Board games
Got a summer wedding on the horizon and racking your brain for a unique gift? This name engraved chopping (or cheese?) board is sure to win the clever present prize.
Special delivery
Delight your little elf on Christmas morning with this personalised cotton-lined hessian sack, which will look like it’s come straight off the back of Santa’s sleigh and landed under the tree.
www.etsy.com/au/shop/MonetandSox
Dear Diary
The writer in your life will be thrilled to see their name embossed across the cover of this beautiful, bespoke, leather-bound diary.
Haven review
Do you ever contemplate taking a family trip but it all seems too hard? Wonder how you’d stay sane with a toddler on a long-haul flight? Does travelling with your kids give you a sense of terror rather than joy? If the answer is yes, then Travel Without Tears is for you. This practical and entertaining survival guide is essential reading for anyone contemplating a family holiday. It is packed with ideas and inspiration for where to go and when to do it, as well as practical tips to help you through every stage, from booking and planning, to coping on the road or in the air, and getting your kids fully engaged in the experience.
Tastemaker RRP $19.99
www.travelwithouttears.com
Haven food
Yvette’s Christmas cookies
Our Haven Win contestant shares her festive tip recipe.
Cookie ingredients:
- 450g softened butter
- 2 ½ cups icing sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or essence
- 2 eggs
- 5 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- Icing ingredients:
- 2½ cups icing sugar
- ½ cup (115grams) softened butter
- Little bit of milk
Method:
Cream together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix in.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, bicarbonate and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time. Mix well with your hands until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half and wrap each portion in cling wrap. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Roll out dough 5mm thick on lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter (use a festive cutter if you like). If the dough becomes too soft and is difficult to roll, put it back in the fridge and roll out the other half.
Bake in the oven until they just start turning brown around the edges – about 8-12 minutes. Watch them very carefully because they brown quickly.
Icing:
Mix together the icing sugar and butter with an electric mixer. Add a little milk (and a drop of food colouring if you’d like coloured icing) until it is the right consistency to spread or pipe on your cooled cookies.
These cookies freeze well… or you can just eat them right away!
