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Crafting – Make these Super Cute Mice

Christmas Crafting with the Dairy Diary

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Make these Super Cute Mice

How about trying this gorgeous craft project from the 2014 Dairy Diary? These adorable little mice will delight children and adults alike they’re so cute.

Super Cute Mice

Here’s a great way to brush up your crocheting skills. Use the techniques shown and pattern provided to make a whole nest of these charming little creatures – before you know it, you’ll be hooked!

 

For the techniques and instructions on how to crochet these cute mice, visit the updated Craft These Super Cute Mice blog here.

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For more crafting projects along with blogs about days out, ideas for the garden and recipe collections, visit the Inspire Me section on the Dairy Diary website.

Chilled-Out Party Planning | Free delivery in time for Christmas

Part planning with Dairy Diary

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Chilled-Out Party Planning

My other half will tell you that I’m a bit (or a lot!) of a perfectionist. That comes in pretty handy as a Managing Editor but is not quite so helpful at home.

This Christmas, however, I aim
to be a vision of calm and
tranquillity, even if everything
is going pear-shaped!

We are hosting a couple of parties, but instead of running around trying to cook 500 different foods whilst entertaining and topping up drinks. I am going to plan it so that everything can be made in advance and I can actually socialise and enjoy myself.

The easiest option is a buffet – no pressure to keep everything hot and no washing up! I have asked everyone to bring along a plate of goodies – anything goes – and I am going to make some mulled wine, a few nibbles and a couple of dishes that can be prepared in advance. I’ve also ordered some gorgeous festive disposable plates and napkins online so everything will still look pretty!

Here’s my selection from Dairy Diary. They might come in handy for your Christmas do too.

Mulled Wine

Mulled Wine

Serves 12
Time 5 mins, plus infusing time
Calories 131 per glass
Fat 0g of which 0g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians

Whole cloves 4
Oranges 2, cut into wedges
Lemon 1, cut into wedges
Red wine 2 x 75cl bottles
Orange juice 600ml (1 pint)
Water 900ml (1½ pints)
Clear honey 4 tbsp or to taste
Ground ginger 2 tsp
Cinnamon stick 5cm (2in) piece, plus extra sticks to serve, optional

1 Press 1 clove into 4 of the orange and lemon wedges.

2 Place all ingredients in a large pan and bring to a simmer, not a rapid boil. Leave to infuse at the lowest heat for 30 minutes.

3 Reheat as and when ready to serve. 4 Ladle into heatproof glasses or mugs and add a piece of cinnamon stick to each as a stirrer, if using.

Cook’s tip To make a non-alcoholic version, use cranberry juice in place of the wine.

A Dairy Diary recipe

Forestier PâtéForestier Pâté

Serves 6
Time 20 mins, plus chilling time
Calories 332 per portion
Fat 27g of which 16g is saturated

Butter 150g (5oz)
Onion 1 small, peeled and finely chopped
Garlic 1 clove, peeled and crushed
Chicken livers 450g (1lb), trimmed and chopped
Mushrooms 150g (5oz), chopped
Bay leaves 2, plus extra to garnish
Dried thyme ½ tsp, plus extra to garnish
Brandy 2 tbsp
Double cream 75ml (2½fl oz)
French bread and salad leaves to serve

1 Melt 25g (1oz) butter and gently fry onion and garlic. Add livers, mushrooms, bay leaves and thyme and season. Cover and simmer gently for about 10 minutes or until livers are tender. Remove bay leaves, then add brandy.

2 Cool slightly, transfer to a blender and whizz until smooth. Stir in cream and check seasoning.

3 Melt rest of butter and scoop off white sediment. Pour pâté into a large serving dish or 6 small pots. Pour over butter, add extra bay leaves and thyme and chill for 2–3 hours. Serve with slices of French bread toast and salad leaves.

A Dairy Diary recipe

Raspberry Trifle

Raspberry, Sherry & Amaretto Trifle

A wonderfully flavoured trifle that’s perfect for the Christmas break – try our Raspberry, Sherry & Amaretto Trifle. A Dairy Book of Home Cookery recipe.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Parmesan Crisp Canapes

Click here to view the recipe on the Dairy Diary website.

There is a great choice of sample recipes from Dairy Diary 2014 and Clever One Pot cookbook. Plus we have a huge selection for every occasion in the Recipe Library.

Where would I be without the Dairy Diary for all these ideas?

I’ll let you into a little secret…..
postage is free for the next week*.

So get your orders in for friends and family now – guaranteed delivery delivery before Christmas. You can buy the Dairy Diary Set for just an extra couple of pounds and get a pocket diary, notes organiser and a pen too. Bargaintastic and a beautiful gift!

Free delivery on everything at Dairy Diary!

* Free delivery on all UK orders placed before 18 December 2013.

