Victorian Farm Christmas

In case you hadn't seen this one it's the first part of a Victorian Farm Christmas on BBC 2 this evening at 9.00pm, or you'll be able to catch it again later on BBC iPlayer I'm sure.

What did Santa bring you this year?

Make your own White Christmas

With Christmas only two weeks away, you might want to start thinking about what you're going to feed all your guests this year. Well, why not make all their Christmases white with this simple recipe for a delicious festive treat from down under?

White Christmas

250g vegetable shortening
1 cup rice crispies
1 cup shredded coconut
¾ cup icing sugar
1 cup powdered milk
¾ cup toasted almond kernels
30g mixed peel
30g preserved ginger
30g glace apricots
30g glace pineapple
30g sultanas
50g glace cherries

Place the coconut, icing sugar, powered milk, mixed fruit, nuts, cherries (all chopped coarsely), and the rice crispies into a bowl and mix well.

Warm the vegetable shortening gently until melted and then pour over the ingredients. Mix well and place in a airtight container and set in the fridge.

Serve sliced into fingers.

Enjoy!

Ice, ice, baby

Amazing as it may seem, the following are all pictures of ice. They are entirely natural.


You can see more of these incredible images here and here.

The power of water never ceases to amaze me, and that of ice likewise. Check these out to see what I mean.

Now that's what I call dedication!

Nicola Simons calculates that she's already munched her way through 600 mince pies this year - and she hasn't finished yet! But then Nicola, 25, is the bakery product developer for Sainsbury's and responsible for creating the supermarket's seasonal range.

"Part of my job involves tasting every product, including mince pies, Christmas cakes and puddings from all our competitors, as well as reviewing our own range," she explains.

And she estimates that while developing this year's mince pies, she has chomped her way through 17kg of pastry and 18kg of mincemeat - approximately 23 jars.

"I usually spend around 12 hours a week eating, but in the run-up to Christmas this can be up to 21 hours," she adds.

To read more about Nicola's extraordinary dedication to perfecting the perfect mince pie, click here. And if you want to know what mince pies should really taste like, you can find an original Medieval recipe in What is Myrrh Anyway? available now!

JG on BBC Radio WM this Friday

With only 16 days to go until Christmas Day itself(!) you're going to start finding me popping up from time to time in the media.

First off, if you live in the Birmingham area, you can listen to me on Ed Doolan's show on BBC Radio WM on Friday 11 December, between about 1.15 and 2.00pm. I'm going to be on talking about the origins of familiar Christmas traditions and fielding questions from callers.

So, why not call in with your own burning Christmas-related query and I'll do my best to help!

Merry Xmas!

Every year more than 400 million people celebrate Christmas around the globe, which makes it one of the biggest religious and commercial festivities in the world.

But have you ever wondered why Christmas is so often shortened to Xmas?

In fact, the practice dates back further than you might suspect, ans has nothing to do with devaluing the Christian festival, as many people believe. In reality, both Christ and Christmas have been abbreviated for at least 1,000 years. The word Christ appears in Medieval documents as both 'XP' and 'Xt' and can even be found in this form in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle from 1021. By why were those particular letters used?

To find out more, pick up your copy of What is Myrrh Anyway? in time for the festive season. After all, there's only 17 days to go until Christmas! (Or should that be Xmas?)