As usual there is just too much food at Christmas with the expectation of a small army coming for dinner! So it is inevitable that there will be leftovers, and plenty of them.
So put those leftovers to good use and get together some quick and simple recipes such as turkey and ham pie, a gorgeous spicy turkey curry or a omelette with leftover veg! The options are endless for making a slap up meal on Boxing day, so be a true Brit and don’t waste a drop!
Image credit: Girl Interrupted Eating
A day for spending precious time with family and friends, slobbing on the sofa with Christmas DVDs, eating as much food as humanly possible and just generally getting into the festive spirit! By enjoying everything that comes with Christmas from gift giving, cheesy Christmas music, sparkly decorations, mistletoe to Christmas dinner – and yes, that means sprouts too!
Christmas is traditionally a celebrations of Jesus’ birth, with the green and red colours associated with the day representing eternal life and the blood shed.
So this year, celebrate it style. Put up too many Christmas decorations, eat too much turkey, drink too much champagne and sing along too loudly to ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas.’
From everyone at Duerr’s, have a very merry Christmas!
Image credit: steve p2008
No Christmas table is complete without a cracker! Shaped like a over sized wrapped sweet, the cracker is usually filled with cheap and cheerful goodies, paper hats and a short witty joke.
The Christmas cracker was invented in 1846 by Thomas Smith, a sweet maker in London. He would sell sugary almond sweets wrapped in bright coloured paper as gifts, inspired by the French ‘bon-bon’. In the early 1850’s, to increase sales, Thomas added short motto’s inside the wrapping – these were usually love notes as he found that it was mainly men buying for women. In 1860, Thomas added the banger, at first the creations were called ‘cosaques’, but soon became known as crackers. As the novelty item became more popular, many manufacturers attempted to imitate the cracker, so Thomas replaced the boiled sweet with a small gift – since then hats and jokes were added, creating the crackers we love today!
150 years on, a simple idea still lives on at the Christmas table and has become a key part of our celebrations and traditions, another Great British invention!
Image credit: lizjones112
The yearly tradition of snowman building was first written about in a book that dates back to 1380, almost 650 years ago! Snowmen are very popular during the Christmas months, from adverts like the recent John Lewis tear jerker to films such as The Snowman and Jack Frost and even festive songs, like Frosty The Snowman.
A top tip for snowman building is to wait for the snow to be slightly melted, not light and fluffy, as the moisture helps pack the snow in tighter – making a larger, stronger snowman! In fact the record for the tallest snowman was set in 2008 in Bethel, Maine. It stood at a huge 122 feet tall, so this year lets see if Britain can beat the record!
Get your carrots, sticks and stones ready for the snow to fall, and don’t forget my top tip for making the biggest snowman ever!
Image credit: wwarby
“Doctor, Doctor, I keep thinking I’m a Christmas bell!”
“Just take these pills – and, if they don’t work, give me a ring!”
Image credit: jack berry
Christmas cake comes in many shapes, sizes and variations. Whether its individual cakes, a large oblong one, light and airy, beautifully stodgy, finished with marzipan, icing or just a shiny sugary glaze – the fruity dessert is loved by everyone. It is just as good to look at as it is to eat, usually decorated with edible figures of Santa, fir trees or dainty houses.
Traditionally made of a mixture of raisins, currants, sultanas, cherries and if your lucky a penny! Coins were usually added as a good luck touch piece, to bring luck and fortune to the person that found it!
So this year enjoy your cake and make sure you have the dentist on speed dial, just in case you do get lucky and bite into the coin!
Image credit: janineomg