Tag: christmas

Xmas Recipe: Gingerbread Christmas Trees

By on 12th December 2015in Food & Drink, Lifestyle

Nothing says ‘Christmas’ like gingerbread…

 

Ingredients:

  • 120g Greenvale Unsalted Butter
  • 150g The Pantry Demerara Sugar
  • 150g Grandessa Honey
  • 350g The Pantry Plain Flour
  • 1 tsp The Pantry Bicarbonate of Soda
  • 3 tsp Stonemill Ground Ginger
  • 1 tsp Stonemill Ground Cinnamon

To Decorate:

  • 100g Icing Sugar, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tbsp Water
  • Silver Ball Decorations

Method:

To begin with, slowly melt the butter, sugar and honey in a pan, then sieve together all of the remaining ingredients. When the sugar, butter and honey have completely melted, they can be added to the dry ingredients and mixed until well combined.

When the dough is cool enough to handle, knead and form a ball, and then leave it in the fridge (wrapped in cling film) for half an hour to become more manageable.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas mark 6.

When the dough has cooled, roll it out between two pieces of greaseproof paper to about half a centimetre thick, and – using 3 different sized star cutters – cut out 4 large stars, 4 medium stars and 8 small stars.

Place the stars on a baking tray and press the dough back together. Roll it out again and cut out the same amount of stars.

Bake them for 4-8 minutes (you may have to remove the smaller stars earlier as the larger ones will take longer to cook).

While the biscuits cool, make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and water.

To complete the gingerbread Christmas trees, place a small amount of icing on a big star, and then stack the stars on top of each other in size order, using the icing to bind them together.

Decorate with a dusting of icing sugar and the silver balls.

Makes:

  • 4 large or 8 small trees

Ready:

  • 20 minutes

Prep Time:

  • 10 minutes

Cook Time:

  • 8 minutes

Have you followed this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below!

5 DIY Christmas Gifts That Won’t Break The Bank

By on 9th December 2015in Lifestyle

Sophie Appleton shares five DIY creations to keep Christmas crafty…

 

 

I’m a big fan of Christmas, but like most of us, I’m no stranger to opening up my purse and having a few festive moths fly out of it. The familiar “Yikes, only one more pay day before Christmas” feeling is something we can all relate to, but it can be beaten!

DIY gifts are a dangerous game to play with less than a month before the big day, but if you do it right, you can come up with something that will be as well-received as it is cheap.

So if you’re struggling with the pre-Christmas panic, check out my top five DIY Christmas gifts…

1. DIY Scrabble Art

 

Now that our smartphones have replaced most of our board games, it’s time to fish out your old Scrabble box and put those letters to good use. You can even buy sets of assorted letter tiles on eBay or Amazon for very cheap, and if you’re clever about it, you can get two or three gifts out of just one set of letters!

Combine the letters to make names and words, then glue them down in a frame along with photos or trinkets. Use scraps of wrapping paper, wall paper or magazine cuttings for a background to make the gift that extra bit special.

If you can’t get your hands on Scrabble tiles, a great alternative is to create a Word Cloud. Visit wordle.net, enter a list of words (or names), then click create. Now you have a personalised piece of art to put in a frame and wrap up!

2. The Lazy Man’s Cookbook

 

Cook books are always a great gift, and at Christmas time there are plenty to be found on shop shelves… at a premium price. But what if your loved ones just don’t cook? What if no matter how quick Jamie Oliver makes his meals, it’s still not quick enough?

If that’s the case, give them a cook book they’ll really appreciate… The Student/Bachelor Cookbook!

Buy a ring binder and decorate the front cover with their name and a funny message, then have a walk around the town to collect heaps of takeaway menus (or if you’re extra lazy and you don’t fancy tackling the busy streets and freezing weather, get them posted through the letterbox). Put them all in the ring binder and – depending on how many you have – add a contents page and dividers for different types of food.

3. DIY Kid’s Cushions

 

There’s nothing kids love more than making a mess, and with time off school they’re bound to do it at some point. So… you might as well get a gift out of it!

Find an old cushion (or pick one up for cheap online) and create a fun design using their paint-covered hands and feet. Accessorise using scraps of material from old clothing tied into bows, or stitch on some sequins and googly eyes to give it extra character. Don’t forget to sign and date it so you can embarrass the kids later in their teens!

4. Personalised Candles

 

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of a present for her is a candle. Nobody can have enough candles, and especially not in the winter months. Yankee jars are the obvious choice, but why burn a hole in your pocket when you can make them yourself?

That afternoon tea set you’ve been saving for a raining day for the last fifteen years is finally going to come in handy here, or alternatively you can nip to the local charity shop for a nice, pretty cup and saucer.

