Author: thejuicenut

Vegan, raw foodie, juice nut, writing somewhat wryly about health/nutrition/wellbeing with a little creativity on the side. pearsnotparsnips@mail.com

Cal’s Sweet ‘n’ Sour Red Cabbage

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This was my grandson, Cal’s, contribution to our family achristmas meal last year and is a great way to spruce up this traditional winter vegetable. It takes up to 2 hours to cook on the hob at a gentle simmer and is even better the next day when all the flavours have blended together. (See below for YouTube video of Sia’s Elastic Heart feat. Shia Laboeuf & Maddie Ziegler to watch while it’s cooking!)

It makes a welcome change from the annual jar of pickled red cabbage in the middle of the table at this time! In our house its only purpose seems to be to stain the tablecloth and then sit half-full at the back of the fridge for several months until I decide I can legitimately throw it out without anyone complaining!

Red Cabbage is packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals – including B6, Folate, Vitamin A, C, and K, Calcium, Iron and Magnesium. It also contains the antioxidants Lycopene and Anthocyanin’s (they give red vegetables and fruits their colour), which help protect against cancer and are heart healthy.

In other words, Red Cabbage is Good For You!

Word of warning: it stains!

All measurements and timings are approximate

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1/4 to 1/2 Red Cabbage, depending on size, washed and chopped small or shredded

1 Cooking Apple or Tart Dessert Apple, chopped

1 Small Onion, diced

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar

1 Dssp Raw Coconut Palm Sugar*

Handful Raisins

1 Tsp Organic Fruit Spread (no refined sugar or nasties!)

1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

Some Grated Whole Nutmeg, sparingly as it’s quite strong

Optional: Chopped Walnuts

Method

Melt the coconut oil and when hot, add onions and allow to sweat, gently, stirring occasionally

After a couple of minutes, add red cabbage and sweat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally

Add apple, vinegar, raisins, sugar, fruit spread and spices

Cover and cook on very low heat for up to 2 hours or until it is the desired texture and consistency

Stir occasionally

Adjust seasoning

Add chopped walnuts, if using, when nearly done and a few more to garnish

I like a bit of a bite to the cabbage, but others like it well cooked.

It goes well with nut roast, vegan sausages and so on. Here I have placed it centre-stage, surrounded by home-sprouted mung beans. (Apologies for the picture, this was one of my early posts when I was unused to taking food shots and there’s absolutely no natural light at this time of year). 

*http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Christmas Catch-up

I realised today that I’ve been putting quite a few photos on Instagram and Facebook that you haven’t been privy to unless you specifically check out the feed on my home page. So I thought I’d do a slide show to let you see what’s been going on here in the days leading up to Christmas visits.

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Lots of juicing and smoothie making of course, making Christmas tags from last year’s cards, our first full frost a couple of weeks ago which explains the standing jeans – my husband decided that as it was a sunny morning he would hang out his work jeans to ‘dry’! He told them to wipe their feet before they came in!

Christmas doesn’t really begin for me until I’ve watched at least one of the following: It’s A Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street – I saw both of them last week!

Have any of you had romanesco? It’s like a green cauliflower. When we cut it in half it struck me that it looked just like a Christmas tree! I posted a photo of it to my family with the caption ‘trees up!’

The bracelets are from a Bolivian charity  beyondBeanie which helps artisan predominantly single mums sell their creations and the proceeds go to help street children and orphans. Each category of their wares goes to fund a different scheme. These bracelets provide toothbrushes and toothpaste for the children as part of a dental health programme. Young people love them. They are well made and waterproof so you don’t have to keep taking them off when you shower or wash up. They make shawls, mittens and beanies too.

Currently, they have a 25% discount offer on their website.

As you can see, my Raw Chocolate Company cupboard has been restocked! We are about to have ravenous teenagers descend on us and the first thing they do is check out the kitchen before retreating to their room. We don’t see them again until they surface for more food!

I was a little worried we wouldn’t have any foliage to speak of this year as our neighbour got a little over-enthusiastic pruning our shared holly tree a while back,  which is usually covered in berries. What you can see in the slideshow is the sum total of what was available, about 4 or 5 twigs. It’s augmented with laurel, buddleia and hydrangea seedheads, ivy, rosemary, mahonia and lleylandii.

