Xmas goodies

I picked one of the hottest days in December to do my annual xmas bake. With 36degree heat at 10am in the morning, and the oven being on from 10am-8:30pm that night, lets just say I was more than a little hot, tired and cranky. But, in the end, I managed to get everything done. However, I was so busy I didn't get a chance to take photos of everything I made. Plus I was forever covered in flour and sweat and I didn't want to destroy my camera forever.

Cranberry and pistachio biscotti

Clockwise: Cranberry and pistachio biscotti, peanut butter cookies, shortbread, rocky road, orange and almost biscotti

The great thing about having a big family, is that I sat everyone down at the end of the night to help me start wrapping! There were over 60 packages to sort, wrap, tie and decorate. I did manage to finish before midnight which was a good thing! I kept everything in my room as I was worried the kids would eat everything, so it meant I woke up smelling the bakery in my room ;)

Top right: Pineapple and strawberry jam

Too bad my strawberry plants didn't have strawberries before I made the jam, otherwise it would've been home grown and home made strawberries. But then, my neice was raiding the strawberry plant every day and there was barely any left for me to eat! Same goes with my raspberry tree. I managed to get 2 whole raspberries off it before the kids ate everything!

One of my big plump sun riped strawberries