Christmas Candy

Candy is the North American word for sweets or confectionery. We tend to think that candy canes come from America with the first recorded Candy sticks dating from 1837. They were white to begin with and later the red stripes were added as well as peppermint flavouring and were referred to as candy canes in 1866.

In 1874 they were connected to Christmas and since then have been given different interpretations, ie the "J" shape stands for Jesus with the white representing his purity and the red his blood.

Another story connects the canes to Germany in 1670 when a choirmaster gave them to the children attending a nativity service. The shape was meant to symbolise the shepherds crooks.

Whatever the truth is, they make good Christmas decorations, stocking fillers and sweet treats. Whilst okay for vegetarians, they are not recommended by dentists!

Most chocolates are suitable for vegetarians but you need to check sweets as marshmallows and anything gummy contain gelatin.

Check these out. If you shop around there are plenty of non-gelatin sweets out there - just as tasty without being nasty.

Sparkle and Shine

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and cardboard doors up and down the country have been opening since Friday. The old fashioned ones (my favourites) contain pictures from the Nativity, there is chocolate for children and cheese for vegetarians ... Say what?! Yes, this year Asda are selling a cheese advent calendar suitable for vegetarians. Fabulous.

Other foodie products I have my eye on are those which sparkle and shine or can be sprinkled to give our food a festive kiss.

Shimmer and bubbles for prosecco by Pop a Ball which pimp up your drink.

Winter Berries & Prosecco crisps by Marks and Spencer finished with a sprinkle of gold stars.

A dash of edible glitter on your baked goodies is fun and pretty but do make sure they are veggie/vegan as some contain E120, carmine and cochineal colouring. If that's a problem resort to a sieved snowfall of icing sugar (particularly good with the use of a stencil). It  makes a real difference.