Place wax beads (or even just some old, half-burnt candles of your own) in a bowl over a pan of hot water, or in a slow cooker (with a non-stick insert). For colour, use a vegetable peeler to shave bits of crayon into the wax, and stir to blend. Add more shavings for darker colour. Place a wick into the centre of the cup, and pour the wax into it. Leave it over night to harden, trim the wick, and simply wrap with cellophane and tie with a ribbon. Lovely!

 

5. Bespoke Chocolate Slabs

 

On a rainy December Saturday, this is a great one to keep the kids busy… and it’s great value for money. Chocolate slabs are worth upwards of £7 in fancy chocolate shops, but can be made at home for next to nothing.

Grab a silicone cake or loaf tin (pound shops recommended), then melt two or three bars of supermarket chocolate. You can find a good selection of milk, dark, and white chocolate for around 40p each, but anything more expensive is a bit of a non-starter, cost-wise. Fill the melted chocolate with jellies, popping candy, nuts or marshmallows. Decorate it however you like – perhaps with their name or favourite treats? Pop it in the fridge to set, and then wrap it in a clear bag of cellophane and some ribbon. Yummy!

Santa Claus On His Way To Wynyard Hall This Christmas

By on 7th December 2015in Local Biz, What's On?

A North East attraction, which has received thousands of visitors since it opened in autumn, is preparing to welcome the most important of all; Father Christmas…

From Friday 18th to Wednesday 23rd December, The Walled Garden, in the grounds of Wynyard Hall Hotel, Tees Valley, will play host to Santa Claus, who will be giving a Christmas present to each child he meets.

And, while children visit his special grotto in the doorway of the historic gardener’s cottage, their parents will be able to snap up festive fare and Christmas gifts in the shop within the visitor centre.

Shoppers can choose from a wide range of seasonal homeware and gardening items along with a variety of cakes, preserves, cheese and meat, sourced from suppliers in the North East and North Yorkshire.

In addition, the visitor centre houses a café overlooking the garden, which serves main meals and light snacks.

Santa’s grotto will be open between 11am and 3pm each day and tickets, which cost £8 per child or £21 for three children, must be bought in advance online at www.wynyardhall.co.uk.

The £5 admission fee to the garden will be waived for up to two adults per child.

Hundreds Gather At Metrocentre For Christmas 1K Elf Run

By on 7th December 2015in In & Around

North East families have dusted off their elf costumes for the second intu Elf Run at intu Eldon Square and intu Metrocentre…

 

Over 1,000 excitable elves took to the region’s favourite shopping malls to take part in the 1km charity fun run.

Participating elves paid £10 to enter the race and received an elf T-shirt and hat, an ‘official helper’ certificate from Santa and a well deserved runner’s medal for completing the fun run.

Santa’s little helpers also showed their Christmas spirit by fundraising on behalf of The Percy Hedley Foundation, and bringing in unwrapped presents for Santa to distribute to children in the North East.

First off the starting blocks at intu Metrocentre was Lisa Clark, from Hebburn, and her children Owen, Ewan and Freya. Lisa said: “It was a really fun event to take part in. The kids just sprinted ahead when the race began! Can’t wait to do it again.”

Clair Williams, from Kenton, who attended the run with her husband Simon and their sons Thomas and Luke, said: “It was a really fun day for the whole family. The kids love their medals and certificates, and would love to come back again.”

At intu Eldon Square, Maria Bokhari from High Heaton attended the run with her children Zavi, age 6, and Ariana, age 2. Maria said: “We’ve had a great morning at the fun run. Everyone involved was so enthusiastic, and there was a wonderful atmosphere with all the little elves running around!”

Mary Dowson, from Morpeth, completed the run with her children Leo, age 10, Lorenzo, age 7, Lewi, age 6, and Rowon, age 3. Mary said: “This is our second year doing the run. My kids haven’t slept all night as they were so excited about taking part! It’s a fabulous event and a great way to support a local charity. We’ve had a fantastic time, although I’m completely out of breath now!”

Karen Carr, intu regional marketing manager, North, said: “We’re delighted with the response we’ve had to our second intu Elf Run. The atmosphere on the malls has been joyful with lots of new little elves taking part as well as some who ran last year. Christmas may be a time of indulgence, but these unique 1k indoor family fun runs are a great opportunity for our shoppers to get active, get elfy, and get into the festive spirit whilst raising valuable funds for The Percy Hedley Foundation, an organisation recognised nationally and internationally as leading the way in the provision of specialist, high quality, and innovative services for disabled people.”

