• 2 pints of decent red wine ( always use decent red wine and ignore any ideas that sangria means using cheap awful wine! )
• 500ml of freshly squeezed orange juice
• 500ml of pomegranate juice
• 3 tots of any citrus flavored vodka
• 1 cup of pomegranate seeds
• 4 thick stalks of fresh lemongrass ( leave these long enough to act as natural stirrers for your sangria )
• 2 vanilla bean stalks, split in the middle
• 2 tsp sugar

Combine the wine, orange juice, pomegranate juice and vodka, stirring well. Dissolve the Sugar into the sangria mix, adding the pomegranate seeds stirring well. Place the lemongrass stalks on a chopping board and bash with a rolling pin to release the citrusy scent and place into your sangria jug to infuse and impart the lemongrass into the mix. Pop in the vanilla beans and add 2 cups of ice. Serve chilled.

Crispy Caramelised Bacon Bites 
This is a true hats off to my mum who really knows how to turn simple ingredients into wow factor! I have eaten these little molten delights, piping hot from the oven ever since I can remember and it’s one of those recipes that will always find it’s place, whether snuggly fitted around the turkey at Christmas or just for easy going bitings when friends come over. Don’t forget them for picnic boxes and sometimes when my little ones have been seriously seriously good, these will sneakily find their way into their snack boxes, much to the delight of a five and a seven year old!

This is so easy and doesn’t really need a huge method description. Simply cut strips of streaky bacon 1/4 ” wide. Scatter a chopping board generously with straightforward white sugar. Place the strips on the sugar and roll individually into little mini bacon swissrolls. Secure with a toothpick. If you want to make these a little more sophisticated you can pop a small piece of chicken liver at the top of the bacon strip before rolling. Other little fun fillings that work very well are small pieces of dried figs or little bits of chopped mushroom. Pop under a hot grill turning a few times until the sugar has caramelized and the bacon crispy and slightly charred on the outside.

Serve piping piping hot!