day 177: eggnog pound cake and my craftaholics swap goodies

the eggnog pound cake :)

day 177 and it's being to feel a lot like christmas, everywhere i go .... and i am totally giddy with excitement about that! spent the day shopping with a very sweet friend, then it was home to make something yummy to go with decorating the tree.  for some reason steve and i have always decorated our christmas tree on the first saturday of december.  while i was out taking care of christmas shopping, the peeps and steve went out in search of the best christmas tree.  here in new zealand "real" christmas trees are pine trees and they smell absolutely delicious.  i am no longer allowed to go christmas tree hunting as i always think the biggest one is the best and am prone to spending far too much money on the "perfect" one!

the pinterest inspired creation for today is eggnog pound cake, when i saw it on pinterest the lovely pinner said it was the "BEST" christmas recipe ever ... good enough for me to give it a go then, so it was duly repinned to my christmas is coming board.  the recipe comes from my recipes and the lovely people who have rated it have given it an outstanding 5 stars!  this is a REALLY easy recipe as it uses a box cake mix as the base and if you can find it (which i couldn't) ready made eggnog.  i had to make my own but even that was easy using this recipe from all recipes australia :)

this was a really good, non-alcoholic version of eggnog.

add cake mix to your eggnog and a couple
of eggs with some nutmeg and you are done :)

good looking pound cake, ideal for winter :)

outcome:  probably not the best christmas recipe i know and not sure i will bake it often as it was really heavy for the summer.  i would definitely bake it again and again during the winter so i can highly recommend for those places lucky enough to have a winter christmas :)  this recipe for eggnog was brilliant though as it's a cold drink and it was actually really refreshing while we were busy decorating the tree.

my thanks to both my recipes and all recipes australia, both awesome sites where you can find just about any recipe for anything :)


update: craftaholics anonymous gift swap
as many of you know i entered into this gift exchange in november and was given michell as my partner.  michell is a nurse who lives in gisborne, new zealand and she clearly a very talented crafter, especially with her sewing machine.  she sent me some lovely quilted coasters that came in their own little carry bag, some candy canes, a christmas fat of quilting fabric, and a gorgeous tea caddy she also made.  it was an amazing gift and i felt very spoilt, as do my peeps who have tucked into the candy canes!

the coasters and their gorgeous carry all

the tea caddy ... love the fabric

inside the tea caddy, which as full of goodies!

thanks so much michell, you have made my first ever hand-made gift exchange an absolute pleasure.  warmest christmas wishes to you and your family :)

some pic's of the tree hunt and the finished result :)

running to the perfect tree to cut down :)

the peeps getting a ride back to the car with the tree :)

have tree will travel!

the finished tree, the kids were so proud :)