Last Updated At 8:01 PM On 06th December 2008

Bling bling, merrily

What on earth is happening to Christmas? Could it be that after years of ignoring the God bit and instead concentrating on buying trendy trees and must-have toy robots (the crazy splurge that has come to represent the festive season) that perhaps, just perhaps, this year we will get back to basics.

We may have been forced into it, but I have a feeling that this Christmas might be the best in years.
In our family we have suspended presents - not for the kids, which seems an economy too far, but just for the grown-ups. This has so many up-sides that I'm surprised we haven't tried it before.

No more traipsing around trying to buy something, anything, for the three brothers-in-law. No polite smiles as your sister unwraps her third copy of Nigella's cookbook. No last-minute cashmere socks, no last-resort bottles of bordeaux, no boxed sets of perfume with matching lip gloss and shower cap. Instead - and stop sniggering at the back - we will be making gifts this year.

I have come up with a great peanut brittle that I shall nestle in tissue paper, house in pretty ribboned boxes and hot chicken salad recipe call Credit Crunch. My daughter is making bead bracelets for her aunts, and truffles in the shape of Christmas puds for her grandparents (oops, sorry, spoiled the surprise).
I recognise that it has long been fashionable to sneer at arts and calories in macaroni salad crafts and home-made jam. But here we are mired in recession and chicken cesar salad recipe the option of buying our way through Christmas has evaporated.

Good riddance, I say. Who needs the superfluous nonsense that usually sits under the tree? More cuff links? Another coffee-table book?

For years, a certain member of my extended family, who shall remain anonymous, has been giving me presents that leave my face helpless as they emerge from the wrapping.

One year, it was a plastic salad spinner. The next, a mattress protector. One glorious Christmas, she gave me a net laundry bag designed to keep your socks under control in the wash. I don't mean to be ungrateful, but I am beyond relieved that I won't have to fake delight again this year.

I have probably avoided a penpencil set. Or a colander.

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