Christmas is on its way

Can you believe it's less than 3 weeks until Christmas! The end of the year has gone by just as fast as the beginning of the year.

Today we had Cherub's Kindy Christmas concert at school. Unfortunately Hubby couldn't make it so I took Mum along so she could see her youngest granddaughter perform. It was such a wonderful performance, with Cherub very excited to be singing the christmas carols and songs, they had been practising hard all term!

Our house is starting to look all things Christmassy with the girls decorating the Christmas tree, the girls are so excited about Christmas and love taking turns in checking the pockets of the advent calendar every morning to see what sort of activity or treat is installed for them. Cherub has 'helped' me wrap some Christmas presents, but I still have laybys I need to get out, and a few presents to buy. I'm hoping to get it all done before the mad rush begins!

We have a week and a half left of the school term, then we are on holidays! I think I'm more excited about having a break from the school run then Christmas! No uniforms, school lunches or homework to worry about for 6 weeks, bliss!!

At Christmas time I love to bake shortbread and gingerbread. I have been baking the same shortbread for the past 11 years, so am hoping to get my bake on and make some batches of my shortbread for family, friends & teachers...here's the recipe if you would like to try it. 😊


What has your lead up to Christmas been like?

Recipe: Shortbread biscuits

Ingredients:
150g plain flour
150g butter, softened
75g cornflour
75g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Method:

Preheat oven to 170⁰ C.

Place softened butter and dry ingredients into a bowl and mix until ingredients are combined together.

I firstly soften the butter in the microwave for a few seconds so it is easier to combine with the other ingredients.

I make my dough by hand as I don't have a food processor, so it does take a while to blend. If you have a food processor, place all the ingredients into the processor and blend until the mixture holds together.

If you are making the dough by hand, combine ingredients with a wooden spoon or with your hand until the dough is quite smooth and you no longer see any crumbs.

On a floured benchtop, roll out half of the dough to approximately 1cm thick. If you roll them out too thin they will burn. The girls love using my cookie cutters and make various Christmas shapes!

Place biscuits 1/2 cm apart on a baking tray, then prick with a fork.

Finally, sprinkle with a little caster sugar before placing in the oven.

Bake shortbread for approximately 20 minutes or until very pale.

Note: I have had to adjust the cooking time, as I usually make a larger batch, which take approximately 40-45 minutes, and we had a few that were a little burned.

Cooking time will vary on the thickness you have made the biscuits.

Lastly enjoy!