Albert Hall Sing a long

December 20th


For the fifth year we have travelled into our capital to one of my favourite buildings, that of the Grade II listed building of The Albert Hall found in south London.  Here we all wear our Christmas hats and partake in what is essentially a giant karaoke of Christmas favourites.  We are also royally entertained by a professional choir, conductor, orchestra and professional singer.  It's a concert and a sing along and it begins the Christmas spirit in a jolly way.  Tickets are always booked in the summer to ensure good seats, despite the fact it holds 5272 seats sell fast.  Each year I ask the children if we should miss it this year and I am greeted by a resounding 'We want to go, it's Christmas!!'

Albert Hall built in 1871

Albert Hall was originally going to be called Central Hall and was the vision of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert.  He wanted it to be the core for sharing science, art and culture but he died from typhoid in 1861.  His collaborator, Henry Cole, began the idea again in his name and is one of London's most iconic amphi theatres. To find out more click here

 

The Albert Hall seat 5272

Such a great show and sing a long

It's a Christmas show stopper

The interval is a good time to have a tipple

People decorate the boxes with lights and
Christmas paraphernalia

The acoustic mushrooms play a vital role as well as
being aesthetically quite pleasing

 

The mushrooms were added to the ceiling to remove the echo that occurred during performances.  Originally there were more but it was later discovered not so many were needed.  To find out more about the mushrooms click  here

 

My favourite moments of the night are, singing the Twelve days of Christmas with added actions, watching the entire audience participate is quite something and of course watching the children in the audience stand up and sing Away in a Manage to a professional orchestra, pure magical moments.  I am so glad my children wan to continue this tradition. 

 

 

After the interval, all children are asked to stand
and sing Away in a Manger. 
Several tears are shed at this point.

♥  It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas  ♥

Christmas cookie baking number 7

December 19th  

Someone recently said I'm more Norwegian than the Norwegians.  Maybe there is a tad of truth in that living away from Norway and not surrounded by all the Christmas well being that Scandinavia is so great at producing, I produce my own slice of Norway right here in the middle of Oxfordshire.  I make no apologies.

This brings me tidily onto the final Christmas cookie bake of the season, number 7.  I follow several Norwegian bakers and cooks and this one comes from the wonderful man that is Paul.  Paul was born and raised in Oslo, Norway by his grandmother and aunt.  He now lives in NY and has a hugely successful business based on lifestyle, design and cooking.  If you do not know him, then you are missing out.  He goes by the name of  Sweet Paul .

Cardamom Crescents 

You will need:
♥  2.5 cups of plain flour
♥  1 tsp salt
♥  3/4 tsp ground cardamom
♥  3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
♥  220g room temp butter
♥  1 cup of icing sugar and a further 2 cups
♥  1 tsp vanilla extract
♥  2 cups of finely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees


Mix together, flour, salt, cardamom and cinnamon.

 

 

Beat the butter and 1 cup of icing sugar together until it is light and fluffy.

 

 

Add the vanilla extract and mix further.

 

 

Add the flour mix to the egg and sugar mix, mixing until just combined.   Do not overwork it.

 

Add the walnuts and mix thoroughly.

 

 

Using about 1 tablespoon of mixture make the dough into crescent shapes.  I made them into sausages first and then shaped them from there.

 

 

 

Place on a lined baking tray about 5cm apart as they will swell in the oven.

 

Bake for approx. 12-15 minutes or until golden.

Cool on a wire rack until they are cool enough to handle but still warm.

With the remaining 2 cups of icing sugar hold a sieve over the crescents and dust them with the sieved icing sugar.

 

 

Cool now until cold and then they maybe kept in an airtight box for up to 2 weeks.

 

♥  Seven different Christmas cookies

are now made with love, enjoy  ♥

The previous six cookie bakes for 2015 are:

 

Pepperkaker

 

Peppernotter

 

Syltkaker

 

Jul biscotti

 

Lussekatter

 

Kokosmakroner

 

Christmas countdown

December 18th

Yay,  today the children break up from school and we can throw away the clock for a couple of weeks. We can have lazy pyjama mornings and take our time over naughty but nice breakfasts. We may even watch a movie in the middle of the day. This week leading up to Christmas will be full of togetherness, making and baking, talking with the inevitable sibling bickering and we'll have comfortable silences. I love the school holidays and I love Christmas. This IS my favourite time of year.  The week leading up to today has been just as busy and as fun however, even if we were still ruled by the tick tocking of the clock. 

Monday

Mamma arrived from Norway to spend the week with us. We have so much planned it was great to have a mothers hug. I'm blessed. 

Mamma and I

Tuesday

I decided to have my own 'works do' and invited witty, clever, compassionate friends for drinks, nibbles and chat.   

