As the year draws to a close we look back – with large grins planted firmly on our faces – at all of our best bits. From cake baking to sock pet making, let’s hear it for 2010.

The Boden BAKE OFF

We offered you prizes for your efforts and then salivated over the snaps you sent us. See our album for some of our faves.

To infinity…

We were all of a buzz (ahem) before our Toy Story 3 preview screening. We invited lots of fashion folk and their children to the event and Woody and Buzz came along too.

Simply the BESTIVAL

We parked up at Camp Bestival with reams of bunting and colourful cushions, all set to provide a little rest stop and a haven out of the rain. Here’s some snaps:

What YOU loved most:

Caro loves our Wool Mini:

Morag and Francesca loved our cosy charcoal Pea coat:

Morag & Francesca love this

Melanie is potty about our spotty Shopper:

Melanie loves a spot of polka

The launch of our teen line JOHNNIE B

Johnnie b tumbled onto our virtual shelves in Spring and it’s been making waves ever since.

EXTRA EXTRA! Read all about it…

We made the rags!

Coco Arquette ♥’s Boden. Here is US Weekly’s ‘Hollywood Moms Back to School guide’ Featuring our Mini Girl Stripy Long Top.

Johnnie b spotted in Teen Vogue…

Sunny yellow Boden bridesmaids Bride magazine.

Community REVIEWS

We particularly liked this one from Suzanne and strongly agree with her critique.

“I ordered the cashmere wrap in grey, and it is the most wonderful cardigan I’ve ever bought… It is cosy and soft and it’s like “feeling-home”.

Our Summer Party

Johnnie Boden bore the brunt of many a sodden sponge. We were reluctant in the exercise of course…

YOUR snaps!

Pictures of you and your tots sporting our Boden ranges poured in via our facebook page and our Community. Here’s a few of our favourites, or view them all here.

See them all

Assistant Art Director Polly gives a glimpse behind the seams of our first shoot for Spring In Bloom.

“Amazing Bloom shoot, 800 peonies flown in from New Zealand! The Studio smelt like a dream. We had some trouble keeping the flowers from wilting throughout the day as the model and the flora battled between warmth and wilting.

Rebecca Burton’s vision of a wall and floor of flowers really came to life and set designer James Henderson did a fantastic job going above the call of duty by keeping all the flowers in his downstairs loo for a week beforehand to enable them to open up on the day.

Creating the wall

All the props covered in Boden print might be a catalyst for a Boden Homeware Range….hmmmm!”

Judi gets crafty in the kitchen with her fail safe recipe for gingerbread biscuits.

These biscuits are very easy to make and the best bit (apart from nibbling on them) is you don’t need any scales! I made a batch this week for my Fiancé to give to his staff as a little thank you and they went down a storm. They also make perfect house gifts if you are visiting relatives over Christmas, beautiful additions to hang on your Christmas tree or even for your little ones to make to leave out for the big Mr S. Clause himself on Christmas eve.

(Warning – baking these biscuits will make your house smell absolutely yummy!)

Ingredients:

Note: This makes a very large batch (approx 3 large Cake tins full). If you don’t want to bake as many, just halve these quantities.

6 cups all-purpose flour (around 750g if a cup if 128g)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup unrefined golden caster sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup shortening, melted and cooled slightly butter.
1 cup Golden Syrup (You can also use molasses or treacle. I tried Molasses, but found the biscuits tasted far too bitter for my taste)
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to:

Firstly sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon in a bowl, then set this aside to add later.

In a medium bowl, mix together the shortening, Golden Syrup, caster sugar, water, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, until they are completely absorbed.

Divide dough into three/four pieces, wrap each piece in cling film and refrigerate for around three hours to make it easier to work with.

When you are ready to make the biscuits, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C; gas mark 4) to heat up while you cut out your shapes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to one quarter inch thickness and cut into any shape you fancy with cookie cutters. I have used Gingerbread Men (they are men as I’ve put bow ties on), Rocking horses and Stars, as they seemed the most festive cutters I had.  If you wish to hang your biscuits on the tree, you will need to make a hole in the biscuit with the end of a drinking straw. Don’t put the hole too close to the edge, as it will break too easily.

