ENGLISH MUM

2009: A year in recipes, rambles and silly buggery

Well, well.  Another year over.  I’ve just been reading my post from around this time last year.  I called it Love, Loss, Ups and Downs, and I think the title could well apply to 2009 as well.

January was a lemon meringue pie and beef stew and dumplings kind of a month.  The greenhouse blew away and I felt all growed up after hosting my first family Christmas.  February was perfect for chocolate fondants and learning all about secondary fluffage.  March was all pink birthday meringue and bourbon biscuits.

April was a monster month for me,when myself and the other intrepid members of the Disney 7 hit Florida in a big way, following lovely Disney Sarah around Walt Disney World like a little drunken gaggle of ducklings, #2 celebrated his birthday with a ridiculously chocolatey double chocolate meringue cheesecake and the Mad Professor turned 14. I made not cross buns for Easter and continued boring you about my Disney trip well into May (we even got a mention in The Times… yawn…), as well as churning out some rather fattening dark chocolate and peanut butter brownies and having smutty conversations about how much I love a good sausage.

In June, I got the sack and cooked butternut squash and chickpea curry (not at the same time) and  in July I rejigged my 70s ginger cake, made some fabulously soft iced buns and learned not to leave my dog in the house alone.

August was the month when our wedding blessing plans really began to take shape.  My easy tandoori chicken with cheaty flatbreads recipe got a mention in the Irish Times and the site got a well deserved facelift courtesy of the wonderful Andy at ADD Creative.  It was, however, also the month when Hubby was told that he was going to lose his job.

Despite this, our wonderful wedding blessing in September was everything we’d hoped it would be, and I continued with the family theme, making Grandma Maudie’s cranberry teabread, as well as chicken and broccoli pie with step by step pastry.

October saw The Death Wish Child learn that it’s probably not politically correct to put disabled people in a stew, English Grandma popping over for a birthday visit and some rum and raisin brownies, but shortly afterwards Hubby was offered a job in the UK and went off to work there.  I think in my heart I knew that the boys and I wouldn’t be happy without him for long, and in November, we packed up our wonderful Irish home and headed back to Hertfordshire, waving a sad goodbye to our friends in Ireland, our lovely chickens, and Bert the greyhound.

Regular readers will know that we’d already more or less decided to find Bert a new, loving, child-free home after a couple of worrying, growly incidents.  The prospect of moving back to the UK and living, albeit temporarily, with my Mum (along with her dog and cat) while we found a house galvanised us into action and my mate Jen, who is well-connected in the greyhound world, found Bert a new home.  Still, driving up north to meet up with the greyhound charity lady who was arranging it was an incredibly sad journey.  I hope the old boy is happy in his new home.  Sadly, the lady has ignored all my attempts at contact, so I just have to hope it all turned out well.

December, then, finds us back home in Hertfordshire.  I’m pleased to be back with all our family and friends, but have struggled with the move, wondering exactly where I fit in.  Still, Christmas was wonderful, with masses of champagne, Christmas baking, turkey and stuffing.

And what of 2010?  Well, this blog will see its 4th birthday and I’ll see my 40th (hopefully in Paris… hint, hint).  I’ll be well on the way to 1000 blog posts and 10,000 comments.  Hubby is happy in his work and my lovely fellas, The Mad Professor and my little Death Wish Child are finally settled back into the local school, enjoying rebuilding old friendships.

And me?  I’ll be here, in the kitchen baking cakey buns,  probably.  Who knows, maybe even with a new little canine companion and hopefully some work to keep me occupied.  Remember to pop in and say hello (especially if you’re the Editor of a magazine – I’ll work for alcohol!).

I hope that this new decade brings you health and happiness.  I hesitate to say wealth as I think we’re all beginning to realise that there are so many more important things in life.  So wherever you are, thanks as always for reading, and have a very happy new year!

Turkey, stuffing and a very merry Christmas

So that’s it, then.  The big day is shortly upon us and I’m looking forward to a small family Christmas (just us, English Grandma and maybe Mad Uncle Ali in the afternoon) at our new little house in Hertfordshire.

Wherever you are and whoever you’re with, I wish you all a wonderful, indulgent Christmas.

