Happy Henlow Adventures

On Sunday in between the gingerbread making we went out to a Christmas market called The Magic of Christmas. I was a proper big kid and I think I embarrassed everyone as I wanted the waffle they were selling as you walked in, I went in my Xmas jumper and was generally just a big kid about everything. Here’s the waffle that I had when we went in In the next little bit we went past there was this giant reindeer which I really wanted. It was a LOT of money though and to be honest probably wouldn’t have fitted anywhere in our house. It is awesome though! Once we had been through this entrance bit we were then into the real magic. I don’t think I have ever seen so many decorations in one room before. It was huge! I also got to meet Santa (although not the real one as I was told I was too old - boo!) And Adam made friends with an owl (an obvious choice for a Christmas decoration!) Although I was slightly upset that I couldn’t see Santa’s grotto the hot chocolate in the cafe

On our way home from Mum and Dad L’s on Sunday we were driving back at the right time to watch the sun go down as we were getting closer to home. One way that we can go back is past Rutland Water which can be beautiful at any time but especially impressive at sunset. There won’t be many words to this blog but I’m just going to try to include some of the better pictures I managed to get out of the car window. When we got to Melton Mowbray it was also nice to see all the Christmas lights up. We were feeling extremely Christmassy by the end of the weekend so this finished it off nicely. There have actually been some lovely sunsets on my way home from work recently as well but I’ve not been able to take any photos of them as I’m always driving when I see them. I love watching the sky and these kinds of things. I find clouds fascinating too - maybe I should have been a meteorologist.

Yesterday we decided to do a little more Christmas baking as we had some time in the morning so we made some gingerbread which we had taken the ingredients for. I love making gingerbread and feel it has to be Christmas to make it so from 1 December is my limit- otherwise I’d eat far too much of it and it wouldn’t be so special any more. We made the dough just after breakfast and then went off to see a Christmas market while it spent some time chilling in the fridge. I’ll write a separate blog about the Christmas fair later. Here’s the dough as it came out of the fridge (I forgot to take any pictures making it but you pretty much throw everything in the blender (or whizzer as I like to call it) and mix until it looks smooth and comes together, kneed it a little then wrap it in cling film and pop it in the fridge. When it comes out it needs a bit more kneeding then just rolling out. I find it works better to do it in two batches so that one half can stay cool while rolling the oth

Yesterday afternoon/evening we went down to visit Mum & Dad L to do our annual pre-Christmas baking. We do it every year - me and Mum L have an evening in the kitchen making mince pies and sausage rolls. We try to do it as close to Christmas as we can but this weekend was the best we could manage this year. We got down there early afternoon, had a bit of lunch and then me and Mum L set to work baking while the boys went out to the pub. We started with sausage rolls - making the shortcrust pastry by hand (Mum L is amazing at pastry). The recipe for the pastry comes from this old cook book. It’s all in ounces so I had no idea about any of the measurements. We make a good team - Mum L did the weighing bit. I got the messy job of rubbing the flour and butter together. Mum L takes over adding the water and makes it actually look like pastry I get the fun job of rolling it out It then got cut in half to make 2 long sausage rolls The precise important bit went back to M