Mar 26, 2021
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MECHANICAL PROBLEMS
Santa is very sorry that he cannot complete his blog tonight. He is very busy with his Elves trying to work out what is wrong with the sleigh. It does not want to work and Santa is very worried that he will not be able to deliver all the presents in time. I am sure that he and the Elves will find the problem and get going as soon as possible.
He asked me to wish you all a very merry Christmas and he hopes to send you his final message for the year sometime tomorrow.
All the very best to you all and we wish you a very merry Christmas.
Love and best wishes
Mrs Claus
FUNNY CHRISTMAS STORIES
I have spent some time away from the North Pole in the lead up to this Christmas, not only checking up with the children and if they have been naughty or nice, I have also spent a lot of tie with older people who were only too happy to tell me a few funny Christmas stories. Some of these stories I would like to share with you right now because they are some of my favourites.
Little Sophie climbed up onto my lap this morning and after chatting about the fact that there were only two sleeps until Christmas day now, I asked her what it was she wanted for Christmas this year. She looked at me strangely, shrugged her shoulder and proceeded to tell me that she wanted Shopkins and some toys to play with on the beach. As she departed from me she stated in a loud voice, “Hey Mum, Santa didn’t get my email and I had to tell him all over again what I wanted for Christmas.”
Glen, a lawyer, told me a good one the other day. Glen had a client that was in court last week, the week before Christmas. In the interview that Glen had with this man he was asked what were the charges that had been brought before him to which the client responded that he was only doing his Christmas shopping early and that he believed that this was not a crime. Glen began by agreeing with him until he asked the question, ‘just how early were you doing this shopping?’ Glen’s client, looking a little sheepish, said that it was before the shop opened.
Joe is a grandfather and he is beginning to feel like it is difficult to get around and this made it hard to purchase the Christmas gifts for his children and grand Children. He told me this morning of his decision to send out cheques to people and mailed them all out by the second week of Christmas encouraging them to ‘buy their own present’ this year. He went on to say that he had been to a few family gatherings and became puzzled at why he had not received many cards from his relatives and neither had any of them mentioned their gifts at the family gatherings. He admitted to me that he was about to write to them all to ask what he had done, but as he cleared his desk to commence writing, he discovered the pile of cheques that he wrote and had forgotten to put them in the envelopes with the cards. Needless to say, he was on his way to the post office to mail the cheques and was waving the envelopes I front of me as he spoke. Poor Joe, he was stressing a lot over this one.
One evening last month, Alexander arrived home from work to find that the lights were out. His wife had prepared a lovely candlelit dinner and the guests of honour were our two young sons, Guy and Sheldon and they had taken the trouble to dress up in their suits for this wonderful occasion. Alexander, not knowing what was going on joked, “hey did we forget to pay our electricity bill and everyone laughed. Last Sunday evening Alexander took the family to the Christmas Candlelit Procession at the local church. There were a lot of people there and the church was packed and silent when Guy asked in his loud voice, “Hey, Dad, did they not pay their electricity bill, too?” As you can imagine there were a lot of stares.
Some of Patricia’s fondest childhood memories involve her family’s annual trips to the local Christmas-tree farm to choose their family Christmas tree. She tells me that they have an artificial tree at their house which is traditionally trotted out each year. She went on to inform me that children are still able to partake in the tradition by accompanying her parents when they cut down their tree. When she announced that the whole family would be helping their grandparents pick out a tree next weekend, she expected her six-year old son to be excited about the outing. Instead, he furrowed his brow, puzzled, and asked, “What did they do with the one we got them last year?”
One Christmas Marie’s husband put an assortment of beauty products in her stocking as his gift for the season. She said that when she tried one of the facial masks, and was about to wash it off when her eight-year-old son walked in asking what it was that she was doing as he had never seen her like this before. She went on to explain to him that she was using the Christmas present that she had been given from his dad and that it was making her beautiful. He patiently waited by her side as she rinsed and patted her face dry. “Well, what do you think?” she asked her son to which her replied “Oh, Mom, it didn’t work!”
Well, I have to go and see how the loading of my sleigh is progressing. We had to start a lot earlier this year on account of there being many more children to visit. We are getting into the final stages of delivery up here and everyone is getting very excited.
Only two more sleeps now. I hope you have finished all of your Christmas shopping and that you will not be one of the many people crowding the shopping centres in the last few hours before Christmas looking for the last things on your lists.
Love and best wishes
Santa
Did you know that I employ thousands of Elves and that they are spread all around the world-remember the Elves on the shelf, I shared with you a little about them the other day? Right here at the North Pole, the very centre of my operations, there are also a few hundred Elves who also work very hard to help make a Merry Christmas for all boys and girls across the world.