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Pretty Edible Christmas Gifts

Edible Christmas gifts from the Dairy Diary

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Pretty Edible Christmas Gifts

You won’t be surprised to hear that I give the Dairy Diary as a Christmas gift to many of my friends and relatives.

In addition to the diary, it’s lovely to give something homemade too, showing a little effort and thought. Though it adds an extra job to that list of ten thousand things – I’m sure all you mums out there can relate to that –it’s so pleasurable and rewarding it’s worth it.

This year, I have decided to
make these edible offerings –
all Dairy Diary recipes of course.

A few of each will be wrapped in cellophane, tied with a pretty ‘proper’ fabric ribbon, adorned with a gift tag and delivered to my loved ones.

And my gift to you?

In addition to all of these fabulous recipes, I have included these gorgeous printable gift tags. It’s much classier than my cut-out creations from last year’s Christmas cards! Click here to download the PDF file – Edible Christmas gift labels

 

Oaty Fudge Treats

Oaty Fudge Treats

Makes 36
Time 10 mins
Calories 110 per portion
Fat 3g of which 0.9g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Milk 150ml (¼ pint)
Brown sugar 450g (1lb)
Butter 15g (½oz)
Salt pinch
Vanilla essence ½ tsp
Crunchy peanut butter 175g (6oz)
Porridge oats 110g (4oz)
No added sugar muesli 110g (4oz)
Glacè cherries 75g (3oz), chopped

1 Place milk, sugar, butter, salt and vanilla essence in a pan and bring up to boil, stirring. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

2 Add peanut butter and stir, then add all remaining ingredients and mix well. Place spoonfuls of mixture into petit four cases and leave to set.

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Cherry Biscuits

Cherry Biscuits

Makes 12 biscuits
Time 40 mins
Calories 183 per biscuit
Fat 8.4g of which 5g is saturated
Suitable for vegetarians
Suitable for freezing

Butter 110g (4oz), softened
Caster sugar 75g (3oz), plus 1–2 tbsp for sprinkling
Egg 1, separated
Plain fl our 200g (7oz)
Ground ginger ½ tsp
Ground cinnamon ½ tsp
Dried cherries 75g (3oz)

1 Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Grease a baking sheet.

2 Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl and beat in egg yolk. Sift fl our, ginger and cinnamon into another bowl and gently stir into creamed mixture. Add cherries and shape the mixture into a ball of dough.

3 Knead dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 5mm (¼in) thickness. Use an 8cm (3¼in) cutter to cut out about 12 biscuits. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

4 Meanwhile, lightly beat egg white. Remove biscuits from oven and brush with egg white. Sprinkle with caster sugar and bake for a further 5 minutes until golden.

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Dainty Iced Gingerbread

Dainty Iced Gingerbread

Makes 18
Time 40 mins plus cooling
Calories 102
Fat 2g of which 1.5g is saturated

Plain flour 150g (5oz)
Ground ginger 1 tsp
Ground mixed spice ½ tsp
Butter 50g (2oz)
Soft light muscovado sugar 50g (2oz)
Milk 1 tbsp
Golden syrup 2 tbsp
Royal icing sugar 150g (5oz)
Edible silver sugar balls to decorate

1 Stir together flour, ginger and mixed spice in a mixing bowl.

2 Put butter, sugar, milk and syrup in a pan. Set over low heat and stir gently until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 2 minutes. Tip in flour mixture. Mix well to make a dough. Leave until cool enough to handle, then gently knead to make a neat ball.

3 Preheat oven to 180ºC/Gas 4. Roll out dough on a floured surface and stamp out 18 hearts or stars, measuring 5-6cm (2in). Re-roll trimmings as necessary. Transfer to baking sheets lined with baking parchment and bake for 10-12 minutes.

4 Leave to firm, then transfer to a rack to cool. Mix icing sugar with enough water to make a smooth paste. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe dots and squiggles on biscuits. Decorate with silver balls. Leave to set.

 

Happy making and baking everyone!

 

 

 

Stir-up Sunday

Make a Christmas pudding on Stir-up-Sunday

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Stir-up Sunday

Have you heard of Stir-Up Sunday? I think this is such as lovely idea.

It dates back centuries and was encouraged by The Church in its Common Book of Prayer.

It’s not a tradition that I
experienced growing up,
but it’s certainly one that I
would like to start with
my children.

Traditionally, on Stir-Up Sunday families gather together in the kitchen to create their Christmas pudding. Everyone should get a turn to mix, and the opportunity to make a wish. Some put coins in their pudding and it is believed that finding a coin brings wealth, health, happiness for the coming year. We could all do with some of that!

Christmas pudding is usually a mixture of dried fruit, nuts, alcohol and breadcrumbs though early versions, originally known as Christmas porridge, incorporated beef, mutton and wine. Yuk! In 1664, Cromwell, in typical-style, banned it as a lewd, sacrilegious custom. In 1714, George I reintroduced it, thankfully without the meat.