And as always, remember to chill out, have fun, stick on your glad rags, enjoy your precious loved ones, have a few cocktails, don’t shout at the children (or at least count to ten first), don’t worry about  your waistline, don’t drink and drive (I need you!), do give someone everyone you love a kiss under the mistletoe, say you love it even if you hate it, carry a hankie, say please and thank you, keep your hand on your ha’penny… and have a glass of champers on me.

Now, let me think what you might need:

Firstly, of course, you’ll need a really good festive cocktail recipe.  This little beauty was sent to me by naughty ol’ Maxi Cane.  It’s called ‘A Mouthful of Maxi’:

1 regular spirit measure (35ml) of Peach Schnapps.

1 dash (15ml approx) of orange liqueur (Triple Sec/Cointreau/Grand Marnier)

1 dash of Crème de Cassis liqueur (blackcurrant)

1 dash of Crème de Banane liqueur

200 – 250ml (depending on your taste) of cranberry juice

Shake well over crushed ice and take it easy – these babies are evil!

Now, if you can still stand up, to the dinner:

If you need any help with the turkey, just click here.

Remember, once the turkey’s cooked it’ll sit happily for at least an hour, covered in foil and tucked snugly under a couple of teatowels, while you cook the roasties, etc.

If you don’t like Christmas pudding, I can heartily recommend my chocolate fondants, and finally, if you need stuffing (ahem), then you can’t do better than my easy peasy apple and red onion stuffing (serves 4-6, double up as necessary):

1 tbsp butter

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 dessert apple, peeled and finely chopped

225g pork sausage meat

100g fresh white breadcrumbs

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped

Squeeze of lemon juice

1  Preheat the oven to 190ºC/gas mark 5.  Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the onion and fry gently until soft.  Add the apple and cook until softened.  Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

2  Stir the sausage meat and breadcrumbs into the onion mixture along with the herbs and lemon juice.  Stir until well combined.  You can put a little in the neck end of the turkey (I’m not a fan of stuffing the main cavity – I think it stops the hot air circulating), or squish it into a buttered oven-proof dish and bake for 25 minutes.

Off you trot, then.  Big hugs, even bigger wet kisses and lots of love

xxxx

‘And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?
It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store?  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?’

Last minute panic? Relax, The Present Queen’s got you covered

Easy Christmas Stollen

So if you’re snowed in, or just fancy a nice afternoon of Christmassy cooking in the kitchen, I can think of nothing finer than stollen.  Not only is it yummy, but the smell of it cooking is just the finest thang ever.

As you can see from the picture, I actually made mine when I was back at English Towers in Ireland (it was for a magazine article, so they were unseasonably made in October), but they freeze really well (if you slice them first, you can grill the individual slices which makes the marzipan all lubly and bubbly).

Anyhoo, you’ll need:

500g plain white flour, sieved

½ tsp salt

125g butter, softened

3 tsp baking powder

200g caster sugar

1 large lemon, finely zested

1 tsp ground mixed spice

50g suet

125g sultanas

125g raisins

125g raw almonds, roughly chopped

40g chopped mixed candied peel (or if, like me, you think peel is the spawn of the devil, use dried cranberries instead)

250g crème fraîche, or thick Greek-style yoghurt

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp almond extract (or almond liqueur)

30ml spiced or dark rum

Pack of marzipan, (or to make your own, see below)

Homemade marzipan:

50g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
150g icing sugar
1 egg, beaten

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the egg, mixing well and pushing together with your hands. Form into a sausage shape and refrigerate, wrapped in cling film.

To finish:

25g melted butter

Icing sugar, sieved

So preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4 and generously butter a large baking sheet.  Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and rub in the butter, then add in the baking powder, sugar, lemon zest, mixed spice, suet, dried fruits, almonds and peel (if using) and mix well.

Now, stir in the crème fraîche or yoghurt, eggs, almond extract and rum.  Bring together to form a firm dough, adding more flour if necessary.  Divide the dough into two.

Put the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a rough rectangle about 2cm thick.  Roll the marzipan into a sausage shape and place in the centre of the dough.  Fold the dough over the marzipan, tucking under the ends.  Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Place on the baking sheet and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown.  Brush with the melted butter and dust generously with icing sugar.  This keeps really well, so if it’s wrapped in greaseproof paper and then in foil, it will probably last about two weeks.  Unlikely, as it’s yummy, but just in case…

And there you have it.  Christmas on a plate.  Nom.

