The Festive Period

Well I think I am going to declare this Christmas one of the breeziest we've ever had. The children all united and decided that we wouldn't do gifts this year.....except for second hand buys and hand made. They are all becoming more conscious of their environmental impact and bees wax wraps were definitely a common theme.

Even my boss got the recycled/hand made treatment. I found a half restored plant stand in an antique shop that he definitely needed and it goes so well with the age and style of the house that is our clinic. Craig removed the rest of the old paint and sanded it. I then did the finer sanding, oiling, French polishing and waxing. It took quite a few hours but a delightful outcome.

As well as making Peanut Chilli Brittle and Coconut Ice, I made soap for gifting. This one is a tallow/olive oil/coconut oil mix with a couple of blue layers upon the natural creamy soap and flecks of silver mica on the top after I gave it a sea swell look. I'm calling this one "shore".

For our children I made them several different bags of roasted and ground Indian spice mixes for authentic curry making. They all like cooking and I think this will take their curries to a new level, thanks to my trusty Thermomix. The house smelt soooo good!

The Christmas Cake this year was made by combining to of my Grandmother Murray's recipes. It was a whopping 11" and had 10 eggs and a whole pound of butter. I did a quick family research poll and they elected to have it not iced this year but it was liberally dressed every few days with good brandy. Plenty for visitors so do call in.

Our singing group gathered at the Anglican Church this year for the community carols as it was so windy out of doors

We also did our fair share of feasting and pintrest has helped me amp my "cheese platters" to a whole new level....

But on the whole we kept Christmas feasting to a simple but special design.

This epic show stopper of a salad was a key component. It is made of lots of fresh leaf lettuce ("Forellenschluss" or speckled trout) picked from the garden with thinly sliced pear, quartered figs, Italian prosciutto and pomegranate with a pomegranate and oil dressing.

Our home grown leg of lamb was glazed with a blackberry and balsamic reduction and stuffed with pistachios, breadcrumb, onion and blackberry and thyme. The Balsamic Potatoes from Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook were a very big hit. The directions call for lots of cooking that sounds completely impossible but it just works. Fresh peas from the garden lightly steamed added the final touch to our carefully constructed menu. An elegant berry pavlova with berry curd and extra cream was the perfect light, refreshing finish.

Christmas Mass was held at 9pm on Christmas Eve and I wish I had stopped to get a photo of St Michael's from the outside as I was leaving. The stained glass windows lit from within looked stunning in the deepening twilight.

I have jumped into the modern world with Spotify and streaming replacing my huge Christmas CD collection and I have even managed to blue tooth it all to the car so it has been hours and hours of Christmas songs. I feel thoroughly drenched in festivity.

Thank you to key family members and friends for your help and good cheer, making this one of the cruisiest and fully celebrated times of joy.

All that is left is to wish you the same joy and may it last throughout the year.