IT'S CHRIIIIIIISTMMAAAAAAASSS!

Merry Christmas and God Jul!

As Christmas it a bit all over the place this year I though I would catch up with some blogging as I've been a bit rubbish with everything going on. - On a side note, I have a giant cupcake featured in Love Baking magazine this month, so please check it out!

As you know I am in Norway for Christmas and celebrated mainly on Christmas Eve with more celebration today. It was amazing to wake up to a blanket of snow this Christmas morning thinking of everyone in England opening their presents. I did manage to catch the last of my family in Southampton opening theirs via skype, was great to see my little and big brother enjoying their gifts. I also promised to show my little brother all the snow we had so skype was really handy in the end!

I did actually have what we call 'mini Christmas' there a couple of weeks ago. I like to see my little brother open the presents from me (that Father Christmas dropped off early as he'd been a good boy!) so I can join in some of the fun. He also gets so many he'll be overwhelmed with things to play with, so we all swap present then. This is the first year I've been able to buy proper presents for everyone now that I have a real job! So I let my brothers open all of theirs, but only let my dad and stepmum open one so they kept the special ones for Christmas day.  I also got my presents early too!

As we came last minute to Norway my mum and I decided to open ours to each other early too! Would be pointless to bring them all here just to bring them back, so yay! I've picked out the presents I got related to baking to show off, I absolutely love them! I got some lovely normal presents too but I thought you'd be more interested in these goodies as I'm sure they'll be featuring in future posts.

So, the baking gifts received:

• Wilton cupcake tin
• Wilton cake leveler
• Wilton pink cupcake stand
• Wilton red icing
• Mrs Beeton pie dish
• Mrs Beeton shortbread mould
• Rachel Allen baking set
• Set of large piping nozzles from T.K Maxx

I loooove pieces from the Wilton range, but find them expensive so don't usually buy them for myself much. I'm so made up with the tin, as you know I know I normally do the stand alone cupcakes, and generally love everything to do with cupcakes so will be nice to keep the same theme but do a lying down one. There's also so many ways to decorate so I can't wait for my first excuse to use it. The red icing is also soooo handy, as this was one I got for mini Christmas I managed to get a lot of use from it with the gingerbread baubles.

I also love my cupcake stands but most don't hold many, this one is pretty huge compared to other cardboard ones I have and they're of the royal wedding theme so only go with so much, this one is far more general. The Rachel Allen baking set I've have my eye on for a long long time, every time I saw it in Tesco I would just pick it up and hug like a child! (yes I am mental). The same goes for the Mrs Beeton ones...I'd love to think I'm not that conventional but damnit I am, I want to bake pies and shortbread all day! I actually really love that the pie funnel is a lilac/blue bird!! I did in fact have a leveler....but I broke it, so am so glad I got a new one I really can't cut straight enough myself. And as for the piping nozzles...well...I have a bit of a piping fetish and want to pipe onto everything, I have in fact been able to use these already in my Christmas Cupcakes post.

I'm sure when I'm back you will all see these gifts used in various posts so look out for those! Pin It Now!