There are Elves in the workshop busy making toys, there are those who wrap, Elves that track the weather, and Elves who do all the mechanical work on the sleigh and those who pack the sleigh. Three trusted and specially appointed Elves – Hope, Stephanie and Chris – have the important task of looking after the reindeer ensuring that they are healthy, fed and ready to fly on Christmas Eve. There are mailroom Elves, Elves who do the catering making sure everyone here eats healthy meals, there are decorating Elves and even singing Elves. There are so many Elves I can’t begin to explain them all. So here are some of the biggest names of the little guys who help me and Mrs Claus in making it work so well in an environment of fun and safety. I couldn’t do this without Mrs Claus, and she has been so helpful even though she is still feeling sore after just coming out of hospital where she had an operation on her eyes. Let me introduce some of my Elves to you.
Elf Tanjil – is the librarian. She is the one solely responsible for keeping all the information on the children, filing away the information that is brought back each day by the Elves on the shelves. Elf Tanjil also keeps the Naughty and Nice list under lock and key for me.
Elf Gracie – coordinates all that goes on in the workshop. She knows from the letters I receive from you children just how many of each toy is required and makes sure that we have enough and that the right names are on the parcels after they are wrapped.
Elf Peter – looks after the safety, health and welfare of all of us up here at the North Pole. He is the one who makes sure that we have no accidents and that no one gets hurt while doing their job.
Elf David – is our doctor, and he is a very good doctor too. He looks after any of us who get sick.
Elf Tim – is in charge of communications. He makes sure that we are always in contact with each other and that our telephone and computer systems continue to work.
Elf Michelle – is in charge of morale. She helps us to remain focused on what we are doing and why we are doing it. She helps us all feel good and happy in our work and in pulling us together to reach our goal by Christmas Eve.
Elf Jake – is my warehouse manager. It is his job to make sure that all the wrapped and named presents are looked after and secure for Christmas Eve. It is also part of his job to put all the presents in order of delivery on the sleigh, helping me to get around to everyone a little faster.
Elf Jock – is assigned to coordinating the wrapping, taking every Santa surprise and make it look merry and bright. He looks after 50 other Elves in the wrapping department, all who take their role very seriously always finding a way to get this massive job done before I take flight.
Well there you have it, a few of the important members of the team who help make Christmas for everyone. I am so grateful to my Elves and honoured and privileged to be working alongside of them.
Three more sleeps – I hope you have done all your Christmas shopping.
Love and best wishes
Santa
MY FAVOURITE TREATS
I love my food and I am honoured and privileged to be fed at all the houses on Christmas Eve as I deliver the toys around the world. Let me share with you some of the favourite treats that I get.
Mini Santa Cheesecakes
These tiny Santa cheesecakes are the ideal dessert for Christmas Day. The combination of sharp baked cheesecake, chocolate biscuit base and fresh zing of strawberry is so yum. Try stopping at one.
Ingredients
12 mini Oreo biscuits
250 g cream cheese
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbs lemon juice
2 eggs
24 fresh strawberries
150 ml cream
2 tbs icing sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Line a 24 cup mini muffin tin with paper cases.
Use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time.
Break each mini Oreo in half and use a knife to scrape the cream filling away from the lower Oreo. Place one mini Oreo into the base of each mini muffin cup.
Divide the cream cheese mixture amongst the muffin cups, pouring it or spooning it over each mini Oreo.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until slightly risen and just beginning to crack on the surface.
Cool completely on a wire rack and refrigerate while you make the toppings.
Whip the cream and icing sugar together until thick and fluffy. Prepare the strawberries by cutting off their tops (where the stalk is) to create a Santa hat shape out of each one.
Put the whipped cream mixture into a piping bag and pipe a generous blob onto each cooled cheesecake. Place a strawberry onto each blob, pushing it down so that the cream oozes out slightly to become the hat's fur trim.
Top each Santa hat with a small dab of cream for a pom pom. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
Mars Bar Christmas Crackles
A fabulous combination of flavours in bite size pieces. You just have to try these.
Ingredients
200g Mars Bars, chopped
2 tbsp of pouring (thin) cream
2 tsp cocoa powder, sifted
3 cups Rice Bubbles
canola spray
100g white chocolate
24 red Smarties or M&Ms
Method
Spray a little canola spray into 2 x 12 cup mini-muffin trays.
Melt the Mars Bars, cream and cocoa in a glass bowl over simmering water. The bowl should not touch water. Stir the mixture until smooth.
Put the Rice Bubbles in a separate large bowl, pour in the chocolate mixture and stir until well mixed.
Spoon the mixture into the muffins tray and press down gently.
