I don’t know about you, but I have found it incredibly difficult to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I’m going with the fact I broke my own little tradition and didn’t watch The Muppet Christmas Carol and write my Christmas cards on December 1 like I normally do as my excuse. And since…
Tradition is a beautiful thing, especially at Christmas time. We swap bouquets of flowers for bursting bundles of festive red poinsettias, potted and perfect for thrusting into the arms of our loved ones when we arrive home in time for December 25. We drink fizzy wine before noon, because everyone is jolly and a good…
There really is nothing like giving – and receiving – something homemade. Forget trawling around the shops with a list as long as your arm, online shopping into the wee hours and quietly panicking that someone unexpected will give you a gift – just keep a batch of cookie dough in the freezer. You never…
I can remember the first time I ate lebkuchen. Sadly it wasn’t wrapped up warm against a biting chill in Berlin, a glass of mulled wine in my hand sampling one offered to me by a curly-moustached German man, but in language class in primary school. In between renditions of ‘O Tannenbaum’ and ‘Silent Nacht’,…