Auntie L’s birthday curry and home made Christmas liqueur

My sister in law, the  lovely Auntie L, has her birthday ridiculously close to Christmas, so on Saturday we decided to throw her a little birthday party.  It also just happens that the lovely chaps at Cobra Beer had contacted me a while ago and said ‘guess what, we know you like curry so we’re going to send you some beer to go with it’.

No way.  ’What, like no strings?  You’re just going to send me beer?

‘Yup’.

‘And you don’t want anything in return?’

‘Nope’

‘What, like not even a mention?’

‘No, we’re cool’

Wow.

I love blogging.

Curry it is, then.

And yup, they did.  Sent us a whole box of Cobras to go with our curry.  And the links to a load of curry recipes on their website.  Anyhoo, digressing.  So I made a beef dhansak and their recipe for marinated spicy chicken (and no, not just ‘cos they sent me free beer, honest), along with some yoghurt/cucumber/mint raita (raitha? I’m never sure), some onion salad with coriander, and a rice pilaff from Nigella’s ‘Feast’ book.

For pud, I set Turtle, my adorable niece,  a secret mission to find out Auntie L’s favourite cake.  It turned out to be coffee and walnut.  Frankly, the less said about this the better.  I made the walnut cake, but my attempt at coffee frosting was a total shambles.  Hell, we poured it over, stuck a few candles in it and ate it anyway.  It didn’t set, but it didn’t seem to matter.  Not my finest moment, but hey, it tasted okay.

Finally, I served frozen shot glasses of my special Chrimbo liqueur: a shudderingly, toe-curlingly whizzy little mouthful of Christmas.  Try it, you won’t be disappointed:

First, then, assemble your ingredients:

1 litre vodka (or Eau de Vie or Bacardi – whatever really)

50g soft brown sugar

1 clementine or tangerine, peel and juice

1 lime, peel and juice

1 tsp mixed spice

A handful of dried cranberries

2 cinnamon sticks (make sure they’re slim enough to fit in the vodka bottle)

4 cloves

1 star anise (likewise, pick ones that fit in the bottle)

2 bay leaves

So first, bung the brown sugar in a pan and add in the juice of the clementine and the lime.

You don’t really need to stir it, just swirl it around and allow it to come up to the boil so it’s all bubbly and kind of syrupy:

…and when it’s bubbling, turn it down and add in your other ingredients:

Stir them around so they’re all coated in the caramel, then take it off the heat and carefully add the vodka (watch out, it’ll spit).  Now, pour the whole lot back into the vodka bottle (you’ll need to poke some of the ingredients in with a knife or something).  And that’s it.  Just leave it somewhere to fester for a couple of days (not too long or you’ll just have cough medicine), sieve it and serve in teeny, cold shots.

Wehay!

Mrs Wallop’s fabulous Advent calendar rant

It’s the last Sunday in Advent today.  And for those not ‘in the know’ (me, in other words), I turned to our wonderful friend and ‘YTPR‘, the Revd Craig, for a quick update.  Turns out, then, (bear with me here), that the four Sundays leading up to Chrimbo are called Advent Sundays.  The first Sunday of Advent actually marks the beginning of the church year, and each Sunday has special significance.  In a lot of churches there’s an ‘Advent wreath’ with four candles around the outside and one in the middle (which instantly brings to mind the startlingly bad wire coat-hanger/tinsel candelabra thing on Blue Peter).  One candle is lit each week, finishing off with the one in the middle being lit on Christmas morning.

But let’s face it, to most of us (and certainly a giant proportion of our children), Advent is all about the chocky.  And this leads me neatly on to my friend, Mrs Wallop, who’s got a few things to say about those.  I love this.  Onwards, then, Wallop:

Those that know me would attest to the fact that I’m not the most regular of Church goers.  But I do know that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  So why is this so rarely mentioned?  If an alien came down to earth at this time of year, they would get the impression that Christmas was an exercise in shopping for expensive plastic crap, eating frozen canapés and ordering half price sofas.  Don’t get me wrong, I realise that for children, Christmas is mostly about the presents, which I completely understand.  I’d just like my children to know a little bit about WHY they get presents and what it is we are celebrating.  Perhaps religion is just too embarrassing to talk about, or perhaps the marketing bods think it will turn people off buying their products.

