Ways to enjoy Christmas - lockdown, or not!
With Christmas around the corner this is normally the time where everyone comes together for - Christmas markets, Christmas shopping, going to pantomimes, and Christmas parties, this year it will be looking a little bit different. With the uncertainty of whether we will be in lockdown or what restrictions shall be in place a lot of Christmas traditions may have to change. However, it is important to make the most of the situation by still keep in the Christmas spirit and not allow it to ruin the magic!
Movie Night
Nothing says winter more than a movie night – but now you can take it to the next level! If you live in a uni house and don’t have a TV you can get a projector off Amazon for as little as £70 and make yourself an at home cinema. Pick up some popcorn, make a hot chocolate, put on your fluffy pyjamas, and pick a movie – better than any night out! Finding what to watch can always be a struggle but the Christmas classics are always a must, here are some suggestions – Love Actually, The Holiday, Home Alone, The Nativity, and The Grinch. This projector can be used all year round, such as in the garden in the summer, and therefore a very worthwhile investment.
Even if you cannot be all together to watch a film, how about trying Teleparty. This allows you to sink Netflix, so that you are watching the same film at the same time! The best compromise to not being able to sit in the same room and watch a movie together.
Melted Snowman Cookies
by Kidspot
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line two trays with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then add the egg and beat well.
Fold in the vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt and mix into a dough and shape this into a disc.
Wrap the dough in cling film and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Then you’re ready to roll out your dough and cut into circles (using a cookie cutter or the base of a glass tumbler). Transfer these to a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until golden.
Let the cookies cool completely.
Slice up a few liquorice strips into thin strips for arms, scarves, etc. Tiny dots for eyes or triangles for bow ties.
Make up a basic white icing (just add a tiny bit of boiling water to pure icing sugar and stir, then add more water until you reach the desired consistency - should be fairly thick) Decorate the marshmallows with eyes, noses, mouths etc. You can use an icing pen here, or just use the white icing as glue.
Spoon on a little white icing and spread over the surface of your cookie.
Then press the marshmallow down in the middle and decorate with sprinkles, glitter, whatever takes your fancy!
Come Dine With Me
One thing a lot of us miss from the new restrictions is not being able to go out for some good food! So why not have some fun with everyone at home whether it be a shared house or your family, for everyone to have a go at some cooking. Choose a week and everyday a different person in the house cooks a starter, main, and dessert with a theme surrounding the dishes. It could be Mexican, Italian, American food, whatever you can think of. While also having a theme of what everyone wears, which is always fun seeing what you can find and piece together. You could do a holiday theme or maybe the 70s, be creative and the more fun it is, the better!
To add a little more fun to come dine with me, you can add some entertainment each night that the host has to organise. This could be karaoke, a quiz, or a board game. This made it even more silly!
At the end of each evening rate, the food and entertainment and whoever wins at the end of the week wins a gift voucher to a restaurant after lockdown. This is a simple way to spice up your evenings, dress up, be entertained, and have some fun!
Cocktail Evening
We all miss having food out, but even more we miss drinks out – especially cocktails. With not being able to go out why not make some cocktails at home! If you live alone you can do a virtual cocktail night with friends, all agreeing on the cocktails to make and get the same ingredients. This spices up a normal zoom call by adding everyone’s favourite ingredient – alcohol.
You can find lots of recipes online, but here is the recipe for a Festive Gin Smash by Cook Republic to give you some inspiration and show you how easy it is!
Ingredients
200ml SodaStream sparkling water
For the lychee layer
190g canned lychees, drained
1 cup ice cubes
90ml Gin
For the strawberry layer
500g strawberries, hulled and finely chopped
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Juice of half a lemon
Pinch of salt
For the Mint Layer
1 cup crushed ice
30 mint leaves, finely chopped
Method
To prepare the SodaStream sparkling water, fill a SodaStream 1 Litre Bottle with cold water and carbonate.
Place all ingredients for the lychee layer in a blender and process until the consistency is similar to a slushie.
Place strawberries, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon and salt in a glass jar. Using a muddler, crush and soften the strawberries and spices to release the flavours
and aroma.Mix crushed ice and mint in a small bowl.
To serve, divide the lychee mixture equally between two 400ml capacity stemless glasses. Divide and ladle the strawberry mixture over the lychee mixture in the glasses. Top with mint and crushed ice.
Top each glass with 100ml sparkling water and serve.
Secret Santa
If the government still decides we are in lockdown for December and you can’t see your friends and family why not do Secret Santa! The perfect way to still give presents to each other no matter where you all live. You can all agree on a theme for the presents, (silly or serious) the price and the day you will all exchange the presents. Then you can all get onto a Zoom call with a LARGE glass of wine and all open your presents to see everyone’s reactions. This spices up the usual gift giving and make it lockdown friendly, to be able to still exchange gifts and be all together – even if it is virtually.