Then place your biscuits one inch apart onto a greased cooking sheet/tray and bake for around 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Time to put your feet up with a well deserved eggnog while you wait.

When the biscuits are done they will look dry and golden, but still be soft to the touch.

Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. When cool, the biscuits can be decorated with the icing of your choice. I find the shop brought writing icing tubes very good for these, as they are small and fiddly. Let your imagination fly and use whatever you like to decorate yours. You could use glitter, hundreds and thousands, smarties, jelly sweets, chocolate sprinkles or even personalise your biscuits with the names of all the reindeer. Make sure you post your photos on the Community so we can all see how lovely they are.

Happy baking and seasons greetings Boden fans. Love and Buttons, Judi XΘXΘ

Jane Anderson has spent her entire professional life globetrotting and writing travel articles and books.  She gives her tips for unmissable escapes.

As the big chill continues, the thought of escaping to warmer climes becomes a magical prospect. Jump on the plane in the icy gloom of Heathrow and emerge into another world where you miraculously replace your snowboots with your flip flops, faux fur coat with a flowing kaftan and thermal underwear with a bikini. Bliss!

Last December I boarded a flight with my two young children bound for the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Well-known as a honeymoon destination, this lush mountainous island ringed with a perfect coral reef has much for families to discover.

In the capital, Port Louis, any age can climb the Citadel for great views and visit the Penny Blue Museum for a glimpse of the world’s rarest stamps, the 1847 Blue Penny and Red Penny. Something to tell teacher back at school.

Pamplemousses Botanical Garden encapsulates the mix of native and imported beauty that now graces the island. Created by French botanist, Pierre Poivre, in the 18th century, the 60-acre garden features over 500 species of indigenous and exotic plants.

The lush mountainous peaks of Mauritius rise up from the green sugar cane and tea plantations like curious sentinels. Yan de Maroussem, an eight-generation French Mauritian runs Yanature an adventure company offering treks, climbs and excursions in the western region of Mauritius and living proof of a new ecological consciousness on the island.

At Casela Nature Park you can even walk with lions, while at La Vanille Reserve des Mascareignes you can see over 2000 Nile crocodiles. Younger kids will love the Jungle Adventure Playground with great climbing frames and big red tractor.

For just about the most luxurious and child-friendly hotel imaginable, stay at Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita.

Set on a prime coastal site on the east of the island, it’s especially good for families if you can fork out for a two or three bedroom garden residence villa. The Kids for All Seasons’ Hobbit Village (4-12 year olds) is a lesson in how to design a kids club with everything from pizza oven to chic shallow pool. Teens have their own Karokan club which even has its own DJ balcony. There’s an Ernie Els-designed golf course and one of the best spas on the island set over the mangroves.

Of course there are many other parts of the globe to escape to in our winter months. The Caribbean is the traditional winter getaway with St Barts attracting celebrities. Head to the new Flamands beach villas at Isle de France for a blissful stay.

Alternatively Barbados has a lovely new boutique hotel called the Atlantis on its spectacular east coast where you can try traditional Bajan cuisine like salt fish.

If you want an exotic adventure much closer to home, check out the new Adrère Amellal desert lodge set in the oasis of Egypt’s Western desert. Infused with the spirit of ancient tribes and majestic mountains, this is definitely a place to forget the outside world. Dine in a grotto studded with salt crystals, explore date groves, age-old forts and desert markets.

If it’s just the two of you looking for a romantic winter getaway, one of my personal favourites is Marrakesh. Always otherworldly and just a four-hour flight, stay at Riad Kaiss or Dar les Cigognes which are currently offering ‘winter warmer’ packages of three nights with free airport transfers, hamman and a romantic dinner for two.

Jane is a very busy lady with her fingers in many exotic pies. Check out 101honeymoons.co.uk where she is editor, plus have a read of her family guidebooks (only made possible with the help of her two dedicated research assistants, daughter Scarlett 7 and son, Finlay 4).  The books Dorset, New Forest & Isle of Wight with Kids came out in 2010 and Brittany with Kids will appear spring 2011. Jane also finds time to freelance for the Sunday Times Travel Magazine, The Telegraph and Marie Claire amongst others. A busy bee indeed!

