Count Down of the Silly Season!!

Well it's officially the last day of Spring, the last day of November and I think those of you like myself with kids start to panic know that tomorrow is the start of a new day and not just any day December 1st, the day we start counting down to the Jolly man in the big red suit jumps down the chimney.  For my husband and I, this is our sons first year he will really understand Christmas, especially as now he can actually start to string together a sentence, generally with words such as "I Want," and "Me" everything you want at Christmas time. All I know is this, basically if you have kids you have 2 weeks left of your sanity before; school, ELC, co-curricular activities and even child care all close their doors to us. I love seeing all the parents go back to work, come mid-January, exhausted, bags under their eyes and I can almost imagine these tiny little humans running frantically around the house while Mumma and Daddy are sitting in the corner hugging their knees and rocking...... so maybe I am over exaggerating just a little!  

Our little man is full of energy, a lot of work, but we love him dearly and it is a matter of keeping him occupied with different Christmas activities, painting, helping me cook, wrapping presents, play dates etc. (and less Pinot Noir happy hours for Mumma).

We will be doing the 12 days of Christmas on our Blog soon, but let's not jump the gun too quickly, it is still November 30. So, make sure you have organised your Christmas cake, have your fruit soaking if you haven't made your cake already. Also, for Christmas shopping, head over to our facebook page and have a look at Serendipity's range of accessories and baby blankets. Some are now available through etsy.com any questions just send me an email serendipity.designstudio1@gmail.com

To finish off today's blog I wanted to start the season with one of my favourite recipes from the lovely Nigella Lawson:

SNOW-FLECKED BROWNIES

Makes 20

Ingredients

375g unsalted Butter

375g Dark Chocolate

6 eggs

350g Caster sugar

1 tbs vanilla extract

225g plain flour

1tsp salt

250g white chocolate buttons

2 tsp icing sugar for dusting

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line the sides of a base of a 33 x 23 x 5.5cm baking tin with foil or baking paper. Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan over a low heat. In a bowl or large measuring jug, beat the eggs together with the caster sugar and vanilla extract. Allow the chocolate to cool a little,then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and salt. Then stir in the white chocolate buttons or chopped white chocolate. Beat to combine then scrape and pour the brownie mixture into prepared tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes. You can see when the brownies are ready because the top dries to a slightly paler brown speckle, while the middle remains dark, dense and gooey. Even with such a big batch you do need to keep checking on it; the difference between gungey brownies and dry ones in only a few minutes. Remember, too, that they will continue to cook as they cool.

To serve, cut into squares while still warm and pile up on a large plate and sprinkle with icing sugar.**

Have a fabulous week everyone.

And please head over to our facebook page and tell your friends too.

Enjoy,

Tammy xx

**Nigella Lawson, "Feast, Food That Celebrates Life," 2004, recipe has been slightly altered.