HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE! I’ve been feeling rather Christmassy (and ill tbf) for the past month now and the time has finally arrived. Everything I have done in the lead up has been fantastic and to be honest, it’s pretty much all been done with Bethan as she appreciates this time of year as much as (if not more than) me! We went to the Bath Christmas markets and did a bit of shopping as well, eating yummy food and drinking some festive bevs.

GINGERBREAD MEN

If you have been ‘aware’ of my blog over the past year or so, you will know that last year I decided to make some gingerbread men… WELL…. I did it again, and I made 75.. I didn’t eat them all by myself although I did eat plenty.

INGREDIENTS: (I ended up doubling this quantity)

• Plain flour  – 175g
• Bicarbonate of soda – 1/2 tsp
• Ground ginger – 1 tsp
• Groud cinnamon 1/2 tsp
• Butter – 65g
• Caster sugar/Brown sugar – 65g (32 caster, 33 brown sugar)
• Egg – 1
• Golden Syrup – 2 tbsp
• Smarties and icing sugar for decorating

METHOD:

Step 1: Combine all of the dry ingredients together. Those being the flour, bicarb, ginger, cinnamon, the sugars and the butter. Make sure the butter is softened first otherwise it could be difficult to mix!

Step 2: Mix together the egg and golden syrup in a jug or bowl or something and then add it to the dry ingredients.

Step 3: Once it is all mixed together it should start to form a ball. Once it’s all together then put it on a (plain) floured surface. Roll it out to a thickness of around the thickness of a £1 coin.

Step 4: Use a cutter for whatever size you want, I obviously went tiinnyyyyy but you can go bigger or even use a different shape. Cut out as many little men/gingerbread shapes you want or can and then fold the left over gingerbread dough back up, roll it out and do the same again! Also – I would squeeze their middles in a bit so they don’t lose the ‘typical gingerbread man’ shape.

Step 5: Put them on a lined baking tray and put them in the oven at 180 degrees for around 15 minutes.

Step 6: Once they are out, ice them however you want. I put the icing sugar in a bowl and made it faaaairly thick. I used the end of a chopstick (it’s amazing what you can use in baking) and did the little dots on the man using that. Dip one side of the smartie into the icing and stick it in the middle for a FAB look!

And there you go!!! A LOT of gingerbread men have been made! These always go down a treat and are super easy to make! This is definitely going to be my yearly recipe as it is fantastic.

BATH CHRISTMAS MARKETS

Myself and Bethan made our traditional trip to the Bath Christmas market at the beginning of December (it finished on the 10th :(((( ). Before we left her house, I gave her her Christmas present from me.. we were too excited to present exchange closer to the day! I decided to get her a watch from Abbott Lyon (perfect for presents at anytime of year btw), which was a bit of a risk as she has NEVER mentioned getting one before, but I got it anyway as it is very Bethan and lovely! Her reaction when she opened it was brilliant and she seemed VERY happy. We were admiring it all day and you’ll be able to see in a pic a bit further down we tried to make it stand out!!!!!!
We popped on some lippy and off we went!

Bath looked super pretty and festive, rather cold though, but it was all good as we managed to find our way to the nutella donut stall.. oops.

Once we had done a little bit of shopping for presents, we went to ‘The Lodge’ which was a bar, sort of with a ski bar style, but it did mulled wine and cider which caught mine and Bethan’s attention! We popped in for a quick drink which was deelicioussss and cosy!!

Then we got a wagas takeout (fave) on the way home… which was hell as there was a lot of traffic and the smell was insanely good. HOW UNLUCKY!!!!

Have a wonderful Christmas and I will hopefully get another post up before the New Year!!!!!!

G