The bird in the tree is a robin that was trilling its heart out this afternoon in the sunshine. It was beautiful. There’s a pair of them that are so sociable. I love watching them.

That’s it – oh, and my gorgeous little grandchildren gave me an early Christmas gift: I have my first full-on cold for 3 years!  I fought it stoically for 2 weeks, but my exhausted body ran up the white flag this week! I apologise for all the forests of tissues I’m currently using up.

Stay healthy!

Copyright: Chris McGowan

GoGo Berry Fudge: So Decadent, It Should Be Illegal!

imagePlease Note: Since I wrote this recipe, The Raw Chocolate Company have stopped selling Goldenberries, if you can’t get them elsewhere or want a less tart fruit in the fudge, try apple juice-infused dried cranberries or dried apricots. Also, the sweet apricot kernel butter can be replaced with almond nut butter.

Grab a bag of Raw Chocolate Company Golden Berries* – or 2, you may find you want to snack a little as you work – and find some Belinda Carlisle and The GoGos (http://youtu.be/KjNZcGP-jAk) to give your vocal chords a workout while you try out this simple recipe.

It is so decadent it should be illegal but it has protein, antioxidants, essential fatty acids and minerals. It’s so moreish I was advised by one family member not to leave it out!

This fudge makes a lovely gift if placed in an airtight tin – I used a tartan shortbread tin: line the base, cut 2 paper doillies in half and stick the straight edge of each half inside the top edges of the sides so they fold over the fudge. Keep the fudge chilled before placing in the tin at the last minute and seal around the edges before gift-wrapping.

This recipe also uses Sweet Apricot Kernel Butter – see earlier recipe Gettin’ Jiggy in the Kitchen – you could use any nut butter, but this will slightly alter the flavour.

(The Raw Chocolate Company products are specified because it was originally developed for their blog, you can of course use other brands, these are the ones we use as they are organic, fairtrade and excellent quality).

WARNING: I strongly advise you do this alone in the privacy of your own kitchen with no family members around or there could be an unseemly scrimmage to scrape out blender, bowl and utensils before you’ve even finished – and that should be your privilege!

Ingredients

1 Cup melted Raw Chocolate Company Cacao Butter – Tip: place the tub in a bowl of hot water while you get everything else together 
1 Cup Maple Syrup
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt
2 Tsp Raw Chocolate Company Lucuma Fruit Powder
1 Cup Raw Chocolate Company Cacao Powder
1 Cup Raw Sweet Apricot Kernel Butter (see above, or substitute with almond butter) 
1/2 Cup Raw Chocolate Company Golden Berries
1/2 Cup Raw Chocolate Company Goji Berries
Few Squares Raw Chocolate Company Pitch Dark Raw Chocolate

Method

(N.B. You need to work quickly before it starts setting).

Blend all ingredients except the Berries and Pitch Dark. I tried this in a small flask blender, but it didn’t work and I ended up transferring to a food processor, but a high speed blender is probably best.

Transfer to a bowl and stir in the Berries and some grated Pitch Dark.

Spread in a lined 8×8 tin

Grate some more Pitch Dark on top and refrigerate for half an hour – if you can wait that long!

Break into bite-size chunks – it is quite rich so a little goes a long way.

Tip: clean up as you go along, the cacao butter and fudge batter set quickly so wipe up any drips straightaway and put blender, bowl and utensils to soak as soon as you’re done with them, saves elbow grease later and gives you more time to indulge before you have to let in the hungry hordes.

*http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com

This recipe first appeared on The Raw Chocolate Company Blog in an edited form.

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Spiced Fruity Raw Vegan Gluten-Free Christmas Pudding & Christmas Truffles

imageThis raw vegan Christmas pudding was inspired by a recipe on The Raw Chocolate Company blog, but it doesn’t seem to be there anymore so I can’t credit the original (though there is a more luxurious – cooked – recipe).

We made the raw one the previous Christmas, which turned out a little bit tart as we’d used golden berries and orange juice (they also made it orange!), so this time I have swapped them for raisins, apple-infused cranberries and fresh apple juice.

So long as you keep to the overrall amounts, you can use whatever dried fruit you like, depending how sweet or citrusy you prefer it.

This pudding is rich and contains no refined sugar.