Or is it just laziness on the part of product developers?  The Christmas product that most makes my blood boil is the advent calendar.  Advent is a time to get excited, make decorations out of large quantities of cotton wool, dream about presents and practise nativity plays.  It’s fun for children to open a door every day watching with anticipation as the calendar counts down the days until Christmas.  So why is it so hard to buy a calendar with a picture of the nativity or a Christmassy scene?  I’d even settle for a non-specific wintery scene but all the shops are full of Ben 10, High School Musical, or Spiderman calendars full of cheap, waxy chocolate.  And the thing that I hate most is that they can’t even be bothered to make them look Christmassy.  Is it really too much effort to add a spring of holly to the picture of Ben 10?  It’s lazy and exploitative, they know that every child dragged around the supermarket by unwilling parents will be begging for them, Christmassy or not.

I think it’s really sad.  The nativity story is a wonderful, accessible tale full of light and miracles, and who doesn’t need a little bit of that in the depth of winter?  My happiest childhood Christmas memories involve elaborate nativity scenes created by our Spanish neighbour, decorating the house with giant paper bells (it was the 70′s),candle lit carol services, and spending time with cousins, grandparents and friends.  These memories are not all to do with the Christian aspect of Christmas, but they are about valuing the important things in life.  And Ben 10 is not one of them.

Mince pies. And why most things are improved with a slosh of booze.

Deep breaths, then, and enough of this doom and gloom.  Hell, it’s Christmas. 

Seeing as I’m currently obsessing about mince pies, I thought I’d share my latest ressup with you.  It’s the pastry, see?  I thought I had it perfect, but it was too short, too ‘dissolve into crumbs as soon as you pick it up’, which is perfect in some ways, but mince pies need to be handled.  The pastry needed to be crisper.  And several hundred later, by jove I think I’ve got it.  Brace yourself, then:

The perfect mince pie.  Honest.

250g cold butter

400g plain flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

Pinch salt

1 egg yolk

First, then, cut your butter into little cubes and bung it in your wondrously gorgeous food processor (I love you, Jen)with the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt:

Mix gently until it resembles breadcrumbs:

Now add your egg yolk and let it continue stirring gently until the mixture just comes together.  If it’s really not happening you can add a tablespoon of water or orange juice (or rosewater if you’re really posh), but you want a firm dough, remember, so don’t go mad.

Now, splodge the dough gently into two balls, clingfilm them and whop them into the fridge for 20 mins.  Don’t leave them too long – rock hard pastry is a sod to roll out.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/gas 5 and get ready to mess with your mincemeat.  Now, don’t get me wrong – normal mincemeat in a jar is fine, but let’s face it, there’s not much in life that can’t be improved with a bit of alcohol (moved country? Miss your friends?  Trust me, it’s not time that’s a great healer, it’s booze), so splosh some in: I’m loving Cherry Brandy at the moment, but anything will do: Port, Brandy, Cointreau - whatever you have to pep it up a tad.  I also add a handful of dried cranberries because I like the colour.  But don’t bother if you don’t want to.

So now, just roll the pastry out and use a cutter to make circles.  Pop the circles gently into a muffin tin and put a scant teaspoon of your boozy mincemeat in each one :

Now you can either cut out another slightly smaller circle to use as a lid, and pass the whole kit and caboodle onto the Eggy Wash Department (you’ll need a small, willing child for this – just use the leftover egg white to paint over the pies and add a sprinkle of sugar):

Or you can whip up a quick Madeira cake batter by creaming 100g butter with 100g caster sugar until light and fluffy, then beating in 2 eggs, a splash of vanilla extract and finally folding in 100g self raising flour.  Blob a small amount (about a dessert spoonful) on top of each mince pie to make pastry mincey cakey pies:

And that’s it.  Bake for about 10 – 15 minutes and serve with more booze in the shape of some warm, mulled wine.  Ah lubly.  I feel better already.