Drinks and nibbles

Beautiful nibbles and drink were brought by my lovely friends and I may have supplied one or two bits too ;) 

Wednesday 

The yearly outing to buy a Christmas outfit. My mother every year  takes the children out and chooses an outfit with them so they can  wear it on Christmas Eve.  It has become their tradition and a generation between they all love it. It melts my heart. 

Thursday

Meeting up with my chosen 'auntie', chosen because my parents moved to a country where they were foreigners and she and her husband became their best friends.  My chosen aunt and uncle have celebrated all the important occasions in my life and the sad ones too and we have celebrated most Christmas' together with their children and now their grandchildren, 'my niece and nephew'.  Do you also have a 'chosen' family?  Aren't they the best .  The evening saw my daughter dressing with extra care and asked me to help her with her make up; the occasion, her first 6th form ball.  She looked wonderful.  My son, took the opportunity to invite some friends over for pizza, whilst my husband was on his 'works do' and mamma and I made one of Norway's oldest cookie recipes.  A great evening for all. 

Preening for the ball

Everything matched

Friday

Today after school finishes at lunchtime we will choose our Christmas tree.  This is early for us but as a family we collectively decided to change the game plan this year.  Mamma leaves this weekend to return back to Norway and we all wished to decorate the tree with her, after all this is a family activity.  I am so looking forward to it and we will have an 'eclectic' mix of food for the evening beginning with homemade sausage rolls, no doubt copious amounts of the red stuff followed by a Friday night takeaway curry whilst trimming the tree.  Sheer bliss, except for the out of tune Christmas singing that is also somehow compulsory...

 

 

 

Joining in with  Amy  today sharing my five week day moments with you. 

Pop over to see what everyone else is up to. 

 

 

I was given a new 'Nisse' this week from an old Norwegian friend who is an extraordinarily good knitter.  AS most Norwegian knitters she too makes many knitted cork Nisse and handed this one over saying, see, look I can knit an English version too now!  Genius, can you see from the photograph below, why the Nisse on the left is English and the one on the right  is Norwegian?  Send me a comment, what do you think?  Will reveal all in the next post...

Spot the difference between an English Father Christmas cork and the Nisse

 

Christmas cookie baking number 6

December 17th   

A deviation from spices and the popular cardamom taste in cookie baking at Christmas in Norway is that of coconut.  Coconut macaroons are hugely popular and my mor mor (maternal grandmother) made them lots. A very quick make, easy to whip up in a few minutes and a great one to make with small people.  It is often a favourite of the seven bakes in Norway of the youngest family members.


The recipe my mother has given to me is this one, I hope you enjoy...

 Kokosmakroner

You will need:
♥  50g melted butter
♥  2 egg
♥  125g sugar
♥  300g desiccated coconut
♥  1 tbsp plain flour
♥  1/2 tsp baking powder

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees

Melt the butter and allow it to cool

Meanwhile whisk the eggs and sugar together till they are light and fluffy. 

Stir in the desiccated coconut, flour, baking powder and cooled butter.

Using two teaspoons spoon a teaspoon of mixture onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.

Bake in the oven for approx. 8 minutes of until only ever so slightly golden.  DO NOT OVER COOK.

Cool on a wire rack and store in an air tight container.

Optional extra:  drizzle some melted chocolate over the koksomakroner.

It is essential to use baking paper with these cookies

Be careful not to over cook as it spoils the look,
these were in a minute too long

I love the tradition of baking so many
different cookies each year

♥  This makes it 6 out of 7 cookies to make,

we must be getting closer to Christmas  ♥

 

Christmas cushions

December 16th

I have a thing about cushions.  I love them but am beginning to think they are a tad like Marmite. You either love them or hate them. At Christmas I need to be surrounded by red and the odd 'extra' cushion or two may just come out to play. 

This year using the most adorable yarn by Rowan with an alpaca blend I had a cushion ball all on my own . I knew I wanted something soft and chunky and this fitted the bill, although in my eyes at an eye watering price. I knew if I bought this yarn that I would have to make darn good use of it. There are two motifs that I love and do not  seem to tire of, that of the heart and the other the elusive elk. Having made my fair share of hearts over the years I decided to have a go at knitting an elk pattern on the front of the cushion. 

Having purchased said yarn from the wonderful Fluffatorium, 

Fluffatorium in 'corking' Dorking

Inside a paradise for yarn and colour lovers

don't you just love that word I couldn't wait to get home to begin so like the mad fool that I am stopped the car by a stretch of water surround by birds, I began to knit. Did I mention I bought super duper cute chunky needles too...
 

New knitting needles, knitting in the car...

The cushion panel knitted up much quicker than I expected and so I had to design a motif in a hurry.

