Shopping For Christmas Trees, Decorations, Biscuits and Cookie Cutters

Traditionally a tree was a green real tree brought indoors, when it was too cold to go outside, and decorated with lights to brighten dark days. You may like to think of it as pagan. Or you may prefer to remember that Queen Victoria and Albert started the fashion.

Now you can buy or make white trees, blue trees, red trees, biscuit 'trees' - whatever takes your fancy to celebrate Christmas, holidays, whatever.

Take a trip to a garden centre such as Squires in Stanmore and nationwide around England, or a supermarket, especially those with an outdoor garden section, such as Waitrose in South Harrow or Harrow and Wealdstone, and you will see trees, real or artificial, for sale.

Stuck indoors with a cold, working? You can order artificial trees or decorations from all kinds of shops and supermarkets, to name only a few: Tesco, Argos, The White Shop.

In the old days you made decorations out of foil-wrapped chocolate or biscuit to hand out to family and guests.

Now you can make an entire tree of biscuits only as a table decoration. Supermarkets sell individual biscuits in tree shapes.

Many biscuit cutters (to American cookie cutters) are sold, or given away 'free' on magazines. I looked at a set on a magazine in Waitrose. But the cost was around £5 and I did;t need the megazine. Last year I was desperately keen to buy sets of festive cookie cutters and bought two magazines from a Tesco Express because I liked that year's cutter offer. This year I bought a set with a tree in Morrisons, Hatch End, for only £1. I wondered whether they were price matching the pound shops.



http://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/baking/biscuits-and-cookies/item/christmas-cookie-tree

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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Easter Eggs, Travel and Springtime - Eggs-actly!

England's contribution to Easter festivities is an abundance of chocolate Easter eggs. They are in the shops already.

Let's look at the history of Easter eggs. The Russian royalty had Faberge eggs encrusted with jewels. Peasants would paint ordinary eggs in pretty colourful patterns. The eggs is a symbol of life worldwide.

Chinese eggs
The Chinese celebrate with eggs. The so-called hundred year old eggs are just eggs which look a hundred years old.

Jewish eggs
A boiled egg features in the Jewish Seder night.

The symbols of eggs are pagan, pre-dating Christianity and our Common Era. Nowadays you can buy chocolate eggs and chocolate rabbits in supermarkets. Speciality chocolate shops offer other varieties.

English Eggs
The Cadbury's chocolate egg with a creamy centre of white with a yellow imitation yolk is still a UK  favourite for children and adults alike. Highly calorific. Wrapped in silver foil.

A German contribution is the Kinder surprise with a small gift inside.

Last year, 2014, in London, England, we indulged in Blumenthal's chocolate egg from Waitrose supermarket, set in edible mock straw, some kind of rice paper.

This year, 2015, in England I see white chocolate bunnies in Tesco Express, and chocolate chicks, neatly alliterative, filled with Smarties.

That's a quick pick me up when travelling. What about my teeth? Fortunately, the supermarkets also sell fruit, pears are a good price, and you can also buy yourself a toothbrush. You are supposed to renew your toothbrush every three months. Better to get a new toothbrush than new teeth.