3 egg whites
3.75 cups white sugar
0.75 cups light corn syrup
150g glace cherries (mix of red & green is ideal for a Christmas look & feel)
2 tsp essence (I love vanilla but my husband prefers peppermint – take your pick!)

Line 2 baking trays with non stick baking paper

Chop up the glace cherries (a very sticky job, but hey!)

Put sugar, corn syrup & water in jug (no lid or cover). Cook in microwave on high for 5 minutes or a bit longer – stirring every minute – til mixture is boiling & sugar has completely dissolved.

Cook for another 5 minutes then check every 30 seconds (take it out of microwave & use a warm sugar thermometer) until syrup reaches 125 C .

Beat egg whites to soft peaks (Did you know this is easier with free range. fresh eggs than horrid cage eggs from shops?)

Slowly pour syrup onto eggs, beating continuously.

Mix in the cherries & essence, and beat until nougat looses shine.

Drop  onto tray by the teaspoonful. Leave to set.

leave your thermometer in warm water to keep  it warm between tests. If you don’t have a thermomoeter (or you manage to break it like I did last Christmas)  drop a little syrup into very cold water as a test – its ready when it forms a firm supple ball.

Add pistachios or slivered almonds for a nutty addition.

45g butter (or marg if you must)

750g soft caramels

3 tablespoons low fat milk

2 cups of unsalted cashews

1 cup unsalted walnuts or almonds

Put the caramels, butter & milk in the microwave (well in a bowl then in the microwave!) and heat on high for 1 minute then stir.

Heat for another minute & stir.

Heat for another minute & stir (see the pattern yet?!)

Mixture should now be smooth – if not, heat for another 30 – 6 seconds and stir.

Stir in the nuts until they’re covered in caramel.

Line a baking tray (foil, baking paper, whatever) then drop teaspoonful of the mix onto the tray.

Once it’s set, drizzle some melted chocolate over the top. If I have time, I use white & brown chocolate for an even nicer effect, but one chocolate or none works well too.

Store in an airtight container if you can resist eating them! Oh, and you can use other sorts of nuts or even mixed nuts if you prefer (mixed nuts makes it a bit cheaper if you’re on a budget but it’s a pretty cheap gift anyway.)

Gymkhana Rd, Duntroon we see more than once usually as it’s close to home

Slavin Place or Parade in Gordon

Carina St, Ngunnawal

I would like to wish you a very Merry and safe Christmas. Have a lovely day of laughter, love and merriment, enjoying the spririt of giving and joy that is Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

How about you – are you ready for Santa’s visit? Have you prepared a snack and drink for him, and put out something for the boomers?

Santa is VERY BUSY tonight, after months of preparing, so he really appreciates you leaving a snack near your stockings. And I believe that by making it yourself, you help build up Santa’s magic supply so he can get down (and up) small chimneys and find the right stocking for all his gifts.

If you need ideas for making a snack for Santa, try our recipes , article or look at any letters you have received from Santa. Or share your favourite ideas and recipes with us.

I hope you’ve been good and are excited, because Santa arrives in only a few hours!!!!!!!!!!!

It was 25 years ago that a group of musicians, led by Bob Geldof & Midge Ure, got together as Band Aid and sang this song to raise money for people in famine affected Ethiopia.

Unfortunately, there are still many starving people around the world and not everyone enjoys Christmas as we do in Australia (and there are those in Australia struggling, too). But we can choose to let songs like this remind us of the giving spirit of Christmas and do what we can to help others.

• wreaths symbolise the celebration and happiness of Christmas
• Advent wreaths for Christians (particularly Catholics) are traditionally made of evergreen branches around four candles and represent everlasting life
• ancient Persians had wreaths as a symbol of importance and success – they usually wore the wreaths on their heads
• wreaths were a symbol of hope for spring when hung in pre-Christian Eastern Europe (especially Germany) – the green showed new life and candles gave light in dark months
• Greeks used laurel wreaths for thir Olympic champions in 776BC or so. Some say one athlete hung his wreath on the wall as a memento and that is where hanging wreaths began
• Romans gave wreaths to their military heroes and leaders
• the circular shape would be linked with wreaths for heads but also represents the cycle of life (no beginning or end)
• Americans in the 19th century used wreaths to honour deceased loved ones at Christmas – initially at the cemetery, the wreaths were brought home and hung

Now many people just hang wreaths because it is a Christmas tradition, or because they have a beautiful wreath they want to display (including wreaths made by chidlren or friends.)

Tuesday 22nd December if you live in Melbourne

Monday 21st December if you live in another capital city or elsewhere in Victoria

Sunday 20th December if you live in other areas (although very remote places may need longer for the Postie to deliver letters in time.)

Ordering is easy – just fill in our online form and we’ll take care of the rest for you on behalf of Santa.

What do you call people who are scared of Santa?

Claustrophobic!

What comes at the end of Christmas Day

Y!

Who is red and white and gives good fish presents for Christmas?

Sandy Paws

As well as the 8 named in the ‘A Visit from St Nicholas’, there are other reindeer in stories about Santa:

• Rudolph – the unusual red-nosed reindeer helps guide the sleigh on particularly dark and foggy nights
• Olive – “olive the other reindeer shouted out with glee”
• Chet – the reindeer in training in “The Santa Clause II”
• Cupid – the reindeer who falls in love with Private (the penguin) in “Merry Madagascar”

Can you add any more?

And you may not know that the original story included Dunder (which became Donder then Donner) and Blixem (later Bliksem then the German Blitzen).

Santa just smiles when asked the names of his reindeer and lets us remember the poem…

Some of the songs I can think of are:

6 White Boomers by Rolf Harris

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas

Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?

I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus

12 days of Christmas

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (so well known I think it is almost counted in amongst the carols, but I don’t think it really fits there)

This year we’re torn – there’s someone we don’t want to give a gift to but it feels rude and wrong to not give something.

Will the teacher feel insulted to not get anything? That isn’t our intent.

Is it giving the wrong message (to ourselves at least) to give a present we don’t want to give?