Amounts are approximate and you can play around with the different spices, dried fruit and nuts.

It will keep in the fridge for a few days, but we made ours in advance and put it in the freezer. It turned out really well.

This time, we made two small ones with this mixture, a large one is too much if there’s only two of you. You only need a small slice.

You can eat it as it is or with some whipped coconut cream (add whatever ‘flavouring’ you like ;-)), cashew nut cream or coconut yogurt.

You might also like my recipe for Christmas Truffles which are great as a gift or if you want to img_2880freeze small treats rather than make a whole pudding.

For the mould, you can use a pudding bowl, a cereal bowl or in our case, a Tupperware bowl! I’m not fond of plastic, but sometimes there is no other option and as we wanted to freeze the pud, that’s what we used, 2 small plastic bowls with lids. You could line the bowl(s) with parchment to make them easier to remove, although we found they it came out of the plastic bowl quite easily.

*

Ingredients

1 Cup chopped Medjool Dates, pitted & chopped

1/2 Cup Goji Berries

1/2 Cup Dried Mulberries

1/2 Cup Apple juice-infused Cranberries

1/2 Cup Raisins

1 Cup Sweet Apricot Kernels /Almonds, or a mixture of them and Walnuts, all lightly chopped (we forgot to chop ours this time!)

1 Cup Raw Shelled Hemp Seeds

 2/3 Cup fresh Apple Juice

Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, Lemon and Orange Zest to taste

Method

 Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and pour over the apple juice.

Stir well, cover and leave to soak. Give it a stir occasionally. We left ours an hour, if you want the nuts softer, leave it a bit longer.

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Turn the mix out into the food processor, add the spices and zest.

Pulse and stir until you get the consistency you want, depending on whether you want a smooth or coarse texture.

Taste-test to see if the balance of spices/zest is right.

When you’re satisfied, spoon the mix into the bowl(s), pressing down with the back of the spoon.

Place in the fridge to set.

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And Bob’s your uncle!

(I can’t show you a slice with all the trimmings as this was going straight back in the freezer).

Enjoy the video!

Copyright: Chris McGowan

It’s Christmas, Even Juicers Can Have Fun!

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Zesty Raw Orange Christmas Pudding inspired by a Raw Chocolate Company* blogpost recipe (recipe here).

I’m a juicer, vegan and so-called ‘clean-eater’. That means I eat a healthy, plant-based diet: I don’t eat sugary, fatty, chemical-laden or processed foods (except the occasional vegan sausage or, at Christmas, a nut roast, but even these are organic). I don’t drink bone-harming fizzy drinks.

It’s not just good for me but also for the environment and the animals: fewer chemicals, less packaging, no cruelty.

Following years of pain medication and undiagnosed gluten-intolerance, I can’t digest many processed or starchy foods nor alcohol or coffee. And dairy makes me snotty! So even if I wanted to, I couldn’t have a Christmas blow-out – unless I was prepared to suffer weeks of pain afterwards and generally feeling yuck. So I make no apologies for refusing the flaming Christmas pud or sherry-doused trifle!

But that doesn’t mean that I dampen any joy my family and friends have in anticipation of festive foods and it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy myself over the holiday period. Far from it.

I have been juicing and clean-eating now for 3 years and have reaped the benefits of no longer having to use an inhaler, no more bloating or burning stomach pain, no itchy skin, better sleep, more energy and so on.

Why would I jeopardise all that for a couple of weeks of over-indulgence just because tradition, newspaper articles and advertising companies suggest that I am a killjoy if I don’t participate?

I read an article in The Guardian* decrying the likes of Deliciously Ella* for providing advice and recipes for clean food over the holiday season (see Comment is free). The writer calls them smug and suggests they promote poor eating habits. Personally, I am grateful to Ella, Tanya Maher*, The Raw Chocolate Company*, Laura at The Whole Ingredient*, Victoria at Caramelia Cakery*, Hanna at My Goodness Recipes* and all the bloggers who post their colourful, gluten-free, sugar-free, chemical-free recipes to inspire and enjoy.

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My Açaí, Blackberry & Coconut Gelato

It is always good to try other people’s culinary creations, most of us get bored with our own usual fare.

Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean boring, bland and brown! On the contrary. Check out Victoria’s Amazing Raw Vegan Christmas Cake on The Raw Chocolate Company Blog and Tanya Maher’s The Uncook Book!

