How do we know Christmas is coming? Let us count the ways.
First of all, there is a huge increase in the sightings of the Slade singer Noddy Holder, a man whose mating cry of ‘It’s Christmaaaas!’ becomes commonplace from the 1st of December onwards.
Secondly, the 5pm Christmas Gifts campaign is in full flow. You have Christmas presents to buy but can’t face the zombie apocalypse of High Street shopping. The simple, convenient, online solution is here.
Ginger world
Thirdly, the cities’ big hotels are decked with boughs of holly and remarkable gingerbread displays.
At Edinburgh’s Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, the kitchen brigade have created a spectacular Christmas Gingerbread Wonderland.
On display in the lobby, the diorama shows a castle, nine houses, a church, clock tower, Ferris wheel, ice skating rink, fifteen Christmas trees and numerous cheery-looking villagers.
Designed and created by chefs Todd Ford, Elina Norbuta and Christiane Franz, the display used 27kg of gingerbread, a whopping 18.6kg and a vast array of fairy lights.
The stunning display took the clever chefs over six weeks to create.
Orkney Gold beef
Book in to the hotel’s One Square restaurant through 5pm and you can tuck in to two courses from the Chef’s festive set menu for £23.50.
If we were ordering, we would have the poached Scottish salmon roulade with hot roast smoked salmon, pickled cucumber, Heritage potato salad and caper dressing followed by the braised featherblade of Orkney gold beef with buttered spinach, Heritage mash potatoes and red wine sauce.