Best selling author on food and nutrition for little ones, Annabel Karmel gives us her insight into the world of weaning and her recipe for baby’s first Fish pie.

Weaning babies can be a very confusing and worrying time. Babies vary in so many ways; some take to solid food quicker than others, appetites and tastes can also vary too. If your baby is eating nutritious food, even just a small amount you are doing well.  The important thing is to try and relax and enjoy the weaning process and not to worry about the mess! Here are some tips to help reassure and guide you:

Cow’s milk

You can use cow’s milk in cooking for babies under one year old – but continue giving breast/formula milk as a drink for the first year.

Eggs

Eggs are an excellent source of protein, vitamins and iron. You can start offering your baby eggs at 6 months, however make sure that they are well cooked and that both the yolks and the whites are solid. Well cooked scrambled eggs make a good breakfast.  Avoid desserts that contain raw or undercooked eggs like chocolate mousse or soft meringue.

Freezing

As a baby only eats tiny amounts, especially in the early stages of weaning, it saves time to make up larger quantities of puree and freeze extra portions in ice cube trays or small plastic freezer pots for future meals. Thus, in a couple of hours you can prepare enough food for your baby for a week.

Reheating food in the microwave

You can reheat food in a microwave, but you must be careful that there are no hot spots, so it is important to stir the food thoroughly before giving it to your baby and always test the temperature of the food yourself first.  When defrosting or reheating it is important that food is heated until piping hot in order to kill off any bacteria.  Then leave it for a few minutes and allow it to cool down before giving it to your child.

Frozen vegetables

You can use frozen vegetables such as peas as all the nutrients are locked in.  Normally you can’t refreeze food that has previously been frozen, but if you make purées from frozen veg you can cook them and then re-freeze them.

‘No cook’ baby purées

There are a number of fruits that make excellent instant no-cook baby food provided they are ripe.  Bananas for example make perfect baby food. Simply mash with a fork, maybe adding a little of your baby’s usual milk if the texture is too thick.  Papaya and avocado are also very nutritious and make excellent baby food and Avocado and Banana makes a great combination that babies love.

Annabel Karmel’s brand new iPhone App: Annabel’s essential guide to feeding your baby and toddler, offers lots of simple, nutritious recipes and videos, showing you everything from food preparation to step by step guides to cooking. Available at the app store.

Baby’s First Fish Pie

You should continue with formula or breast milk for the whole of the first year. However, full fat cow’s milk can be used in cooking from 6 months.

Ingredients:

200g peeled potatoes, diced

80g onion, finely diced

100ml milk

100ml weak fish stock

50g frozen peas

150g cod, skinned & sliced into small cubes

1 tsp lemon juice

3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tsp dill, chopped

Steps:

1.      Put the potatoes & onion into a pan, cover with milk & fish stock.

200g potatoes, 80g onion, 100ml milk, 100ml fish stock*

2.      Bring to the boil, cover & simmer for 10 minutes.

3.      Add the peas & cod, continue to cook for 5 minutes.

50g peas, 150g cod*

4.      Purée then add the lemon juice, Parmesan & dill.

1 tsp lemon juice, 3 tbsp Parmesan, 1 tsp dill*

Read more recipes at annabelkarmel.com

Our craft queen Judi Nolan shares her tips for how to get your gifts looking super special this Christmas.

I realise I may be in a minority here, but I do think it’s time to confess. I love wrapping presents. In fact I think I may love wrapping presents more than I do opening them!

There are few things better than receiving a beautifully wrapped parcel and the tiniest of details can transform any gift in to a piece of theatre, that adds to the sense of anticipation as they sit glistening under your tree until the big day.

Here’s a sneaky peek at how I’ve wrapped my Christmas gifts this year, along with a few creative tips to spark your imagination and turn you into a wrap star too…

I like to create a theme that matches the colour and style of my Christmas tree so they become part of the overall picture. Last year I chose only brown paper which I absolutely love, but I realised that Children love a little more colour and excitement, so this year I have added stripes to the scheme. I use ribbon & wool for my finishing touches, but you can also use raffia, string, rope, or even old belts.