A mass of contradictions

I am, dearest reader, dazed and confused. And no, it’s not because I’m sitting in the library, still suffering from broadband-withdrawal, although that’s true too. No, I’m homesick. At home.

I don’t even know if I can explain. You know that feeling you get when you’ve just come back from the most amazing holiday and it’s back-to-work-Monday-morning? Well it’s kind of like that. And it’s kind of like the feeling you used to get at school, that first day back in September, in an uncomfortable collar and squeaky new shoes.

Nothing fits.

My wonderful friends here in chilly Hertfordshire have welcomed me back with open arms: lovely Tums, one of my oldest (and most glamorous) friends, had the most magical, amazing and fittingly glamorous 40th birthday party in a beautiful old country house hotel. We dined in a private room, danced until we had to take our shoes and hobble home, and ate beautiful pink cupcakes for dessert. I loved every minute (and you know I’m not really a party person). Then Mr and Mrs Foxy, more of our long-term friends, threw us a ‘welcome back to England’ dinner party, with lashings of wine, fantastic food, a roaring fire in their beautiful home, and laughter until our sides ached.

My friends have re-opened their social circle and slotted me back in. I’m beyond grateful.

So it’s not that, then.

I miss my dog. Yes, he was growly and unsociable on occasions.  He hogged the sofa and hurled himself at guests. And yes, we thought we were doing the right thing by having him rehomed. But now I’m not so sure. I miss tootling down the boat road together and writing my blog with his head resting on my lap, looking at me with his ‘a walk now, please?’ stare.  Should I get another one?  Hubby says he doesn’t mind.  I just don’t know. 

And I miss all our Irish friends… The Lovelies, Poppy’s Mum and D-next-door.  But I’m glad to be home, have spent lots of time with the wondrous English Grandma and seen my brothers, nephew and my beautiful nieces.

But I’ve argued with my Dad.  I never argue with my Dad.  I adore him.  I don’t, however, adore his partner.  It’s all wrong.

My new kitchen is nice. It’s got the same oven as English Towers, but it’s not my oven. We’ve got a garden, it’s not big, but it’s nice, really.  Maybe I should get some chickens?  Or maybe not.  The new occupants of English Towers say that it’s all lit up for Christmas.  They’re so happy there and I’m really pleased for them.  They keep in touch and tell me not to worry.

So what’s wrong with me?  I’m usually all Christmassed-up by this stage in December.  I haven’t bought a single present.  Although, as I bake in a crisis, I have baked, and consumed, my own body weight in mince pies.

Bleurgh.

English Mum’s annual online christmas shopping guide

So here I am, then, in the library.  I feel like it’s so long since I’ve been online that I can hardly remember what to do.  How are we all?  Good, I hope?  We’re kind of settled into English Towers II, but there’s no internerd until 10th December, so rather than chew my fingers down to the knuckle in frustration, I thought I’d toddle off and avail of the services provided by my local library.  Sadly, therefore, I won’t be able to answer your comments until the day after tomorrow, but bear with me, this is worth it.

Anyhoo, then, Christmas shopping.  Yes, you can spent your winter Saturdays trawling the high street for that special gift, but frankly, why freeze your knackers off when you can sit at the pooter with a nice glass of wine and my wondrous online shopping guide and click your way to glory:

Cox & Cox: Back on the list again this year, the wonderful Cox & Cox is still stuffed with every sparkly, arty, crafty, kitcheny, gorgeous thing I love and yes they deliver internationally. 

And here’s a bit of credit where credit’s due.  Last year, I moaned that Nextdirectory.ie had ridiculous delivery charges, but this year they’ve dropped from €9.50 to €5.  Bargain.   The range is still nowhere near that of its UK cousin, Next.co.uk, which I’m happily running up a nice big bill on, but still, it’s a great site.

Kitchen Complements still gets my vote as one of the best sites for kitchen stuff.  Delivery is worldwide and the price depends on the weight and destination – full details on their fantastic website.

The girls at Beaut highly recommend: Cloon Keen Atelier .  They do the most beautifully packaged smellies, body care stuff and candles.  Check out their wondrous Christmas Morning candle, containing vanilla, pipe tobacco (which always reminds me of Uncle D, Moon’s lovely Dad), clove and cinnamon.  Yum scrum.  Worldwide shipping. [Edit: and they're very friendly too - hello Maggie!]