Wynyard Hall Farm Shop To Host Christmas Shopping Evenings

By on 6th December 2015in Local Biz

Shoppers can snap up some last minute Christmas gifts and festive fare at two special events being held by the North East’s newest attraction this month…

Following the success of its annual Christmas fayre, Wynyard Hall Hotel, Tees valley, is hosting festive shopping evenings, on Thursday 10th and 17th December, at its recently opened Walled Garden farm shop.

And, along with the chance to purchase some of the finest locally sourced gifts and ingredients, visitors will be given special price discounts at each event.

A glass of Prosecco will be served to each visitor on arrival and they will also be able to sample some of the food lines on sale at the farm shop, overlooking the multi-million pound rose garden.

“I have personally selected – and sampled – every food item on sale in the farm shop,” said Wynyard Hall’s Managing Director Allison Antonopoulos.

“And, as it is of the utmost importance to me to showcase local suppliers, we have some fabulous lines, from the likes of Norton-based Blackwells Butchers, the Acorn Dairy, near Darlington and Proof of the Pudding, Northumberland.

“There are also dressings and condiments from Great Taste award-winners Wildon Grange, County Durham, real ales from the Black Paw Brewery, at Bishop Auckland and vintage sweets, courtesy of Hartlepool-based Carnaby’s Treats.”

Shoppers can also choose from a wide range of gardening items, Christmas decorations, handmade cards and gifts and seasonal homeware, including cushions, throws and scarves by Yorkshire-based Bronte by Moon, one of the UK’s few remaining woollen mills. 

The festive shopping evenings will take place between 6pm and 8pm. Attendance is free, but those who pre-register at www.wynyardhall.co.uk/events will receive a voucher entitling them to a 10 per cent discount on purchases of £40 or over.

Top Festive Tips For Looking After Your Teeth This Christmas

By on 5th December 2015in Lifestyle

A top North East dentist is giving out timely advice for the festive season to ensure that the New Year doesn’t herald problems with teeth…

The inevitable celebrations at this time of year also bring in their wake late nights, too much alcohol and too many caffeine-rich fizzy drinks to help stay awake the following day – which can be hugely detrimental to teeth, according to one of the UK’s leading cosmetic dentists.

Dr Ken Harris, who runs Riveredge Cosmetic Dentistry in Sunderland and Newcastle, believes the round-the-clock party lifestyle that many people indulge in at this time of year can really take its toll on teeth.

And now he is highlighting some useful advice to help people in the run-up to Christmas.

“It’s that time of year when people are constantly out celebrating, with late nights and more alcohol that usual,” said Dr Harris, who has almost 35 years’ experience working in general dental practice.

“This can lead to dehydration and reduce the flow of saliva, which helps protect teeth, putting people at real risk of acid damage.

“Many people then compound the problem by drinking energy drinks to stay awake.  Carbonated drinks like these, even sugar-free versions, contain significant acid in the fizz which soften the enamel on your teeth, and if you then brush softened teeth, they wear down really fast.”

Dr Harris has the following tips for anyone who is planning to party in the next few weeks:-

  • Don’t brush your teeth straight after having carbonated drinks or fruit juice. This could actually damage teeth because tooth enamel would be softened by the acid.
  • Wait four hours after having fizzy drinks before brushing your teeth – giving the enamel time to harden up again.
  • Drink plenty of water, especially if you exercise a lot.
  • If you vomit, do not brush your teeth immediately, but rinse your mouth with water.

“It’s really important not to forget to look after your teeth at this time of year,” said Dr Harris.

“And also if you have any problems with your teeth, ensure you get them looked at before the festive season rather than wait until a time of year when there may only be emergency treatment available.

“Nobody wants Christmas and New Year spoiled by toothache or any other issues which could be avoided.”

For further information visit www.riveredge.co.uk.

Dr Harris is one of the UK’s foremost cosmetic dentists and a multi-award winner. With almost 35 years of experience, he has an MSc in Restorative & Aesthetic Dentistry, and is a Fellow of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

He is a member of the AACD (American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry) and acts as UK clinical director for California Center for Advanced Dental Studies in San Francisco along with lecturing around the globe.

Sunderland Urged To Shop Locally For Small Business Saturday

By on 4th December 2015in Local Biz

Shoppers in Sunderland are being urged to back local businesses and search for seasonal bargains closer to home…

Small Business Saturday, which runs nationwide on December 5th, is designed to raise awareness of small companies, including retailers, and help boost their footfall by encouraging more people to shop locally.

Sunderland’s Business Improvement District, Experience It Here, is backing the Government initiative, and urging the city’s residents and visitors to show their support on the day and beyond.