To make my wool tags I simply cast on between 20-30 stitches and using the basic knit design, I knit enough rows to fit my message on (approx 8 depending on the needles and wool) and when finished I leave a long length of wool attached, to be able to wrap around the parcel and form a bow. I then cut out a rectangle of calico or white cotton and write on this using a laundry pen or black gel pen (this allows you to get the message right before attaching to the tag). Then choose a complimentary thread and sew this on to your knitted tag. Cosy and simple.

The options really are endless in terms of decoration. I have used tiny jingle bells, Mistletoe & brown leaf tags this year, but you can use all sorts of things. Buttons, beads, baubles, streamers, candy canes & even cookie cutters look fabulous when attached to your central ribbon or string.

Even envelopes can be spruced up. Brown ribbon and a red wax stamp adds a vintage feel that looks so elegant and a simple bright label can look perfect.

Experiment yourself and see what captures your imagination. Don’t forget to post your pictures here on the community and if you get stuck we’re here to help. Simply post your question in the comments below and together we can help you get Christmas all wrapped up.

Love & Buttons, JJ XΘXΘ

Hope & Greenwood is a marvellous old fashioned sweetshop crammed with all your childhood favourites from Rhubarb and Custard hard boiled bullets to zingy Lemon Sherbets. Here, Miss Hope (the chattier half of Hope and Greenwood) shares her musings.

In the long summers of my childhood my sister Maggy and I played sweet shops in our back garden. There were leaves and seed pods for sweets, and pebbles for money. Tiny Tears popped by for some sherbet lemons, Sindy always chose the strawberry bonbons and occasionally Panda and Holly Hobbie popped by for a quarter of wine gums on their way to the hairdresser’s for a wash and set and a liberal cloud of Elnett.

An undefined number of summers later and here we are, my favourite husband, Mr. Greenwood and I, with our very own sweet shops. Welcome to Hope and Greenwood.

It was a red letter day when Mr. Greenwood and I bumped into each other outside the chip shop and fell hopelessly, head over heels, in love. We have lots in common; clipped topiary, big pies, mud wrestling and we were both semi finalists in the Great British Sweet Sucking Championships. My love of Sherbet Lemons and Mr.G’s passion for Chocolate Brazils resulted in the triumphant opening of the first Hope and Greenwood British Sweet Shop in London, England.

I know (almost) everything about confectionery.

Did you know…

Marry Me Quicks come from Pateley Bridge and were a breath freshening mint for lovers?
Jesmona Black Bullets – a ‘Bullet’ is the Geordie name for a sweet, they were originally made in Jesmond, Newcastle, and their minty freshness helped miners to clear their throats?
Queen Victoria’s’ favourite sweet was a black and white humbug, she even had a dress with a black and white satin skirt in their honour?
Jelly babies we originally called ‘unwanted babies’ and later ‘peace babies’ each baby has a name. Brilliant is the red one, Bubbles is yellow, Baby Bonny is pink, Boofuls is green, Bigheart is purple and Bumper is orange?
Edinburgh Rock was invented in the 19^th century by confectioner Sweetie Sandy who left a tray of rock in his cellar where over several months it became truly delicious and subsequently made him very rich?

Soon I will tell you about Tom Smith, about Toblerone and Penuche, I may tell you the secrets of Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls, Spanish and Kali and the story of Sugared Almonds, yes I will and you can’t stop me.

In the meantime please feel free to peep into our sweet shops at night, you might be lucky enough to spot the Hope and Greenwood Christmas Pixies tirelessly creating the most beautiful confections. They make absolutely sure that our Midnight Feast Crackers are crammed full of goodies, that our Best of British Truffles are made with fresh cream and butter, that our Rhubarb and Custard is properly striped and our Fizz Wiz crackles like a firework.

Stock up on Christmas treats over at Hope and Greenwood

Lesley Ball is a freelance food writer and photographer. She shares her recipe for hearty Tomato soup.

I love this time of year! The feeling of cleanliness that comes with a sharp frost or the brilliance of snow – it’s uplifting. Half an hour walk in the woods then back home for a guilt free hot chocolate and a wodge of homemade cake.

Why not fill your pockets with woodland treasures then turn them out to recapture your moments amongst the trees. Spending time in a simple way can create wonderful days.

It can be easy to get swallowed up in consumerism at Christmas time but having a family has taught me valuable lessons about community spirit and friendship which are good pointers to more rewarding festivities.

