Where did all the Glace Cherries go?

I've been putting this off for weeks because it was too early.  Too much to store, nowhere to put it, just too early.  Of course, after shopping today for my Christmas baking I'm thinking I left it maybe a little too late!  I got the last two bags of Glace Cherries, you know the mixed coloured ones?  *sigh* I really wanted about 4 bags of RED.....  And where have they hid the rice flour I ask you?  I need that for the shortbread.  Maybe there's some at the back of the pantry......   And looks like the financial crisis has hit the Irish Whiskey industry because it's gone up $10 since last year! Remember when home-made meant cheaper?  When I told MIL I was making a pudding she asked me why?  It's cheaper to buy one from Woollies she said.  Well, that sort of defeats the purpose says me, but she's right. Puddings, mince pies, shortbread, Irish cream - they are all fairly labour intensive and time consuming, and now expensive I guess.  So why do I do it?  It's not like I am your usual Henrietta Homemaker, decked in frilly apron happily popping muffin tins into the oven at every turn, including pumpkin, pineapple & lemon myrtle scones in the kids' lunches and so on.  But at Christmas I become a baking fiend, and I'm not bad at it either!  The shortbread is OK, the pudding is nice, the mince pies are DELICIOUS (it's my homemade fruit mince but I'm trying a new twist on the pastry this year....) and the Irish Cream, fondly referred to as Traylees in my circle is TO DIE FOR!!!  (and very potent!).

So today's photo is just a snippet of the shopping and cookbooks littering my bench this afternoon.  Coming soon watch out for a photo of the finished goodies...........!