JenniferI love everything about Christmas from the clear, crisp winter days to the exotic spices baked into biscuits to the decorations and family gathering. And yet Christmas is a relatively new holiday for me: I’m Jewish, and didn’t celebrate Christmas until I met my husband. Just as we have blended families, we now combine holidays in a wonderful mix that is all our own.
Every Christmas I make my own wreath, and this year I’m taking inspiration from Energising Hip and Thigh Gel and Energising Body Scrub, using pine and butcher’s broom to form the body of the wreath, with bluey grey accents from rosemary, olive and eucalyptus leaves from my garden. This autumn, ivy has been in flower all through the woods around my New Forest home. So, the clusters of dark blue ivy berries will be the perfect foil for the colour of whole dried oranges. And, of course, I’ll be finishing my masterpiece with a Signature blue bow! Our Christmas tree comes from a plantation on our doorstep, and if my husband has his way, will arrive the week before Christmas with our first guests. Decorating it is a family affair, complete with homemade eggnog to ensure that it isn’t too perfect.
I’m like a little kid on Christmas morning, wide awake by 5 and impatient with the rest of the household as they snooze the day away. I can’t wait to see their faces when they unwrap the treasures I’ve collected for them (including plenty of Liz Earle in a vain attempt to safeguard my own stash). This year, along with the traditional sugar mice, clementines, candy canes and chocolate oranges, the stockings in our house will be replete with travel sizes of our new Foot Scrub (UK, IE & US) and Foot Repair (UK, IE & US). When the kids were little, they’d wake us in the early hours to plunder their stockings and piles of gifts beneath the tree. Now it takes the lure of pancakes and coffee to coax them downstairs…and never before 7.
Hanukkah, the festival of lights, is the Jewish holiday closest to Christmas, and everyone loves latkes, the potato pancakes associated with the eight nights of celebrating. Just the smell takes me back to the warmth and noise of my grandmother’s kitchen. I grew up in a house where food was the most important part of every holiday, each with its specific dishes, and my approach to Christmas is the same. As well as the traditional turkey, I’ll be making fresh cranberry and orange zest sauce, a recipe passed down from my mother who makes it every Thanksgiving. It’s a great way to get all the benefits from eating the super-tart berries fresh.
Once Christmas dinner is in the oven, we put on wellies, scarves and Superbalm (UK, IE & US) for the mile meander down to the village pub, dogs, children and guests in tow. Cheeks red with cold and holiday cheer, we make our way back to dinner and the obligatory snooze on the sofa. Nothing makes me happier than a houseful of people I love napping in harmony.
I’d love to hear what you’re up to this Christmas, so if you have any special recipes or traditions leave me a comment in the box below.