Christmas from our house to yours. 🎅

 

Being born and raised in Scotland, Oor Wullie and The Broons were a staple, these annuals came out in time for Christmas, so many Scottish kids and adults alike got these as Christmas gifts, I was no exception, I LOVED these books, still do, although since moving to Australia I haven't read one in years, my mum sends the smaller 'pamphlets' to me, Christmas 2012 I got The Broons 'The Nicht Afore Christmas'..A poem for Christmas.

This French Toast recipe has been a family Christmas Day breakfast tradition for many years now, it gets gobbled up as soon as it comes out of the oven. I have always made it using Cointreau, but any other orange-flavoured liquor will do or alternatively you can use fresh orange juice. I always like to soak the bread in the egg mixture overnight for maximum flavour but if you can't manage that then try to soak it for at least 20 minutes. Ingredients 4 large eggs 3/4 cup half milk, half cream 1/4 cup Cointreau 2 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp grated orange zest 1/2 Tsp vanilla extract 8 x 3/4-inch-thick day old French bread slices sieved Icing sugar warm Maple syrup Method 1.  Whisk first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl, dip each slice of bread into egg mixture and arrange in a glass oven proof dish, pour remaining egg mix evenly over bread, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight. 2.   Remove dish from fridge and allow to come to room temperatur...

Jodie and her close friends always have a meal out before Christmas so they can catch up before the festive day, this year they booked the Christmas menu at Claremont Hotel on the 21st December at 6pm. Merry Christmas!