Christmas 2022

Christmas this year must have been one of the most curious ones, mainly because of the gifts we bought to each other, my husband and I. As usual, we went for an advent-calendar type of gifts, ranging from some chocolate or the strangest one I got – mix of nails (more on that in the post) – to bigger items such as T-shirts and games.

These are the gifts I received from my husband, on the 25th. What’s even more funny than the tank theme is that he wrapped them to look like a tank, see the picture below!

I got a nice Ukrainian tractor T-shirt, pulling a russian tank. I love this and I mentioned that I want to get one of these a few times. I also received an Ukrainian tractor pulling a russian tank, this time as a model from Ukrainian brand Ugears. On top of that, my husband bought for me the amazing How to Tankie by Darth Putin KGB. I read the book and it’s fantastic, I highly recommend it. If you are not familiar with Darth Putin KGB, check his twitter account @DarthPutinKGB. Lastly, a chocolate tank, which is fantastic. I love it.

It even has the Ukrainian flag drawn on it, which I missed because it was underneath the tree. Now I wonder why I didn’t think of the tank-theme when it was that obvious: it was doing what it said on the “wrapping paper”.

These socks arrived a bit later and they were an extra gift.

These are all of the gifts I received this Christmas from my husband. A lot are bought from Ukraine or have a connection with Ukraine. Ugears (the models) are made near Kyiv, the book by Iuliia Mendel, Darth Putin KGB, the T-shirt.

This is what I got for my husband. I bought some chocolate from Ukraine, but it arrived a bit late, so it was an extra gift, given at some point in December. He received the Saint Javelin with Baby NAFO T-shirt and mug on Christmas day and he loved them. I knew this design was a favourite of his. I also got a T-shirt with “Be nice to me, you might need tech support someday” which is hilarious (he works in IT). The photo calendar was lovely to make, as I’ve included pictures from this year, from out travels. The nails are fun, as my husband does DIY, I thought he will like a mix of nails for when he needs a couple in a size he doesn’t have. A friend thought it was funny and said that it was a nice idea.

This chocolate is vegan, made in Ukraine, bought from Made with Bravery. After it was delayed and the country was bombarded more and more I imagined it would be lost, but it arrived. I am in awe of the Ukrainians, so much strength.

Now, let’s talk about food. We’ve decorated the Yule Log this year instead of a cake. The Yule Log was bought from a small local vegan company and we decorated it with homemade marzipan. We like marzipan and this year I made it with even more almonds – 2 parts almonds to 1 part sugar. All colour had different flavourings and they were delicious.

For starters we had a mix of vegan cheeses, mushroom parfait from 2 different supermarkets, some tomatoes, asparagus, vegan bacon, and houmous with avocado. I also baked bread.

Next we had some sour soup, a Romanian dish.

Followed by roast (vegan, made by a small local company – there is a theme here), with gravy, roasted veggies, and pickled watermelon and green tomato. I love pickled watermelon and it’s not the first time we have this for Christmas. The veggies were delicious – orange and purple carrots, parsnip, and broccoli.

Mince pies, same as before, shop-bought, but from a small…

Christmas cake was bought from a supermarket, it was ok, but it could have been better. We also had Christmas pudding, but it was too much and we didn’t open it.