The Christmas Table: Christmas recipes and tutorials A celebration of all things Christmas! | Página 41

About the Author

Hilary Stone
Christmas has always been a traditional English
Christmas for my family. My mother is a Londoner
and I married an Englishman and although they
come from Old Blighty, it is me that insists on an
English style of Christmas. My father who passed
away 6 years ago this Christmas loved the lead
up to Christmas, the present buying and singing
carols.
When I got my own tree after I was married my
father started buying me beautiful baubles to
hang on our new tree, now 17 years later and an
8 foot tree there is hardly any branches that isn’t
adorned with a beautiful bauble…I might just have
to introduce another tree to our family!
As each Christmas came, so did a new decoration
from Dad, usually a Villeroy & Boch, each one I
treasure dearly. Now that my dad is no longer here
I buy them myself with my children, as a ritual of
remembrance of him. I tell my children about each
and every decoration and why it is so special and
my memory of my father remains strong as I hang
each decoration.
I learnt my very first flower just over 2 years ago
when I took a class with the very talented and
beautiful soul, Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet…. That’s where it all started! Then months after I took a class with the
magnificent Maggie Austin, I was hooked. I have just kept at it ever since, exploring all the possibilities, and they are
endless. I like to try and put my own spin on something that I make, to try to create something special and beautiful.
I like to bake everything myself as I find that process very satisfying and I love that OMG moment when
something tastes so good it needs to be shared. I have a book signed by Peggy Porschen and inside she
wrote “Baking is love”…. That is so true.
www.facebook.com/TheArtfulCaker

About the Author | 41