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Many of us have health conditions which means we would be foolish to ignore our normal regimen. Many don’t want all their hard work losing weight or controlling Type 2 Diabetes going down the drain through a couple of weeks’ boozing and bingeing.

I don’t like that bloated, heavy feeling, having to loosen my belt or undo the top button, collapsing on the sofa unable to move and then falling asleep while my poor body expends all its energy digesting it all.  (See Post Thanksgiving/Christmas/Celebration Digestion – some suggestions to ease that overstuffed feeling)

 But it doesn’t mean we can’t participate in festivities or indulge our tastebuds. I really enjoy having unusual meals surrounded by my family, sharing food successes and disasters, trying each other’s creations.

Do they have to be full of different forms of sugar, artificial flavours, colouring, or sweeteners? Do we have to drink so much alcohol we become sick, boring or even worse, abusive? Absolutely not.

Last year, my family of 13 all got together for a buffet lunch we prepared for each other, our Christmas gift to the family. There were vegetarian sushi, falafels, bharjis, pizzas, olives, salads, dips, filo parcels… The desserts were yummy and home-made and involved copious amounts of raw chocolate!

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My daughter’s Vegan Sushi

This is the one occasion in the year when we are all able to be in the same place, and cooking for each other is our way of celebrating that fact.

One way juicers and clean-eaters can still join in but not suffer the negative impact of over-indulgence is to have a large green juice first thing in the morning. This provides all the nutrients your body needs for the day and as a result, you won’t feel the need to over-indulge. You can have a little bit of what you fancy and still feel good:-)

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Clean-eating doesn’t mean juicing and/or eating raw all the time. Of course you can have cooked meals and treats. Colourful warming soups are my favourite. I merely choose to avoid the nasties and include as many healthful ingredients as possible. In any case, it’s a choice.

Don’t let anyone undermine your efforts to be the healthiest you can be, you haven’t come this far just for someone to question your sanity and persuade you otherwise, but you can enjoy yourself if you want to without worrying about paying for it in January.  

And if you do find yourself succumbing to temptation remember, as Neil Martin (Natural Juice Junkie) says:

It’s what you eat between New Year and Christmas that counts, not just between Christmas and New Year!

In any case, you have the insurance of Jason’s Big January Juice Challenge* or The Natural Juice Junkie’s Juicuary Challenge* to get you back on the straight and narrow!

Have a lovely Christmas, however you’re spending it. I wish you all Peace, Health and Happiness and thank you so much for supporting my blogging efforts!

*https://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/ *https://deliciouslyella.com/ *http://betterraw.com/*http://www.thewholeingredient.com/ *http://www.mamababado.com/blog/ *http://www.mygoodnessrecipes.com/ *http://www.juicemaster.com/ *http://naturaljuicejunkie.com/

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Raw Chocolate Orange Christmas Pudding Bites

img_2454I put a picture of these on Instagram as soon they were ready so as to have a record of the ingredients until I had time to write them down – it was a very busy day in terms of administration, phonecalls etc – and I very swiftly received a message saying ‘early!’ So I’m holding back this post for a couple of weeks, I don’t want to spook the horses (but as I write, we are only 5 weeks away and preparation is everything!)

We’ve used leftover almond nut pulp, but you can use alternative milk pulp or if you have a nut allergy, use ground sunflower seeds or similar, it will alter the flavour slightly . (See How To Make Almond Milk for the nutritional benefits of almonds).

These are healthy raw treats, full of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, fibre and protein and contain no refined sugar.

Some people may find the golden berries a little tart, you can substitute for more gojis or dried apricots. See also Choco Almond Truffles for a sweeter version with coconut and maple syrup.

Ingredients

1 Cup Almond Milk Pulp, squeezed dry (or any other nut/tiger nut pulp or ground sunflower seeds)

1/2 Cup Raisins

1/4 Cup Goji Berries, soaked in a few drops of the orange juice*

1/4 Cup Golden Berries*

1/4 Cup Dried Mulberries*

Juice and zest 1 1/2 small Mandarin Oranges

1 Tbsp Cacao Powder*

1 Tbsp Melted Raw Cacao Butter (4 Pulsin’ Cacao Butter Buttons)

Blend all of the above in a food processor until it will come together and roll into balls.

Roll into balls and place in the fridge to firm up while you prepare the topping.

For the raw chocolate topping:

Melt approx. 1/3 bar of Pitch Dark or Orange Raw Chocolate*

with 2 Pulsin’ Cacao Butter Buttons (about 1 Tsp melted)

and a squeeze of the remaining mandarin orange

(do this in a bowl over a pan of hot but not boiling water)

Dip the balls in the melted chocolate and top with a goji berry moistened with a drop of orange juice.

Leave to set and keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

*https://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/

http://www.pulsin.co.uk/

Copyright: Chris McGowan

Muslim-Owned Restaurant Offers The True Spirit of Christmas.

This is another example of compassion and kindness and reading it brought tears to my eyes: a Muslim-owned restaurant is offering a free meal on Christmas day to anyone who is homeless or elderly, stating that ‘no-one eats alone on Christmas Day!’

Kindness Blog's avatarKindness Blog

A Muslim-owned restaurant in London is offering a three-course meal to homeless and elderly people on Christmas Day so that “no one eats alone”.

Shish Restaurant, in Sidcup, is asking local residents to spread the word of its offer and has put up posters saying “We are here to sit with you” on 25 December.

The restaurant urged people to share its plan through social media – where the initiative was widely praised.

Vicky Lanfear wrote on Facebook:

“This is the most selfless gesture I have ever seen and they should be recognised as a pillar of the community.”

Suzannah Harris added:

“What a lovely gesture; a restaurant that gives something back instead of merely seeing Xmas as a time to cash in. Will definitely visit in the new year if ever in the area.”

Linda Leach wrote:

“There is still kindness in this world. Amazing people.”

The FREE three-course…

View original post 41 more words

A Different Christmas – A Lesson from the Grinch

Here is another thoughtful and positive post about the real meaning of Christmas from a fellow blogger who always has just the right word on any given topic. Do take a look, you will leave pondering and all the wiser for the visit.

joanneeddy's avatarjoanneeddy's blog

grinch-movie-copy“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling,
how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

“Christmas Eve will find me, where the love light gleams, I’ll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams.” Bing Crosby

christmas-mantle-copyThe days are racing. Usually, this time of year it would be my count down to Christmas. It would be putting the candles in the windows, and putting up the tree, picking gifts, baking cookies, wrapping presents, placing Santas I’ve collected on the table, stockings on the mantle and a big Santa in front of the…

View original post 1,319 more words

Birthday Celebration!

Niki’s campaign to raise $250 to buy winter clothing for a teenage boy whose mum is struggling fits so well with my latest post The Gift of Kindness At Christmas that I had to reblog it. Please help her achieve her goal of giving this family a much-needed boost this Christmas. All donations however small are gratefully received. Just click on the photo in her post to be taken to the GoFundMe website and leave your special message for this family.
I know there are many many people struggling this Christmas and we often feel overwhelmed and helpless, but this is one family you can help in a very practical way. Thank you for reading.

The Gift of Kindness At Christmas

IMG_1098At Christmas, it’s easy to get caught up in the seasonal excitement of buying and exchanging often expensive gifts we can’t afford and they don’t really need. We look forward to seeing the faces of our loved ones light up when they open our presents, the all-round smiles say it all. But sometimes it can be just a temporary happiness: the item breaks down, doesn’t fit, goes out of fashion or needs updating, it wasn’t the right model, they already have two… And then the credit card bill often provides one heck of a shock in January.

Many of us are feeling the pinch this year and Christmas can be a worrying time financially. But there are other ways of giving that bring joy and make a positive difference to the lives of the recipients which won’t almost bankrupt us when the festive season is over. There are savings we can make that could also allow us to help others in a small but significant way. (See later in the post for ways of helping others this Christmas).

Do we really need such a big tree, so much alcohol? How much do we overeat and drink only to bemoan the extra pounds on our bodies and the lack of pounds in our pockets? How much rich food gets thrown away?

