Getting Christmas Wrapped Up with Hamper.com

December is fast approaching, and despite working two more jobs than I was this time last year, I feel that I've got this Christmas lark well and truly under control. I'm so organised that I actually hate myself right now. I've bought and wrapped presents, hand made a pom pom wreath , baked a Christmas cake, prepped ingredients (including a 2018 silver sixpence) for making a Christmas pudding on Stir it Up Sunday this weekend, and even planned my menus for the festive period. 

If you see me out and about with a smug grin on my face then kick me and tell me to get a grip and remind me that it's still only November!

LUXURY GIN HAMPER

Fortunately, for those of you that don't have Christmas wrapped up yet, there's still plenty of time for shopping before the big day. If you don't have the time or inclination to fight the crowds on the high street, or sift your way through the stream of 'hot deals' online, fear not, there is a simpler 'one stop' way to shop for your family and friends this Christmas, and you will barely have to lift a finger.

Whether your recipient is into wine, beer, gin, chocolate or even cheese, there are ready made Christmas hampers to suit all tastes and budgets at hampers.com.

I've received three such hampers, with the first being the Luxury Gin Hamper containing a half bottle of Hendrick's gin, a couple of Fever Tree tonics, chocolate limes, shortbread and olives. It arrived in a strong double walled cardboard box lined with wood shavings. The hamper.com website shows the contents of each box clearly on the page, in both the description and images scrolling underneath, and all hampers come with free UK delivery, and in many cases the delivery is next day.

CHRISTMAS CRACKER HAMPER

The second hamper I received was the Christmas Cracker hamper, which again arrived in a presentation box and was filled with treats to enjoy over Christmas, including a jar of luxury cranberry sauce and a Christmas pudding to serve 3-4.

CHOCOLATE INDULGENCE HAMPER

The final hamper would suit chocoholics out there, and is presented in a wicker basket, although disappointingly it wasn't the white one that was pictured on the website. There's a great selection of indulgent chocolate treats in the basket though, including a hot chocolate stick, truffles, popcorn and honeycomb.

LUXURY GIN HAMPER UNBOXED

Whilst it's definitely cheaper to put hampers together yourself, not everyone enjoys shopping for the individual items to fill a basket as much as me, nor may they have the time. Ready made hampers from hampers.com come with the utmost convenience and are available to deliver all over the UK, and a limited number of hampers can also be sent to many countries worldwide. If you don't quite see what you're looking for within the huge range of ready made hampers then it's also possible to create your own, and include anything you like from fresh apples and oranges to Wensleydale cheese and Champagne.

If you're looking to send a surprise to friends and family that you can't be with this Christmas, whether you're living overseas or they are, then sending a hamper is the perfect gift. Who doesn't love receiving a hamper filled with your favourite goodies!

What are you waiting for? Go and get your Christmas wrapped up too!

In collaboration with hampers.com

Raspberry Chambord and Gin Sour

Well, that's it, Halloween is done & dusted and we're now on the countdown for Christmas. Every year seems to be passing more quickly than the previous, even my 8 year old is saying it (how is he even 8, he was only born 5 minutes ago!) My eldest is 17 next week and starting driving lessons, which is just crazy. How can babies born in 2000 be almost adults! I don't want to think about how old that makes me, so we'll just get back to the subject of Christmas. Unless you're a food blogger it really is too early to start talking about Christmas, but as I was sampling Christmas food back in July it's not too soon for me to be sharing a festive cocktail. Obviously you don't have to wait until Christmas to drink it - hell, I was tasting it at 10am on Tuesday morning!