Refrigerate for 2 hours and turn out onto a tray to decorate.
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave checking and stirring it at 30 second intervals. Pour it into a piping bag while warm and snip the tip off.
Turn the crackles upside down and pipe the chocolate on. Finish with a red chocolate button on top of each one.
Christmas Shortbread
This simple shortbread recipe is as buttery and melt-in-the-mouth as any fancy traditional recipe. Whip up a batch and wrap them up for Christmas!
Ingredients
125 g caster sugar
125 g cornflour
2 cups plain flour
250 g butter
Method
Preheat the oven to 170˚C.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir until it's all combined.
Line a 28cm x 18cm lamington tin with baking paper and press the mixture in.
Bake at 170˚c for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, cut into 2 squares, sprinkle evenly with caster sugar and prick each piece with a fork.
Return to oven for 15 minutes. Cool in tin.
Melted Snowmen
These melted snowman cookies are the perfect Christmas cooking activity for the kids. Get playing now!
Ingredients
Basic cookie dough:1/3 cup (80g) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (115g) caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup (200g) plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
To decorate:1 cup (150g) pure icing sugar
licorice strips
red cachous
icing pens
small coloured sweets
Method
To make the dough; Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-forced) and line two trays with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well. Fold in the vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix into a dough, shape this into a disc, then wrap in plastic and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll out 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 cool completely. Slice up a few licorice 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 for the cachous.
Decorate the cookies, spoon on a little white icing and spread over the surface of your cookie, then press the marshmallow down in the middle and decorate at will!
Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches
Take Christmas gingerbread to the next level by adding a creamy layer of vanilla ice cream between two spicy gingerbread cookies. Yum! Yum! Yum!
Ingredients
3 cups plain flour
120 g butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 egg
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
Preheat the oven to 160˚C.
Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Keep the mixer on low speed and add the egg and golden syrup until fully combined.
Mix all the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and then gradually add them to the mixer until a dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead quickly until it's soft and pliable. Form it into a disc, wrap in glad wrap and chill for one hour in the fridge.
Roll the dough out to 1cm thickness and cut out 12 (or more) gingerbread shapes.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the gingerbread shapes onto the tray.
Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until slightly golden. Let them cool on the tray, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are completely cooled, use a palette knife or similar wide bladed knife, to place a layer of ice cream on one cookie, topping it off with a second cookie to create the sandwich. Use the knife to smooth around the edges and trim off the excess ice cream.
Put all the cookies in an airtight container in the freezer to firm up the ice cream before serving.
Serve the gingerbread sandwiches on a chilled platter to keep them from melting. Eat them quickly!
Happy making and happy eating.
Four more sleeps.
Love and best wished.
Santa
THE ELF ON YOUR SHELF
Have you discovered your Elf on the shelf yet?
You do know that at the beginning of December each year, I send an Elf to every house to watch over the children who live there. Each and every, my Elves reports back to me what is going on for the children. Each night they fly back to me at the North Pole to tell me if you have been naughty or nice – and any other information that I might like to know that will help me to decide who will be getting presents this year and what you would like to receive.
Each morning the Elves flies back to the home they have been assigned to and set themselves up in a different position each time. This is why it is so hard for you to find the Elf on the shelf – have you looked for your Elf yet? It is so difficult to find your Elf so I wish you all good luck in your quest. On Christmas Eve, when I deliver your presents, the Elves returns with me to the North Pole until next year. Don’t think that you will get the same Elf each year, I like to move them around and they like watching a new set of children.
I know that for many of you, having an Elf in your house exciting and amazing. It must be frustrating to you however, that when you do find your Elf you cannot play with them for as many of you know, once you touch the Elf, the Elf will lose its magic. You see, if the Elf loses its magic it cannot fly back to the North Pole to give me a report which means that I may not have your house on my list on Christmas night and that would be no good would it.
I know that some of my Elves have a reputation for being a little mischievous and may be playing tricks on you while you are sleeping. Some families have reported that they eat snacks leaving crumbs all over the place, they move things around at night just for fun. They have also played in gardens, thrown cushions off chairs and just left mess laying around. If this has happened to you, will you please write to me at the North Pole and let me know what they have been up to. The should not be doing this and I do not like them being naughty.
Just remember, the Elves are watching you.
Only five more sleeps, so get some rest. Christmas is going to be busy and a lot of fun.
Love and best wishes to you all.
Santa
TODAY’S VISITORS
It is only six more sleeps before you wake up on Christmas morning to all the presents that I will leave for you under your Christmas tree. Can I tell you, the Elves are working so hard to make sure that all of you receive what you asked for. There are so many more children this year and the Elves are doing their best with the extra work load. The mechanical Elves are working hard on the sleigh to make sure that it can carry the extra weight this year. They are also looking at how I can go a little faster as there will be more stops too. They are very clever Elves and they will have it all working perfectly before I take off on Christmas Eve.