IMG_1084 How many of us buy and post cards and then also wish our friends and relatives ‘Seasons Greetings’ in person or by text or social media as well?! Stamps are expensive but most people have email or can receive texts, we can send our greetings for free with news and photos of the family, for example. There are some lovely animated ecards available, see my suggestions later

Here are some ideas for spreading some Christmas cheer that will hopefully last throughout the year, some can be given as Christmas gifts to those who already have all they need and introduce children to the real message of Christmas: the gift of kindness, compassion and consideration. (For US readers, Tamara at The Purple Almond blog has written a Post listing non-profit companies who sell beautiful gifts and give back to good causes).

CARDS

  • Apart from elderly friends and relatives, we are sending seasonal greetings by email and using the money saved on cards and postage to buy food for our local food bank.
  • If you would like to send a more personalised greeting, for £9 a year to http://www.jacquielawson.com you can send as many beautiful animated cards as you like throughout the year.
  • The cards we do send will as always be either homemade from recycled items or bought direct from charities so that they receive all the profits. Even if you buy charity cards from stores, they take their cut too so the charities only receive a percentage of the price of the cards.
  • Years ago, we realised that colleagues who worked within inches of each other would wish each other a Merry Christmas *and* give everyone an individual card as well. This seemed crazy and we initiated a Christmas whip-round in lieu of cards that would be donated to a local charity which everyone voted on each year, Air Ambulance and the local hospice being favourites.

 

 

  • This year I have been painting and découpaging rocks to leave on my neighbours’ doorsteps in lieu of cards – link here to see how.
  • If you have access to foliage, you can make your own Christmas displays –much cheaper and more satisfying than buying them.

 

 

There are many people for whom compassion and kindness would be the best gift of all this Christmas. Often, all that is required is a little thought and some of our time. Perhaps you remember when you were in need but are now able to ‘pass it forward?’

SUPPORT THE ELDERLY & VULNERABLE

  • An elderly relative or neighbour, or someone who has recently lost a loved one may appreciate a phone call or visit. Christmas can be particularly difficult for people who are isolated through immobility or having no family nearby or being recently bereaved.
  • Perhaps invite an isolated neighbour for Christmas lunch or tea. Check that they have everything they need to see them through the holidays, do they need any shopping or cards posting? If the weather is icy or there has been snow, offer to clear their path.
  • Help make a refugee family feel welcome and help them settle into the community.

VOLUNTEER

In the UK, there are 2 organisations that provide advice and friendship for elderly people who could use volunteers and/or donations:

  • Volunteers are also needed at food banks and shelters for homeless people.

DONATE

  • A donation will provide a hot Christmas dinner for a homeless person at

http://www.crisis.org.uk

It costs £26.08 and they can also have a shower, haircut, health checks, clothes and advice that can potentially set them back on their feet. Even my mum asked me to reserve a dinner on her behalf this year when I told her what I had done.

  • A microloan of as little as £15 to

https://www.lendwithcare.org/

helps individuals or groups in developing countries set up their own businesses. I was given this as a gift one Christmas and each time the loan is paid off, I roll it over so someone else can benefit.

GIFTS

  • Oxfam and Good Gifts have catalogues and web sites with life-changing gifts which benefit individuals and small businesses at home and overseas, some at stocking filler prices:

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/Unwrapped

https://www.goodgifts.org

HOMEMADE & HANDMADE 

  • Homemade gifts, especially from children, are always appreciated. Children learn about giving and not just receiving. For several years when our grandchildren were young, they would give us something of their own, many of which we still have, although one of my husband’s prize gifts from our eldest grand-daughter – a plastic microphone with a loud echo – is permanently hidden away!!
  • Older children and adults can make gifts of homemade food: I used to make pickles, shortbread, petits fours, my husband made wine and beer. These days, nut butter, chocolate avocado mousse and raw chocolate truffles may be more likely.
  • My daughter knits mittens and fingerless gloves, beanie hats, socks and sleeveless jumpers.
  • My son has made kitchen chopping boards from offcuts and fallen trees, as well as belts, wallets and even clocks from discarded bicycle tyres and firehoses.
  • Last Christmas, we all made food that contributed to an extended family dinner, which occurs only once a year and was all the more special for that.

*

How many of us watch the Christmas adverts, look at all the presents we’ve bought and all the money spent on food and complain about the over-commercialisation of Christmas? How many vow that next year we will do it differently?

Make next year, this year.

I wish you all peace, love, health and happiness.

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Updated 4/12/17

Copyright: Chris McGowan