I discovered Chambord just a few years ago, via the power of social media, and a Chambord Royale has been my festive drink of choice ever since - drop of Chambord, topped up with Champagne, or Prosecco or even Cava if you're a cheapskate like me, and topped off with a frozen raspberry if you dare. Have you ever tried sucking a raspberry up through a straw? Loads of fun but be warned that it is also a very easy way to get very drunk, as you tend to drink your drink very quickly whilst attempting to suck the raspberry. It doesn't work the same with a strawberry, but don't let me stop you trying! Anyway, I digress again. Back to cocktails. I had my very first 'sour' in Portugal on holiday a few years ago. It was an almond sour, made from the local almond liquor (my that stuff is good), lemon juice, sugar, and lots of ice. A couple of years later I went to a cocktail making class in a local bar/restaurant, and learned how to make an Amaretto sour, which I was disgusted to know contained raw egg white. Wow, that cocktail was amazing though, with a lovely foamy top, almost like a meringue. I make myself one once in a while but drank the last drop of Amaretto on New Year's Eve and it hasn't yet been replaced (husband, if you're reading this please add Amaretto (or Aldi cheaper equivalent) to my Christmas list!)

I'm not sure if a Chambord or Gin sour is even a thing, but I do love to try new things out, and love it even more when a plan works, and this one really, really worked. I don't like to blow my own trumpet, but it was amazing. In fact it was just as amazing as that Amaretto sour that the mixologist made at that cocktail night a couple of years ago. 

How gorgeous are these glasses too? I was gifted them from Root 7 and as soon as I clapped eyes on them I just knew that they were made for cocktails - either that or a succulent! They are inspired by the Terrarium and you can get them in either black or gold.  I chose the gold and I'm glad I did as they match my Chambord bottle perfectly. Such a lovely glass that would make a fab gift this Christmas.

Alcoholic & Non Alcoholic Slushy Cocktails

It's been so hot recently and I thought the perfect way to cool us down would be with some slushy cocktails - alcoholic for myself and non alcoholic for the kids. I used my Nutribullet to make them but they can be made in any blender that's powerful enough to crush ice.

I used one bottle of Citrus Crush Zeo sparkling drink from my July Degustabox, which would be enough for 2 large or 4 small cocktails.

Alcoholic & Non Alcoholic Slushy Cocktails 

1 bottle Zeo Citrus Crush

2 large handfuls of ice cubes

100ml gin (omit this for non alcoholic)

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 lime

• Add all the ingredients to the blender 
• Blend until slushy
• Serve immediately

This month the contents in the Degustabox were a little different as there was a box containing alcohol and also one without. Both boxes contained the following :

• Zeo drinks x 3 - peach & grapefruit burst, citrus crush, lime zest
• Portlebay Popcorn x 3 - sweet & salty, bacon & maple syrup, chilli & lime
• Maggi So Baked & So Juicy x 6
• Dr Oetker Sprinkles x 2 - Eton Mess & Violet crystals
• Green & Black's Lemon bar

The alcoholic box also contained

• Hornsby's Blueberry Cider x 2

The non alcoholic box contained

• Frank snack bar
• The Berry Company juice or flavoured tea

I have a discount code which will entitle readers to a £3.00 discount off their box when registering - regular price £12.99 including p&p.

code : RVQDV

You can follow Degustabox on Facebook and Twitter or check out their website here.

I was provided with a Degustabox free of charge

Gin & Elderflower Muffins

Last week I had a bit of addiction according to my daughter "you used to be addicted to making muffins, and then it was cookies and then it was Hello Fresh and now back to muffins", and then she sighed like only a 10 year old girl can.

I don't think she was complaining about my muffin making addiction though as the batches of muffins disappeared from the tins before I could even make myself a cuppa. I knew there was only one thing for it, make muffins that the kids won't eat. There's not a lot that my kids won't eat but things with alcohol in is one of them - they can even tell if there's a hint of red wine in a casserole. I was sent some supplies to make cocktails and two of the ingredients were gin and elderflower cordial, a marriage made in heaven so I thought I would pair them up in a muffin and see how they tasted. I was really pleased how they turned out but unfortunately the husband was too and he was making the most of his sugar levels being in the normal range. If you prefer the taste of elderflower more than the gin I would recommend that you switch the quantities as they were quite strong!