Food is at the heart of my family and no time more so than during Christmas. We all love simple, carefully chosen ingredients lovingly cooked. I get somewhat excited about what to buy and cook for family and friends at Christmas but often plump for plain simplicity and classics that can’t be beaten.

A simple hearty soup is a surprisingly well received lunchtime stand-by which helps to balance the richness of so much festive food.  My son Harley  loves my homemade tomato soup which is both economical and satisfying. And if you want to bulk it up somewhat, then add a handful of rice or vermicelli pasta.

What you’ll need:

1 large onion, a glug of olive oil, 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, 3 bay leaves, 2 sprigs of thyme (dried is fine too), 1 stock cube,  50mls double cream, 4tbs tomato puree, 1tsp sugar.

Here’s how:

• Peel and chop your onion and soften in a large pan in a glug of olive oil.
• When tender, add your crushed clove of garlic (or two if you are a fan like me) and cook for a moment or so more.
• Pour in a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes – the best you can afford – then swill the cans with water and add that too.
• Next, throw the bay leaves, a stock cube and some sprigs of thyme. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Hook out the herb stalks and then whiz up until smooth adding cream, tomato purée and sugar.

Serve with some good chunky bread and a portion of home sweet home.

See more of Lesley’s recipes on her video blog over at Raspberry Roulade

Photographer,  writer and jam maker Gloria Nicol shares her recipe for black grape chilli jam.

A couple of months ago a neighbour gave me some black grapes and I used them to make jam. This jam, my black grape chilli jam, has been an overwhelming success with everyone who has sampled it. My original recipe calls for the grapes to be cooked, to extract the juice by allowing it to drip through a jelly bag overnight, before adding fresh macerated chillis and sweet red peppers.

Since then this jam has become something I, and several of my neighbours, don’t want to live without. It is the sort of preserve you need to always have a stock of in the pantry, it’s that good. It is perfect to serve with cheese, applied liberally between the bread and cheese topping when making cheese on toast, sandwiched inside a whole brie then baked in the oven, and can also be added to the meat stock after cooking a joint, to make delicious gravy. I must admit, I’m not a hot chilli person, but this jam has just the right amount of sweetness to balance a gentle kick of heat and you can turn this up or down, by adding more or less chilli or using cooler or hotter varieties, to suit your own preferences.

The down side of this tale, once the fresh grape harvest was over and done with I was left with a craving for more jam and an impatience; another year to wait for the next grape harvest was out of the question. Thinking cap on, I decided to devise the recipe using ingredients I can buy from the supermarket. Not only does this cut down on preparation time but it means me and the neighbours will be kept in black grape chilli jam for the foreseeable future. I used a carton of Welch’s black grape juice and special jam sugar that contains pectin to be extra certain the jam set well.

This jam would make a great Christmas gift and would most likely suit even the most ardent ‘I never eat jam’ type. Go to town on the packaging and you’ve got the perfect gift.

BLACK GRAPE CHILLI JAM

Makes approx 6 x 250g jars

300g (approx 5) sweet red peppers. de-seeded and roughly chopped
100g (approx 9) red chillis (mild to medium heat) de-seeded and roughly chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp sea salt
350ml white wine vinegar
700ml black grape juice (I used Welch’s)
1/4-1/2 tsp dried chill flakes
900g jam sugar (contains pectin)

Place the chopped peppers, chillis, garlic, lemon juice and salt in a food processor, add the vinegar and blitz until everything is finely chopped. Pour the grape juice into a jam pan and add thepepper chilli vinegar mixture plus the chilli flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Whilst this is happening, place your jars and lids in a warm oven to heat and sterilise them.

Take the pan off the heat then add the sugar, stirring till dissolved, place back on the heat and bring to a rolling boil (or rollicking boil as I read somewhere the other day!) and boil until it reaches setting point and a small dollop on a cold plate quickly forms a skin when you push your finger over the surface (it should take 15-20 minutes to achieve this). Turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes, then stir to distribute the chilli peppers evenly through the jam. Pour into hot sterilised jars, top with waxed paper circles and seal. Leave until cold then label.

Gloria writes the blog www.laundryetc.co.uk You can read more about her preserving there.

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