Ken Dunbar, Chief Executive of Sunderland BID, said: “There are a whole host of small and independent businesses in Sunderland, offering a wide range of amazing products, as well as outstanding levels of customer service.

“We hope that Small Business Saturday will help these retailers to step out of the shadows left by larger stores and household names, as well as encouraging more people to utilise them for their Christmas shopping.”

Small Business Saturday, which was first developed in the US, has been running in the UK for the past three years, with more than five million businesses expected to be involved in 2015.

It is being supported by Sunderland BID as part of a series of events designed to attract visitors to the city during the busy Christmas period.  This also includes the creation of a magical Frost Village around Keel Square, featuring an ice rink, market and fun fair.

For more information visit www.sunderlandchristmas.co.uk.

It Isn’t Time For Panto At Durham Gala Theatre (Oh Yes It Is)

By on 1st December 2015in Entertainment, Events

Pantomime fans are set to flock to Durham as Cinderella treads the boards at the city’s Gala Theatre…

The show began a six week run on Thursday 26th November, with many of the near sixty performances already sold out or close to capacity.

Robin Byers, Durham County Council’s service manager for place and experience, said: “Thousands of people enjoyed the Gala’s 2014 production of Aladdin, and I’m sure audiences will be delighted with what we’ve got in store this year.

“It’s really exciting for us to have pantomime regulars Neil Armstrong and Paul Hartley writing, directing and starring in Cinderella, as they bring a wealth of panto experience to the job and know exactly what Durham audiences love.

“Having already seen over 25,000 people book to see this year’s panto, we now can’t wait to open the curtains and welcome families to the show.”

 

The duo’s version of the enchanting rags-to-riches story will see Neil play the villainous Dan Meanie and Paul take on the role of the hapless Buttons.

Neil Armstrong said: “We’ve had a ball writing this year’s script, and had plenty of laughs along the way.”

Paul Hartley said: “We’ve a few surprises lined-up as we’ve aimed to add a few new twists, whilst ensuring we incorporate everything we’ve loved about panto at Gala.”

The pair will be joined on stage by Hazel Pude as Cinderella, whose life will be made a misery by Ugly Sisters John Carter and Paul Dunn.

 

It will be down to Sally Collett as the Fairy Godmother to wave her magic wand and cast a spell that will help Cinders win the heart of the handsome Prince Charming, played by James Hedley.

Cinderella runs at the Gala Theatre until Sunday 3rd January 2016.

Tickets are priced from £8, and are still available by calling the Gala Box Office on 03000 266 600, or online at www.galadurham.co.uk.

For the best availability, audiences are advised to book for matinee performances as soon as possible.

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Tiger Bills Kitchen: Consett Restaurant Taking Christmas Bookings

By on 30th November 2015in Food & Drink, Lifestyle

Consett’s most exciting new restaurant is now taking Christmas bookings. Here’s why you should book…

Tiger Bills Kitchen is a fresh, new and exciting establishment in the heart of Consett. Mixing Thai and Western, the menu is dynamic and offers something to suit everyone. We pride ourselves on being Consett’s local restaurant, sourcing our produce from within a 10 mile radius.

Our staff are all friendly and are always willing to help. Whether you require the table to be decorated for a special occasion, or are looking for advice on our menu, they will meet your every need.

We accommodate all occasions, from large tables next to a children’s play area, booths for a more intimate dining experience, or even larger areas for business and social events.

Our menu includes everything from BBQ Grills, to Thai Currys and salads. You can see the full menu here.

 

Trip Advisor: “Fantastic”
Had a fantastic night at Tiger Bills. Great food and service! Prices are very reasonable, and the steak was fantastic! Would definitely go again, and would recommend to family and friends!

Facebook:  “5*****”
Just had a fantastic meal for my birthday. Food was lovely and the staff were brilliant. Very friendly, great value, and I was even given a cocktail on the house as it was my birthday. Definitely will be going back!

To book a table with us, call us on 01207 506 002, or pop down and chat to one of our staff.

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Frosty Fun In Chester-le-Street For Christmas Light Switch On

By on 30th November 2015in In & Around

The Chester-le-Street Christmas lights are set to turn the town into a Winter Wonderland…

 

Residents and visitors to Chester-le-Street are invited to gather around the Christmas tree for the annual festive light switch on, taking place on Thursday 3rd December at 4pm.

They’ll be joined by the Town Crier, stilt walkers, Frosty the Snowman, and characters from Disney blockbuster Frozen.

Organisers have arranged for free parking after 3pm in all Durham County Council car parks throughout December, and businesses are set to remain open throughout the evening, meaning hot drinks and food will be available.

For more information, email chester-le-streetaap@durham.gov.uk.

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