Gin & Elderflower Muffins - makes 8

125g Plain flour
50g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
50ml vegetable oil
1 egg
50ml gin
25ml Elderflower cordial

• Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder together
• Beat the egg with the oil, gin & elderflower cordial
• Mix the dry ingredients quickly into the wet until just mixed
• Spoon into muffin cases
• Bake in a 180 C oven for approx 20 minutes
• For a syrupy topping mix equal parts gin, elderflower and sugar together & spoon over the muffins as soon as they come out of the oven
• Allow to cool on a wire rack

Bank Holiday Cocktails with Bombay Sapphire and #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® #CBias #SocialFabric.

I was really looking forward to this Bank Holiday weekend, with no plans apart from visiting family and a swimming gala on Saturday. The weather was forecast to be good on both Saturday on Sunday with chance of rain on Monday so with gin and mixers in hand, that were bought during our trip to Asda on Friday, we were set for a good weekend.

You can see pictures from our Asda shop in my Google+ album here.

Sunday morning we spent tidying up the garden, clearing out some of the garage, taking apart a playhouse and building the new garden furniture that we bought at Asda during the gin shop. In the afternoon my parents came up, and my Mum being the seasoned gin and tonic lover that she is was an ideal guinea pig to try my cocktails. Using a little cocktail book of mine (150 Classic Cocktails by Chancellor Press) I set to work making the first (of many) gin based cocktails, using the attractively packaged Bombay Sapphire.

With plenty of ice loaded up in my 50p carboot sale bargain glass ice bucket and some ready made sugar syrup (equal parts sugar and water heated gently in a pan until the sugar has dissolved) I made a very refreshing Albermarle Fizz.

Albermarle Fizz - serves 1

4-6 Ice Cubes

1 measure  (25ml) Gin

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 dashes of Raspberry Syrup (I used Chambord Raspberry Liquor)

1/2 tsp Sugar Syrup

Soda Water to top up

Cocktail Cherries to decorate

• Mix the ice, gin, lemon juice and syrups together 
• Pour into a glass and top up with soda water
• Decorate with cherries

I tripled the measures and made in a jug, which we enjoyed sitting on the new garden furniture in the sunshine with friends who had also joined us for the evening. I think out of all the cocktails this was my favourite, a very light & refreshing drink that slipped down easily in the sunshine.

Next we tried a simple, but just as refreshing Gin and Bitter Cranberry. Bitter Cranberry is fizzy and fruity just like bitter lemon, but with cranberries instead of lemon, obviously. With lots of ice it's perfect for a hot day.

On Monday I continued the weekend of Bank Holiday Gin cocktails and invited some friends round to sample more of the Bombay Sapphire delights. The friends, who are normally vodka rather than gin drinkers, were surprised how nice the cocktails were, with a very subtle and not at all overpowering taste of gin. After being almost blown away in the garden we decided to party in the warmth of the kitchen.

We started off gently with a gin and pink grapefruit fizz - a measure of gin mixed with equal parts pink grapefruit juice and soda water and plenty of ice - the only criticism was that the grapefruit juice had bits in as I picked up the wrong one.

We then tried a gin and orange fizz - the same as the grapefruit but with orange juice - how clever!

Last but not least, and a favourite with my friends, was a Sydney Fizz, which I made a couple of jugs of.

Sydney Fizz - Serves 1

4-5 Ice cubes

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 tsp Grenadine

1 measure Gin

Equal parts soda water and Orange juice to top up (although by this point I had run out of soda water and topped up instead with bitter lemon)

Again I tripled the measures and made it up in a jug

A small amount of dancing may have been involved, accompanied by lots of laughing, followed by some mighty nibbles of home-made oven baked chips and oven roasted sausage bites and vegetables, with barbecue and ranch dips.

We never got around to trying out one of the cocktails that I really wanted to make so the French '75  will have to wait until next time.

French '75 - serves 1

Cracked ice

1 measure gin

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp Caster sugar

Chilled champagne or sparkling dry white wine

orange slice to decorate

When all the fun is over you can rinse the empty Bombay Sapphire bottle out, scrub off the label and have a lovely bottle which I'm sure can be upcycled into something very useful - any ideas gratefully received.