I had a lovely day today, just moving around and chatting with a lot of different people and animals. My first meeting for the day was with Sprinkles Sparkles Unicorn. Now, that is a mouthful isn’t it. Sprinkles Sparkles Unicorn is a kindergarten chicken named by the children themselves. She is a constant companion to the children in their daily activities at the kinder. Sprinkles Sparkles Unicorn is spending the holidays with Claire the kinder teacher and the photo of Sprinkles Sparkles Unicorn taken with me today will be sent to each of the children.
Hayden is nearly four years old, and when he saw me in the distance he screamed ‘Santa’ and just started running toward me with his arms outstretched. It was one long word which lasted from the entrance to where I was sitting. His mother told me that Hayden just loves Santa and when he knew he was seeing me today, he was awake before 6am and ready to go, continually asking when they were going to get in the car and go. Hayden was a delight telling me all he could about what he wanted for Christmas and what he was doing on Christmas day. We had a great time together and when he left, he waved to me saying ’bye Santa, Merry Christmas Santa, love you Santa’, all the way until he got out the door.
Grace is a grandmother of around 65 years of age. She has retired to the seaside where she likes the sound of the sea but she misses her daughter and grandchildren. She is looking forward to travelling back to Sydney at the end of the week to spend Christmas day with her family which she misses. Grace wanted to have her picture taken with me to show her grandchildren. We had a lot of fun posing in different ways so that she had a number of fun pictures to take with her.
Bobbie is eight months pregnant and she and her husband Ken are really looking forward to the birth of their daughter next month. Today all three of them had a family photograph with me, with Bobbie’s bump prominently on display. She told me that this was the first of her daughter’s pictures with me and that there will be a Christmas photo every year to go with the one from today. Bobby has had her photo taken with me for every year of her life too.
Cloe and Buster are two light brown poodles who are lovingly cared for by Lisa and George. They are full of life and have plenty of energy to spare. They love to play and would not sit still for their photo today. Lisa and George ended up holding them in their arms and sitting with me for the photograph. They looked so cute and loved the treats when it was all over.
Finally, Adam who is 2 years old, would not let go of his dad’s leg and began to cry and stamp his feet. He did not want to see me and looked very scared. We spent a lot of time with Adam trying to have him feel comfortable with having his picture taken with me. It was important that we get this picture for his mother who is in hospital recovering from a major operation. After many attempts at hi 5s, petting some of the dogs that had come to visit and playing around on the floor, we managed to get Adam sitting with me on my chair, laughing, tugging at my beard and pulling faces. His mum will be very pleased to get her photo of Adam in the next few days.
Well that is it for now. I must go and check in on my workshop and see how my Elves are doing. It is time I gave them a short break so we can share a meal together. I’m hungry so I am going now.
All the best with love and best wishes.
Santa
CHRISTMAS JOKES
Today when I was on the Sunshine Coast of Australia I met many children who were only too happy to tell me their Christmas jokes. I have remembered a number of them and they were so good I decided to share them with you today. They are as follows:
Who doesn't eat on Christmas? A turkey because it is always stuffed. What’s the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the ordinary alphabet? The Christmas alphabet has Noel.
Name the child's favourite Christmas king? A stocking.
What does Santa bring naughty boys and girls on Christmas Eve? A pack of batteries with a note saying "toy not included". What do you get if you deep fry Santa Claus? Crisp Cringle. What do you call a blind reindeer? I have no eye deer . What do you call a wet animal? "A reindeer". What do you call the wrapping paper leftover from opening presents? a christ-MESS What's Santa’s favourite snack food? Crisp Pringles.
Why does Santa have 3 gardens? So he can ho-ho-ho.
What do call Santa when he stops moving? Santa Pause!
What do get if you cross a duck and Santa? A Christmas Quacker.
Where do reindeer go to dance? Christmas balls!
Who hides in the bakery at Christmas? A mince spy!
What did the Comet say before telling his joke? This one’ll sleigh you!
I had some very funny children see me today, as you can see. I look forward to hearing more Christmas jokes from you in my travels.
Well it is only seven more sleeps until Christmas morning. My elves have asked that if any of you have not decided on what you want for Christmas could you please make up your mind quickly and let me know. We want to be ready for Christmas eve and have the sleigh fully packed with everything the children have asked for. If you don’t get your request in please do not worry as I know what you would like and you will be receiving a Santa surprise.
All the best with love and best wishes to you all.
Santa