The Elves are back-with recipes to share.

I thought I would share with you these two yummy-o-so simple recipes,
 that the elves made with me.I remembered making fudge with my mother
and brothers as a child but had no idea it was so simple,

in under one hour you can make 7 home made gifts for friends and family.
 This is enough to fill seven jam jars:

900 grams caster sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
300 grams butter  cut in small squares
300 ml double cream
3 teaspoons of vanilla extract


Lightly grease 3 dishes approx. measurements 15 cm x 20 cm or one large
baking dish . Put all the ingredients but not the vanilla extract in to a large
heavy based pan and over a low heat gently stirring all the time dissolve the
ingredients. Make sure there are no crystals left. Stop
stirring, put a sugar thermometer into the pan
( I got mine from lake land) and let the mixture boil
until it reaches the soft ball stage 116c. Take the pan
off the heat and stand for 10 mins.  Add the vanilla and beat vigorously
until the mixture becomes slightly grainy and starts to come away
from the sides of the pan, it takes about 10 mins, tip into the prepared
dishes smooth the top and leave to cool. Cut into squares with a sharp
knife, leave for 3 - 4 hours to firm up. Remove from the dish
and pack into you home-made or re-cycled containers.
I used jam jars which I sterilised in the dish washer on a boil cycle,
if you do not have a dish washer you can sterilise the jars by boiling
them in a large pan. I made the labels for the elves in photo shop
but wee birdy has some lovely christmas labels to down load,
(and they are free) on her blog. If you do not have any spare
jam jars Berts home store has a great selection.

Before the elves left to go back out into the snow and home, there was just time for the big Elf to make these wonderful festive jellies and kindly said,I could share her secret recipe.

I packet of jelly (I used strawberry) but any berry flavour would be good.

I packet of frozen mixed berries.

Cut up the packet of jelly and dissolve in one pint of boiling water stirring

until all the jelly is dissolved. Divide the frozen berries between the glasses

pour the jelly in to glasses, chill until set,  ENJOY,

and have a VERY VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS.