A thank-you for your church mulled wine and mince pie team: the big pan steaming at the back of church after the carol service and a tray of warm mince pies, as a jigsaw with your note at the end

Written by the team behind Puzzlify. Puzzlify is our product, so weigh what follows with that in mind. We've tried to make this useful even if you never use it. We're not affiliated with any church, diocese, parochial church council, choir, licensing authority, charity or community organisation.

At the end of a carol service, as the organ plays the last voluntary and people start winding scarves back on, there is usually a smell of cloves and orange drifting from the back of the church. Somebody has been in the kitchen since the second reading, warming a big pan of mulled wine (and a jug of hot apple juice for the drivers and children), and laying out trays of mince pies on paper doilies. It is the bit of the evening when neighbours actually talk to each other. This short note is about thanking the people who make it happen.

Who does the work

The mulled wine and mince pie team often includes:

• the person who bakes six dozen mince pies over two evenings, or collects them from half the parish
• whoever keeps the spiced wine warm without letting it boil, and knows exactly how much sugar it needs
• the volunteer who remembers a non-alcoholic option, and labels it clearly
• the people standing behind the trestle table with a ladle and a stack of paper cups
• the washer-up who stays until every mug, pan and tray is clean and back in the cupboard
• the one who takes the leftover pies round to the care home the next morning

Why it's worth saying

Nobody comes to a carol service for the refreshments, but plenty of people stay because of them. That half hour of warm cups and conversation is often when a newcomer gets talking to someone, or when an older neighbour who lives alone gets asked round for Christmas. The team rarely hears the carols properly, because they slip out to the kitchen before the last hymn.

A good moment to say it

The week after the carol service is ideal, while the kitchen still smells faintly of cinnamon. Early January also works, when the decorations come down and everyone has a minute to breathe.

Photo ideas

• the big pan steaming on the hob, with orange slices and cinnamon sticks floating on top
• a trestle table at the back of church, with paper cups in neat rows and a ladle ready
• a tray of mince pies dusted with icing sugar, one with a bite already taken
• the hand-written sign: "Mulled wine / hot apple juice / donations welcome"
• the empty table afterwards, with one paper cup left and a tea towel over the urn
• the kitchen draining board, stacked high with clean pans at the end of the night

Photograph the table, the food and the kitchen rather than the crowd, and follow your church's photo policy if anyone is in the frame.

Piece counts

A table full of cups, jugs and pastry has lots of texture, so 80 or 130 pieces works well; a close-up of the steaming pan suits 48.

Note ideas

• "Six dozen mince pies and not one left over. Thank you."
• "The best part of the carol service happened at the back of church."
• "Thank you for remembering the hot apple juice."
• "You missed the last carol so the rest of us could have a warm cup. We noticed."
• "Our new neighbours stayed and talked because of your table."

The cost, plainly

The preview is free, so you can see how it looks first. Publishing the link costs one credit (€3.99), less per puzzle with a bundle. It's a digital jigsaw, not a printed one, so nothing arrives in the post. The person receiving it doesn't need an account or an app: they open the link, put the pieces together, and your note appears at the end. If a card says it better, send a card.

Other ways to say thank you

• a card signed by the choir and the congregation
• a mention in the parish magazine (with the total raised, if there was a collection)
• doing the washing-up for them next year
• sharing the recipe, with their permission, in the newsletter
• a box of good chocolates in the church kitchen with their name on it

Where Puzzlify fits

Puzzlify turns a personal photo into a private digital jigsaw you send as a link. It is not a printed puzzle and not a public puzzle board; only the people you send it to can open it. It is one option among many. It is not puzzlify.io, Puzzlit, Puzzly or Puzzify, which are different things.

If you'd like to try it, pick the steaming pan, the trestle table or the tray of mince pies, choose a piece count and write your note. You can make one here.

Written by the small team behind Puzzlify (info@puzzlify.app). Not legal, licensing, food hygiene, religious, photography permission or gift policy advice.