How to make Christmas PuddingThis Sunday is Stir-Up Sunday,
so why not gather in the
kitchen and make a
Christmas pudding with your family?

Here’s the recipe we will be
following from the legendary
Dairy Book of Home Cookery.

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The Dairy Book of Home Cookery has been reprinted and is available to buy now

Unleash Your Wild Side

Project-Wild-Thing

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Unleash Your Wild Side

Now I must admit, I am a bit obsessed about getting my children outdoors – primarily because I would go insane if we did not get out and about at least once every weekend. Therefore I was delighted to stumble across a fantastic film project, Project Wild Thing, which I thought would give us some extra inspiration. It did, but it also made me stop and think.

According to Project Wild Thing our children will be the first generation in history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. A terrifying prospect. I think it’s time we spread the word and did something to change this statistic before it’s too late.

 

The Project Wild Thing Manifesto

  • The Wild Network exists to champion and support connection with nature and wildness in children and young people.
  • The Wild Network mission is to support children, parents and guardians of children to roam free, play wild and connect with nature.
  • We believe all children should have the right to access the outdoors for play, learning, expression and development of healthy mind and body.
  • We encourage, provoke, nudge, support, innovate and campaign for children, kids and young folk to get up and outside.
  • To wander freely
  • To look up and around
  • To find wonder, awe and empathy in all life
  • To nurture, steward and protect
  • To run, jump, climb, crawl and explore the world on our doorsteps
  • To seek imagination in wildness
  • To find inventiveness in the woods.
  • To grow happy healthy minds and bodies.
  • To find comfort in solitude.
  • To become truly connected.
  • Roam Free. Play Wild.

 

I’m lucky, my children would much rather play outside than sit in front of a screen but I am sure that will change in time, and when it does I need to be ready. So I am going to download the App (having an app for this does seem quite ironic!) for some inspiration, both for now and for the future when my children just want their nose glued to a screen.

One thing I would really love to try
soon is a proper campfire, frying
sausages and roasting marshmallows.
Great food makes the great outdoors
even better!

 

I shouldn’t really do this, but it’s so relevant, I am going to break all the rules. This fab recipe is perfect for outdoors but is from the 2015 Dairy Diary so you are very lucky to get a special sneak preview ☺

Bonfire Sausages from the Dairy Diary

Bonfire Sausages 

Good quality pork sausages 6
Clear honey 2 tbsp
Tabasco sauce 1 tsp or to taste
Butter 25g (1oz)
Olive oil 1-2 tbsp
Onions 3 large, peeled and sliced
Caster sugar 1 tsp
Hot dog or crusty rolls 6, split

1 Place sausages in a frying pan. Mix together honey and Tabasco sauce and pour over sausages, turning to coat thoroughly. Fry sausages until cooked through, turning and basting during cooking. Wrap in foil.

2 Then melt butter and oil until foaming. Add onions and mix well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sugar and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden.

3 Pop a sausage into each roll and top with caramelized onions.

 

Let me know what ‘wild thing’ you do!

 

The Romance of Steam Trains

Llangollen Steam Railway

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It’s all getting a little steamy

Steam trains have a certain romantic allure, especially if you sit in a carriage like this one depicted by one of my favourite artists, Eric Ravilious.

Eric ravilious trainI love to sit and watch the scenery go by whilst wondering what it would be like to go back in time and ride by steam during its heyday.

This year saw the 75th anniversary of the Mallard breaking the world speed record for steam on Stoke Bank just south of Grantham, Lincolnshire. And next year it is 100 years since the Flying Scotsman began its infamous Edinburgh to London route, clocking 100 mph – the first ever to achieve this speed. To commemorate this we have a feature on the joy of steam travel in the 2014 Dairy Diary, giving a brief history and lots of info on railway-related places to visit.

Llangollen in North Wales gets a mention
and quite rightly so, it’s fabulous!

Thomas-The-Tank-Engine-Llanglloen

I took the whole family to Llangollen railway last weekend for the fantastic Day Out with Thomas. The children got to ride on Daisy, Thomas and Douglas and well as enjoy Thomas-related crafts and face painting.

Face-Painting-with-Thomas-The-Tank-Engine

I’m not sure who was most excited, the children or their dad and grandad! It was a truly lovely family day out and we even got to enjoy the spectacle of a double rainbow sweeping over the river Dee.

Llangollen-Steam-Railway-Rainbow

For more information on where to ride a steam train visit www.heritagerailways.com or buy the 2014 Dairy Diary. It’s available now!

buy bow

Cherry Biscuits recipe

Cherry Biscuits recipe

Our picnic aboard Daisy include these scrummy Cherry Biscuits from the Dairy Diary.

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