Turn up the carols and start making and baking your own DIY Christmas gifts for friends and family
Pop plants (that’s plants that pop!)
You will need:
• Terracotta pot
• Masking tape
• Small paintbrush
• Water-based paint
• Glitter
To make:
Use masking tape to cover the terracotta pot just below the lip. Paint the lip in a solid colour and wait 30 minutes to dry. Give it a second coat with the same colour. Before it dries, sprinkle with glitter.
Cinnamon sugar mixed nuts
(Makes 4 cups)
Ingredients:
– 4 cups mixed raw nuts of choice
– 1 egg white
– 1 Tbsp water
– 2 Tbsp spiced rum
– ½ cup white sugar
– ½ cup brown sugar
– 3 tsp ground cinnamon
– 1 tsp salt
– ¼ -½ tsp cayenne pepper
To make:
– Preheat oven to 150°C. Line two oven trays with baking paper.
– In a large bowl, combine nuts.
– In a small bowl, whisk egg white and water together for a few minutes until frothy and foamy. Stir in rum. Pour mixture over nuts. Add the white and brown sugars, cinnamon, salt and cayenne. Toss well to coat nuts evenly.
– Spread nuts in single layer on trays. Bake 25-30 minutes, stirring often, until evenly crisp and caramelised.
Orange & dark chocolate Christmas cake
(Serves 12)
Ingredients:
– 1kg mixed fruit
– ½ cup orange juice
– ½ cup orange liqueur
– 200g butter, softened
– 1 cup brown sugar
– 4 eggs
– 1½ cups plain flour, sifted
– ½ cup unsalted macadamias, chopped
– 100g dark chocolate, chopped
– ½ cup halved macadamias
– Icing sugar, to dust
To make:
– Preheat oven to 160°C. Lightly grease and double line a deep 20cm round cake pan with baking paper.
– In a large non-metallic bowl, combine mixed fruit, orange juice and liqueur. Set aside, covered, overnight.
– In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour, fruit and liquid, chopped macadamias and chocolate.
– Spoon mixture into pan, smoothing top. Cover with halved macadamias. Bake 3 hours (cover with foil if cake is getting too brown) until cooked when tested. Cool. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Rosemary oatmeal facial scrub and mask
You will need:
– Oats
– Small amount of dried rosemary
– Mason jar
– Cardboard for instructions tag
– Ribbon or string
To make:
– Make the scrub by grinding the oats and dried rosemary into a finely ground mix with a blender.
– Pour the mix into the Mason jar (but any jar or container will do).
– Write the directions (above) on the back of the cardboard tag.
– Punch a hole into the tag and secure with string to the jar lid.
To use:
For the mask, combine a small amount with warm water. Apply to face and neck, massaging gently. Wait 20 minutes, and then rinse.
For the scrub, use to exfoliate the face, avoiding the eye area, then rinse with warm water immediately.
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