I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but didn't manage to get this finished yesterday, so am posting today instead. :)
As with previous years, I'm doing a double post, sharing what I baked for Christmas and my last quarterly update of the year (autumn-winter). (Last year I didn't bake anything for Christmas, so shared what I baked for New Year instead). Scroll down if you just want to read the update. :)
Christmas Spiced Gingerbread Cake
For Christmas (2025) I baked a spiced gingerbread cake. The recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/gingerbread-cake-recipe/
It can be made as a single layer cake or a 3 layer cake and in various sizes. I made the single version. I used treacle instead of molasses, which I often do with ginger things, since it's more accessible in the UK. I also used mixed spice instead of cloves becauase I didn't have any and mixed spice has cloves in it.
The recipe has a cream cheese frosting which is one of my favourite icings/frostings, especially with ginger cakes! This frosting has spices in it, so I used ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice again.
The cake was quite nice. It goes well with evaporated milk too. One of the suggestions for decorating it is festive Christmas sprinkles. I couldn't get any red and green sprinkles, so I used some multicoloured ones instead. Here's a pic:
Autumn-Winter Update (2025)
And now it's time for my final update of 2025! For the past few years I've been writing quarterly updates (season to season). I find that more manageable rather than doing monthly and later "two monthly" updates which I was writing previously.
You can see my previous updatws dor 2025 at the links below:
Winter-Spring Update (2025): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/04/winter-spring-update-2025-easter-baking.html
Spring-Summer Update (2025): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/07/spring-summer-update-2025.html
https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/10/summer-autumn-update-2025-happy.html
I didn't really do much during October, apart from going to the library. At the end of the month I celebrated Samhain/Hallowe'en. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/11/halloweensamhain-2025.html
In early November I went to the park for Samhain (see the post above). I also started a Mental Health Toolkit course at my local mental health resource centre, which carried on into December. it was the first course i'd done for a few years, so it was good to get back to it.
In late November I went to The Grand hotel in Brighton's Christmas lights switch on event with a Meetup group. It had been ages since I'd done an event with that group, so it was nice to go along. It was the second time I'd been to The Grand after wanting to go for a long time! (The first time was an afternoon tea with the same Meetup group.)
They had a choir from a local school inside and were selling mulled wine, hot chocolate and mince pie. I had a hot chocolate with marshmallows and a mince pie. Then we went outside to see the lights switched. Afterwards I got some chips and a Coke from the shop Belgian Chips.
In late December I celebrated Yule/the Winter Solstice. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2025/12/yule-2025.html
I also continued going regularly to Happy Café (Action for Happiness' Meetup events).
Here are a couple of photos from November:
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| View of St Mary's chuch, Shoreham-by-sea. |
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| Sunset in Hove (taken when I went to the park). |
I didn't bake much, apart from for sabbats/seasonal festivals (similar to last year). I started making my own hot chocolate again in September.
Christmas was quite nice. I made "crockpot" hot chocolate on Christmas Eve, which has become a tradition for me in recent years.
I got some nice presents and had a family meal on Christmas Day. This Christmas it was a "proper" turkey which was better than the turkey paupiette I had last year! It was my first time cooking a proper one! And I baked the spiced gingerbread cake(see above). For New Year I bought a rainbow layer cake which I quite liked.
The weather has been varied- it was really warm for a bit in November but then went significantly colder. We had a bit of snow in Sussex a couple of weeks ago but hardly any in my area. Since then it's been mostly rain, with some sunny days. It's been about 10C (50F) during the day and 7C (44F) at night, so not too bad but it feels colder! I know that many people in the US are dealong with snowstorms and bad weather right now, so I hope you're doing ok. :)
So that's it for the update! I haven't been up to a lot but never mind. The next sabbat is Imbolg/Imbolc which is next Monday (2nd February), although some people may celebrate on 1st Feb. I will do a post about my celebrations. I'll also share a couple of links below, if you'd like some inspiration. Happy Imbolg! :)
Read: Rainforest by Michelle Paver, Manifest Your True Essence by Estelle Bingham (non-fiction book about manifesting).
Watched: IT: Welcome to Derry (prequel to the IT films).
Links I found useful in autumn and winter:
How to Fall in Love with Life (post and video by Dia Jin): https://diajin.substack.com/p/how-to-fall-in-love-with-life-again
Another video by Dia Jin about feeling stuck even though you've done a lot of work on yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPFYLgB0Hs
The Spiritual Meaning of Winter: A Slow Living Guide to the Season (Adriana Tudorache from YR Studios): https://yrstudio.co.uk/blogs/adriana-tudorache-blog/spiritual-meaning-of-winter-slow-living
P.S. Here are a few Imbolg links:
Happy Imbolg! (my most recent celebration ideas post from 2023): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/01/happy-imbolg.html
Celebrating Imbolc: 10 Ways to Honor the Coming of Spring: https://morella-ulalume.com/celebrating-imbolc/
Imbolc Recipes Ideas (Traditional Dishes & Modern Twists): https://witchymagicks.com/imbolc-recipes/
5 Ways to Make Imbolc Magickal On Your Own: https://www.jesscarlson.com/blog/qdfzkwtjd30qxlnpx36yqdcr760568
Candlemas in Paganism: https://witchymagicks.com/candlemas-in-paganism/
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