Welcome to Delicious December!
Delicious? Well, whatever your festivity, this is the month of traditional edible treats, be it the Big Day gastronomic feast and the smell of roasting turkey filling the house with tasty smells, baking a Christmas cake or gingerbread, steeping some spices into mulled wine, popping some mince pies or sausage rolls in the oven to warm, peeling some fruity clementines as they burst, having a cheeky sherry with a pop-in guest, or baking some Boxing Day potatoes to enjoy with the cold cuts, this time of year is filled with delicious aromas and we all love it and cherish the memories that come with it and of course a bit of Bublé in the background adds to the festive joy. We have a full house this Christmas and my famous LIZTINI cocktail always goes down well, here’s the recipe and it’s a doddle to make.
LIZTINI
50mls Vodka
50mls Limoncello
35mls Pomegranate Juice (or you can use Cranberry)
10mls Lime Cordial
10mls fresh Lime juice
Pop each ingredient into a cocktail shaker or large jam jar plus some ice-cubes, give a vigorous shake, strain and pour into a martini glass. Enjoy!
If you’ve never read his iconic best-selling book, I urge you to treat yourself to Gary Chapmans The Five Love Languages; it is truly revolutionary and shows how each of us will have a predominant love language, be that… gifts, time, physical, acts of service, or words of affirmation. Of course, this plays out well within the context of a relationship with your spouse, close friend and members of your family, but also stretches to the people you do life with and when you not only learn about your own, but those people too, it is incredibly enlightening. When as a couple we did ours, I asked Mark what he felt his love languages were (thinking I knew) and he claimed them all. No pressure then!
At this time of year, to filter those you are giving gifts to with the understanding of what their love language is, is super helpful. If someone loves to receive gifts, then they’ll of course love this time of year! But what if they’d just love time with you? Time is a precious commodity and most of us feel we don’t have enough of it, but if you have an older person in your life, it’s generally all they want especially if they live alone. So, how about parcelling up some ‘pockets of time’ not in the least bit to be patronising, but more to give them things to look forward to. A hand or foot massage, a gentle stroll, a game of Scrabble, looking through a photo album or watching their favourite movie together will cost you nothing but to them could be treasure. A promise of a back massage, hug or snuggle on the sofa totally speaks to someone who loves physical touch and ‘vouchers’ from you to be redeemed for some help with shopping, decorating, dog walking, window cleaning, garden weeding or babysitting are cherished by someone who values acts of service and to write some beautiful, thoughtful words of affirmation, memory, positive scriptures or poetry, or a hand-written letter that can be read over and over again will mean the world to a person who values words and being affirmed.
So, when you look at it like this, there are many resources at your fingertips you might not have thought of that will cost you little but reap huge reward to the recipient.
Enjoy this beautiful month dear friends and if per chance you are still gift shopping, we have some beautiful gifts of all price points, have a little look here.
My love, Liz xx