By Keighley’s Mike Armstrong, an award-winning master baker with a big passion for baking...

HOW beautifully messy the Christmas decorations were back in the days – baubles made of glass, and of which three or four would smash treacherously each year when dad ventured down from the loft!

I think 'elf and safety' legislation got rid of those by the early eighties, and they became extinct.

Paper bells and other things started off flat, but became 3D with the help of Blu Tack (other reusable adhesives are available!) – totally non matching, like an explosion in a glitter factory, bought from Woolworths' previous January sale.

Those were the days. Few would think of making something to last to hang above a fireplace or on a wall with a Christmas message or quotation. But we did make lots of paper chains out of brightly coloured paper which kept us creative for hours, with a Blue Peter coat hanger Advent crown with a candle on each corner and a loo roll fairy for the top of the Christmas tree.

All homes would have a bowl full of fancy nuts arranged on the sideboard, with a nutcracker poised on top. No one would ever eat the nuts, because other than hazelnuts they were mostly uncrackable and gathered dust weeks after Christmas, until they went in the bin sometime in February. There were better things to eat anyway, like chocolates and twiglets. Then there was that piccalilli and a box of dates with a wooden fork, again, things that came out but I can never recall actually eating – but dad liked his dates.

For the Christmas drinks there'd be sparkling tipples like Babycham which, when coupled with advocaat and a glace cherry, became an awesome retro cocktail.

And there was the joy that came from the Christmas annuals. I always got two – one for the end of the bed to read if I woke up early on Christmas Day, usually the Beano or Dandy, and sometimes if I was really lucky a Rupert Bear annual.

Some day soon artisan gin and Prosecco will be old hat.

That's the beauty of Christmas traditions I guess – they will evolve for every generation. But where there's love there will always be no place like home at Christmas no matter where you are.

RECIPE

MINCE PIES

Ingredients:

450g/1lb pack of ready-made puff pastry

450g/1lb jar of good shop-bought mincemeat, or homemade

50g/2oz dried cranberries, optional

1 tablespoon of brandy or rum

50g/2oz caster or soft brown sugar to sprinkle

1 egg, beaten or a little milk to glaze

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 5 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

2. Mix the mincemeat with the cranberries and alcohol of choice.

3. Roll out the pastry thinly using a little flour and stamp out 12 x 6cm/2’’ rounds with a plain side down pastry cutter and lay on the lined baking tray.

4. Fill each round with one heaped teaspoon of mincemeat and brush the edges with a little egg or milk.

5. Stamp out 12 x 6cm/2’’ rounds for the lids and put on top of the mincemeat, sealing the edges with the next size down pastry cutter.

6. Brush with egg or milk, sprinkle over a little sugar, poke a hole in the middle and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.