Full On Elf Mode with Dancing...

Look at these, aren't they great? A superb present idea that only required me to walk to our local shop to buy some chocolate drops. The rest of the components I already had at home.

You can search the internet for ideas but the the chocolate brownie one is from here. The other jar is gingerbread. The jar includes all the dry ingredients to make a batch of brownies. The recipient just has to follow the instructions on the tag - add melted butter and an egg etc...

After rifling through my cupboards making these gift jars I found a surprising amount of half opened bags of dried fruit. I was not going to make a Christmas cake this year because it has taken me eight years to realise that it is only me who eats it but making one seemed the best way to get the cupboard tidy. 

To solve the problem of eating a 9 inch cake to myself (that is not a joke) I split the mixture between two tins and I will freeze the smaller one for later in the year. Big Sis likes a piece or two but Bloke and Little M don't eat it at all. 

I varied the recipe a bit to accommodate the fruit I had so it includes dried cranberries and blueberries instead of so many currants so I am hoping it will be deliciously fruity.

A day to myself today, I am going into full elf mode - music, occasional solo kitchen dancing, Christmas card writing and present wrapping. 

Happy Days. Jo xxx