 

This project worked up quickly

An elk design was needed

It's beginning to look a lot like an elk

Completed elk design

Once completed (a day later) I couldn't wait to take it outside to photograph...

 

Warm autumn day, but as I knew I wanted this for Christmas,
I had to see what it looked like with red

In hindsight, I should have knitted it a tad bigger

The yarn in question in case you are tempted...
 

Expensive yarn, but so soft, am tempted to use it again

Et voila ~

 

Christmas cushions in situ

♥  Do you have cushions that you bring

out depending on the season?  ♥

Christmas crochet and Christmas gifts

December 15th

In our family we have used corks for over 30 years at Christmas and dressed them up as Nisse, year on year we add to them.  Scroll down on my Nisse  to post to see. Last year I added to the collection by creating a crochet cork tree forest, so simple and such fun to make.  This year the addition has grown with inspiration from Instagrammer Flo and Dot.  Interestingly I inspired her to make the crochet trees.

Reindeer cork, inspiration from Flo and Dot

There is no pattern o the reindeer or snowman as I just made it up as I went along not thinking to write it down.  BUT if anyone is interested, just shout and I'll make more and write it as I go along!!

I've just realised my snow man could do with a hat and scarf, need to rectify this!

For instructions of the Christmas tree tutorial click on the link.

It's beginning to look a lot like a bow!

 

One bow tie ready for my 5 year old nephew

And matching hair bow for his twin sister

To make the bow part of the bow tie and hair bow:

Chain 28 and make a circle with a sl st
Row 1 dc into each chain, 28 st
Row 2-9 dc into each st
Row 10 *dc2tog, dc in next 2 st* repeat till the end of the row, 21 st
Row 11 *dc2tog then dc into next st* repeat till the end of the row, 14st
Row 12 *dc2tog then dc into each of the next 5 st*, repeat till the end of the row, 12st
Row 13 dc first stich, ch3, skip next 3 stiches
Row 14-15 dc into each st, 12 st
Row 16 dc into first st, ch3, skip next 3 st, dc into next 8, 12 st
Row 17 *dc into first 5 st, dc twice into next st* continue till the end of the row, 14 st
Row 18 *dc, then dc twice into next st* continue till the end of the row, 21 st
Row 19 *dc into first two st, dc twice into next st, continue till the end of the row, 28st
Row 20-28 dc into each st, 28 st

Fasten off.

For the Bow knot:

Row 1 Ch 17, intot he second chain form the hook, dc into each st, 16 st
Row 2-6dc 16 st, ch 1 and turn

Fasten off.

For the neck band:

Chain required amount for the small person's neck and allow an extra 10 chains.  Dc into in each chain at end of each row, chain 1 and turn.  I did this for 3 rows and then fastened off.

Putting it altogether:

Take the bow knot and sew it around the thinnest part of the bow tie.  Attach the neck band behind the bow tie and add Velcro to the opposite end and behind the bow tie.  this ensures that should it be tugged it will come off easily and not strangle or hurt small person.

For the hair bow, attach either an elastic hair band or bow clip and it's ready to wear!

No room in my house is left alone at this time of year and the study too had a quick make over with tapestry crochet.  I crocheted 2 harts on one side and 1 on the other.  Using as I often do, those that follow this blog, I up cycled an old yoghurt pot and crocheted around it for the desired effect adding this time a picot edge.  It's fun and quick to make.
 

The study gets a crochet make over too

Just right for my Sharpie pens

Men are notoriously difficult to buy for, let alone make for, but this year I think I have hit upon a great  idea.  I bought a very cheap ice scraper and crocheted a mitt for it.  Again simple, no pattern.  I just chained enough to easily first over my hand whilst wearing an overcoat and began to decrease as I approached my wrist culminating with a small enough hole to fit the ice scraper through.  Hope my dad likes this...

Ice scraper crochet mitt

Who doesn't make scarves at this time of year, a couple from the hook this year, nothing fancy, plain and simple...

Every year I have to crochet a scarf or two as well, don't you?

Another scarf on the hook for a last minute gift

In Norway you do not wear outdoor shoes in the house and when visiting others you either bring 'indoor' shoes or slippers or sometimes there is a basket of slippers available to guests.  I love this way of living and here show you a quick pair that would be great to wear around the home at Christmas or indeed to pop into your bag and take with you when visiting others, start a new trend in your area...

The beginnings of tapestry crochet slippers

Et voila, completed slippers for Christmas

For the pattern  see Heart slippers


And in case you need a few more Nisse in your life, what home wouldn't be complete without these at this time of year, here is my pattern for last years  Crochet nisse

♥  Wishing you all continued happiness, what are you up ?  ♥