Christmas Day treats

In this summer series of humouring me, here's a bit of a collection of pics from our Christmas Day. Yes, I had a nice day thank you. I find the lead up to Christmas very difficult, but the day itself - good food, presents, happy children - there's plenty to like about that.
And I took the kids to church, actually.

I found myself offering to be on the sweet courses for Christmas Day. Me, the master of healthier sweet treats. But actually, it was really hard! Struggling to get in to the spirit of things I didn't plan very far ahead, and it was hard to think of just the right christmassy things that didn't require sugar. I made chocolate mousse for lunchtime, and used Nigella's recipe that uses marshmallows instead of egg (because of the kids' egg allergies). Marshmallow without sugar? I don't think so. But it was gorgeous, and was just the right thing to have alongside alongside my mother-in-law's christmas pudding. For post-tea-time-ham-sandwiches I did homemade icecream, and did a better job of sweetening that with glucose and rice syrup, though some white chocolate slipped in there somewhere.

I wouldn't want you to think from these photos that Christmas is all about presents, but they do make for some good pics. I do have a photo of Esther spitting out her chocolate mousse but thought I might leave it off here. I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the best present of the day - an icecream machine (from my brother). Hoorah! It's the same colour as Reuben's new builder's helmet and makes stunning icecream. And I'm almost as excited about the kids' new giant red and white teepee - I love it! One more thing that I should have said in my list of things I've learnt in the last month, is that life is so much more fun inside a teepee.

We are well looked after aren't we?

 

 

Rough recipes for Christmas Icecream

Strawberry and chocolate

Lightly whipped cream

Glucose

Pureed strawberries with rice syrup
Chocolate sauce

Coconut, almond, cherry and white chocolate

Lightly whipped cream

Coconut milk

Glucose

Almond pieces

Chopped fresh cherries

White chocolate chunks               

You can expect plenty more icecream recipes with measurements over the summer months (and probably winter, knowing Reuben and Esther)