Blogmas Top of the Pops

Ok, so I’m not doing Blogmas this year as 2016’s attempt was challenge enough in a month that is already insanely busy.

Instead, I’m bringing you the highlights of my top 5 Blogmas 2016 posts as they seemed to be enjoyed so much that I thought I’d recycle some Christmas cheer. These chart-topping 5 posts were calculated from comments, likes and views and in true Top of the Pops Christmas number 1 countdown-style, we’ll kick-off the most popular posts at number five with…

Merry Christmas!

To all of you reading this and to all of you who have been reading my daily blogmas posts this month,

Thank you.

I can’t explain what it means to have seen the visitor stats, to receive notifications of post likes and comments every day, and to have people talk to me about my posts in face-to-face conversation too.

My Christmas gift to you

Every Christmas morning, my dad asks us “Are we having Christmas with Bing? With Frank? With Nat? With Dean? Or with the whole bunch?” We then have music playing whilst we open our presents and throughout Christmas Day.

So my Christmas gift to you all is

A boozy Christmas

For no particular reason, there are some drinks that I only drink at Christmas time and I know I’m not the only one. Yes, I’m thinking of Baileys, port, sloe gin, brandy and anything hot and mulled.

To really make the most of some of these drinks, I’ve pulled together some great cocktail recipes from Difford’s Guide and with the experienced help of my brother and sister-in-law so that you won’t be dragging that bottle of Baileys from one Christmas to the next (you know I’m not wrong here!)

Food, food, food

As we prepare for the biggest week of eating most of us do all year, I thought I’d post a few healthy Christmas snack suggestions so that we can at least pretend that we’re not forgetting the well-balanced meals and snacks we’ve tried hard to stick with throughout the rest of the year!

To avoid you having to spend even more money on food, I thought about what people are likely to already have in the house as part of the ‘big shop’ for Christmas.

When all hell breaks loose

That’s right, I’m referring to playing board games with your family. Rowdy, loud, argumentative or just plain hysterical, playing games at Christmas is such a great thing to do.

From classics such as Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit, to more recent games such as Articulate and Cranium.

Other than England…

…or wherever your home country is, where would you like to spend Christmas? Is there somewhere you’ve been that you’d like to go to again for Christmas? Or is there somewhere you’ve never been to that you’d love to visit at Christmas time?

As a family, we have had Christmas in a few different places over the years and it doesn’t bother me if we’re not at home in the UK, which I know doesn’t ring true for a lot of people. For me, home is wherever my family is so the actual location isn’t the most relevant aspect of our festivities but I’ve had lots of friends say it wouldn’t feel like Christmas if they weren’t at home.

Mulled wine and mulled cider

It’s been so cold and foggy the past few evenings that it makes me want to curl up with a blanket in front of a fire and drink delicious hot drinks. Whilst I’m not a big tea or coffee drinker, I’d happily drink mulled wine or mulled cider. The smell alone of these cooking is enough to make me feel instantly warm and cosy, and of course festive too.

My 2016 review

We’re a week from Christmas and two weeks from the end of the year, so I thought I’d do a little review of my 2016 highlights. I’m not one to set New Year’s resolutions but I try to work hard and have lots of fun every year and 2016 has been no exception.

Christmas cocktail party

I was planning on a Christmas cocktail party this year but, timing-wise, it just didn’t fit. I have organised numerous parties and events over the years though. So, for those who are still planning to host a festive get-together, I’ve created the following guide to help minimise some of the stress and ensure you don’t forget anything.