-The KitchenMaid-

"Guess what, Mum?" says the six-year-old, standing beside the bed at 6.30am with a book, a frisbee and a teddy. "It's onl...

At this stage in proceedings - with less than 36 hours to go until C-Day - there's not much point in sharing complicated Christmas recip...

It's about this time of year that I start to feel slightly panicked and wish I could run away to some kind of closed community where th...

If you are an organised person, you are probably sitting around shelling peas, roasting chesnuts on an open fire or performing some other se...

This week, in between re-telling the story of the nativity ("but Mum, why was the baby Jesus a boy? Can he be a girl!"), I have be...

Last weekend, seized with a sudden desire to Do Something Christmassy, I made my Christmas mincemeat. I don't know why I'd been putt...

Last week I got a press release about Valentine's Day. Seriously. It happened the day after I'd walked through Auckland Airport, men...

Actually, it's the afternoon before Christmas but that doesn't have quite the same ring to it. I'm sorry to boast to readers in ...

I have developed a terrible habit over the last couple of weeks. I've been up to my eyes in work (hence a little less action here) and f...

Do you want to know what I was doing at 6am yesterday morning? I was ironing a tablecloth. Actually, I was ironing two tablecloths, after di...

Don't worry, I've recovered from my bout of Christmas-itis. The pohutukawas are coming out, the sun is shining and the realisation t...

I don't know about you but I'm beginning to suffer from festive fever. My job has something to do with it (surely I get a turn to bl...

One of the things I love about the Boy Wonder is his gregariousness. In his gung-ho reporter days he'd winkle stories out of anyone - if...

Making edible gifts for people who don't eat certain things can be a tricky task. This biscotti was a complete experiment, concocted for...

It will not, I am sure, have escaped your notice that it is just 19 more sleeps until Christmas. By this time last year I had made our cake ...

Most people have leftovers to cope with after Christmas; I have leftover blogging events. Well, they're not leftovers as such, more that...

I'm on holiday as of today, but before I log off and concentrate on packing the Small Girl, my best apron, Delia and Nigella into a suit...

There are many pre-Christmas things I have failed to do this year. If you're going to the letterbox every day in the hope that I've ...

My mother-in-law makes the best shortbread. Really, she does, I'm not just trying to butter her up before Christmas. She makes masses of...

Are you the sort of person who is hopeless at Christmas shopping because you keep seeing things you'd like for yourself? Then look away ...