All my friends know that I’m not much of a cook. My contribution to dinner parties is normally a few bottles of wine and shrimp ring, but recently, I have been making an effort and trying easy things that are stress-free to make. So I thought I’d give you a few ideas for what to serve at your new year’s party this December 31st.

Punch

I had to start with the drinks first! I love punch! It’s great. You can make it pretty much however you like it. It’s really really hard to mess up punch!
Ok, so one thing you need to do beforehand is to prepare an ice/fruit ring. It’s both functional and pretty!
So you need to find an ice mold that will fit inside your punch bowl. A bundt cake tin is the best, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can use things like tupperware, or even a muffin tray. They will make really cute shaped ice! Just look through your cupboards for something that will work.
Once you have found a mold, fill it with 1/2 inch of water or juice. Make sure you pick a juice that goes with your punch! Juice is good as when it melts, it won’t dilute your punch!
Then place your fruit on top of the water/juice. You can use strawberries, peaches, grapes, lemon, lime, oranges, mandarins, maraschino cherries, mint leaves.. ANYTHING you want basically!
Now put it in the freezer. Once it’s completely frozen, take it out of the freezer and add more water or juice – enough to cover the fruit completely and return it to the freezer.
Now for the punch. This recipe makes enough for around 15-20 people (depending on how much they drink!)

Ingredients:
2 cans of frozen orange juice (thawed)
2 quarts (8 cups) of apple cider, ginger ale or sparkling apple juice
3 750ml bottles of champagne/sparkling wine

Make sure all of the ingredients are cold before you start mixing!
Put the orange juice concentrate into your punch bowl and stir it so that it’s softened.
Stir in the apple juice, apple cider or ginger ale.
Add the champagne and remember to stir gently!!!

When you’re ready to serve your punch, take your ice mold out of the freezer. Quickly dip the mold in hot water to loosen the ice and the invert it into your punch bowl and your punch is ready for your guests!

Always remember when dealing with fizzy things to put them in last and stir the liquid gently so that you don’t lose any fizz!!!

If you don’t want alcohol in your punch, you can use sparkling grape juice instead of champagne. And for this recipe, an ice ring made of apple juice works really well!

Hors D’oeuvres/Finger Foods

Ok, so we’re going with simple and easy.
You will need:
1 baguette
1 big package of smoked salmon
2 tubs of herb & garlic cream cheese
chives to garnish

Slice your baguette, spread on the cream cheese, tear bits of salmon and place them on top.
Dice up some chives and sprinkle on top. Or, you can cut them into 2 inch long pieces and put 2-3 pieces on top of the salmon.

Veggies & Dip

This is really simple, just make sure you have some cute serving dishes and take some time in presenting it nicely.

Buy some baby carrots, a cucumber, some broccoli, red/green/yellow peppers. Wash everything. Cut the broccoli into tinier trees, and slice the cucumber and peppers. Arrange onto a big serving dish, or separate evenly onto smaller serving dishes.

For your dips use the Philadelphia ones. Get a Roasted Red Pepper dip, a Onion dip and a Garden Vegetable Ranch dip. Place the dips into small bowls – don’t just dump the Philly tub on the table! And you’re ready to serve!

Good luck & Happy Hosting!!!

I love the feeling of going out to buy new make-up. Especially at the high-end counters when you get free things! I love free things – even though it normally means buying a lot of things to get these so-called “free gifts”! Just thinking about it makes me want to go out shopping! But, sometimes, we do have to be frugal. With Christmas coming up, birthdays and lets not forget the economy, we have to save money whenever and wherever we can!

Here are some things that I do to save some pennies!

Brown Sugar & Honey Exfoliator

This is a great natural exfoliator that you can use in place of those costly store-brought scrubs. It’s just as effective, smells great, and you know exactly what it’s made from!

Deep Treatment for Dry Skin

All you need is olive oil, some cotton balls and a sink full of hot water. Dab the olive oil onto dry skin areas with the cotton balls, and then steam your face over hot water to help your skin absorb the oil. Be sure to avoid break out areas. Your skin will feel great afterwards!

Double Duty Products

Instead of forking out money for both a shimmering highlighter for the eyes and face, just buy a single shadow and use it for both purposes. Also, pink eye shadows can double as blush, and you only need to use a small amount!

Old Lipsticks = New Shades

When you start to get tired of your current lipstick or lip gloss selection, you can mix lipsticks & glosses together to create new shades. Sometimes you find a GREAT combination, and all your friends will want to know where you got it from!

You can do the same thing with nail polish! It’s fun to see what kinds of different combinations you can come up with!

Lustrous Liquid Liner

Forking out big money on liquid liner? You don’t have to! Use a small angled brush and a little Visine or water in your favourite eyeshadow. And Voila! You have a beautiful liquid liner in your favourite colour! This is great if you need a funky coloured liner for a party or if you want a change from classic black or brown.

Also, if there are sales or promotions, like 2 for 1 or 70% off, then stock up! You have to be like the Chinese lady in the grocery store with a cart full of toilet paper!

But only buy things that you need and that you’re going to use. There’s no point saving money on products that are going to sit in a draw somewhere.

Spend wisely, and look fabulous!

• 200 g / 4 cans of tuna (drained and flaked)
• 200 g mashed potato
• 4 spring onions (chopped)
• 100 g / 1 cup of frozen peas or petit pois (defrosted)
• zest of 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 tbsp bread crumbs
• 3 tbsp olive oil

For the Mayonnaise

• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of red paprika
• Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, mix together the first six ingredients. Slowly add enough egg to bind the mixture together.

Wet your hands, so that the mixture doesn’t stick to you, and shape it into patties – make them roughly the size of your palm and about 1 inch thick. Lightly cover each one with breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over low-medium heat and cook the tuna-cakes for a few minutes on each side. Be careful when turning them!

In the meantime, mix together the ingredients for the mayonnaise – add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the hot tuna-cakes with a lemon wedge, the lemon mayonnaise, some green salad and a glass of cold Chardonnay. Bon Appetite!

* You can substitute the tuna for tinned salmon.