miss b loves............Christmas decorations

There are so many Christmas traditions I enjoy and I suppose one of my favourites is making our home look festive. The tree in the lounge is similar to last year, mainly burgundy and gold with special baubles we have had for years......

miss b loves........an early Christmas lunch at Samlesbury Hall

Last Sunday we decided to take a break from all the Christmas preparations and have a relaxing Christmas lunch at Samlesbury Hall, a beautiful historic hall built in 1325 and just a ten minute drive from home.

This lovely half-timbered, black and white medieval building was actually saved from demolition in the 1920s when six local business men bought it and set up a charitable trust to maintain and preserve it for future generations to enjoy (a builder had planned to build a housing estate on the site!)

Our turkey with all the trimmings definitely put us in the Christmas mood......

miss b loves.......cranberry and apple mince pies with a glass of mulled wine

Christmas wouldn't be the same without delicious mince pies but I find some of the shop-bought ones too sweet (even for my sweet tooth!) The addition of fresh cranberries and apple to a jar of mincemeat gives these pies a really fresh taste.

The recipe is from the free Waitrose supermarket newspaper, Waitrose Weekend..........

miss b loves......Bloomsbury's cupcakes....and another lovely award

Regular readers will know that I can never resist a pretty looking cupcake so when I read about the new Bloomsbury's boutique café in the Dubai Mall when we were in Dubai three weeks ago, I thought it would be worth a visit. 

I was immediately impressed with the cute menus featuring boutique cupcakes......and luxury cupcakes........

Familiar and well-known flavours were there but it was good to see the use of local ingredients too.......dates, saffron, pistachio and rosewater (a cupcake called A Kiss from a Rose!)