Irish tea and coffee legends Bewleys now have a fantastic online shop with the extra bonus of free delivery (within Ireland) up to 31st December 09.  Bewleys.com is also a bit of a treasure trove of info with coffee making tips and expert tasting notes too.  Jim Corbett of Bewley’s admits that “it’s unlikely that Ernest Bewley ever envisaged a virtual Bewley’s but he did want to make his company and his café as open and accessible to everyone as possible.   Our new website continues that proud tradition where coffee and tea lovers in Ireland and abroad can enjoy even easier access to Bewley’s famous range of products and unrivalled expertise at bewleys.com.”

If you live in the UK, or have friends or family there that you need to send pressies to, John Lewis is, as always, difficult to beat and this year, with the relaunch of its fashion website, it’s even better than before.  With ranges from the likes of Lulu Guinness, Lofli jeans, Mulberry, Avoca, Ralph Lauren, Orla Kiely, Paul & Joe Sister, Nicole Farhi and Paul Costelloe, you might find yourself adding a little something for yourself to your online shop.  Especially with FREE delivery on orders over £30 and a token £3 charge for everthing under that.  I’m also keen on their lovely little foodie gifts and lovely do fantastic gift sets and amazing hampers.

Couverture sells the most beautiful items for the home, plus great clothing and it even has a vintage section.  Delivery is £5.95 in the UK.  Overseas delivery can be arranged but you’d need to contact them for pricing.

Kitchen Dresser The lovely peeps at Kitchen Dresser are based in Co Laois, and will happily send all manner of kitchenalia to anywhere in Ireland for €8 (free delivery for orders over €30, €15 to the UK).  They sell some serious kitchen brand names, including KitchenAid and Global knives, and if you can’t think of anything to buy your beloved, you can opt for a gift voucher.

Hotel Chocolat is recommended by the Disreputable One.  Their advent calendars are bloody fantastic (the smalls have hidden theirs from my roving eyes).  You might remember that one of their orders was lost en route to us here in Ireland and they sent a new batch without a single quibble and with a lovely letter of apology too.  The original order then turned up and we were fair drowing in their beautiful chocolate.  I always find you can tell a lot about a company by how they behave when something goes wrong.  Delivery worldwide and they have a US site as well (hotelchocolat.com).  Their Ultimate Chocolate Advent Calendar contains seriously grown-up chocolate – 40% & 50% high cocoa milk, white with cherries and dark with Valencia orange cast into beautiful Christmas figures

Back on the guide for the third year is Vintage Wine Gifts.  I use this site loads.  You can search by region, drink, age, whatever and then send your wine, champagne, port, spirits, etc in the UK for £5.99 a bottle (delivery for orders over £39.99 is free) and internationally for £19.99 a bottle.  The bottles are shipped in beautiful silk-lined wooden boxes and you get to choose a delivery date too.  I’ve never once had a problem with an order.

Splat Cooking  have an amazing range of cooking kits, sprinkles, aprons,  utensils, glitter… in fact everything you”ll need for both pressies AND cooking this Christmas.

And finally, I had a lovely email from Natasha at the Handpicked Collection  who’d gone to enormous trouble choosing loads of fab gifts for the entire English mob, including:

This box of classic jokes for naughty #2 (don’t encourage him, Natasha):

A wicked rocket for The Mad Professor:

This beautiful pink clock for Madame Turtle, my adorable niece:  

A Jacques Bounceback net for sporty nephew Jackson:

Some fabulous Normann Copenhagen Cognac Glasses for Sensible Uncle I:

A beyoootiful bracelet for Auntie L:

A gorgeous Abahna Foam Blending Set for English Grandma to spoil herself with:

For Hubby, a Dream Bank savings box to keep those pennies safe:

And this fabulous ‘wake me up at…’ badge for Mad Uncle Alg to wear when he nods off on the train (and she professes not to have met him?  She’s too good):

And last but not least, my favourite choice – a leather ‘posh slapper’ fly swat for the Disreputable One.

Fantastic.  But if you don’t have the lovely Natasha to pick gifts for the family, I hope I’ve given you a few ideas.  And let’s face it, there’s always the 24 hour petrol station on 24th if you get desperate.