in the Christmas kitchen

WARNING: This post contains a lot of christmassy stuff and even more images edited in Picnik! Two of my current obsessions combined! :-D



Last year, I made some gifts from the kitchen following Nigella Lawson's instructions. The recipients really liked them, so this year I wanted to make something else from Nigella Christmas. I decided on the Christmas Chutney and the Chili Jam, because I thought they sounded yummy and relatively simple to make.



The preparation of the chutney really was quite straightforward, but it took some time to make, since it has to simmer on the stove for about an hour. Our place smelled like vinegar for a day, but I somehow quite liked that. I put the chutney in nice jars and wrapped them in paper with some red and white twine and a label.



Pretty! The Chili Jam was even easier to make and I got three and a half big jars out of the amount. If I feel like it, I'll make a second batch using smaller jars which might be more practical.



Of course the half-jar had to be tasted right away. The jam is really good with blue cheese and on a sandwich with ham, as my tests have yielded so far.



Since Sunday was the first of advent, we are now again slowly unpacking our Christmas decorations. This year, I made this candle "arrangement", using some bottles I made useless for storing liquids in by melting the caps in the oven while trying to sterilize them. Clever me! Ahem ... I love that there's a J with a little heart on that runner. I know it probably stands for "Jul", meaning Christmas in Swedish, but I like to think otherwise. :-)



What about you? Are you in the mood for Christmas, yet? Have you started decorating?



Have a good week!