Month: December 2017

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FOOD

The Yule Log made by my sister in law. It was part of the Christmas feast we enjoyed in Beverley, about two hours from Perth. It was a lovely day.

Cheese, cherries and chutney, perfect. My husband buys me a china pot of Stilton every Christmas and it is delicious!

PROJECT

We had ten for Boxing Day Lunch and I made HAPPY NEW YEAR Rosemary Laurels.

To make

1. Make a circle from a piece of rosemary and glue the overlapping ends. Secure with a peg until it dries.

2. Print off and cut out your message. I glued a scrap sheet of A4 paper to the back to make it stronger, then cut.

3. Put a dab of glue on each end of the message, press onto laurel.

4. When the glue is dry ( I left it  overnight ) add a piece of ribbon.

These laurels looked pretty and smelt great.

SURPRISES

A Gingerbread House Gift. Such a lovely surprise from special friends. Thankyou!

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PRESENTS

We all like books for Christmas! My mother has gone home, we are living off leftovers, things have been put away and now we have settled to some reading.

This enormous pile belongs to my husband. He is very pleased with it . He haunts second hand book sites online for titles he wants after he’s seen them in the bibliography of other books.

Books about painting Australian flora and fauna, Paris and cooking…..must be my pile.

Louis found Monkey in his stocking and is very pleased with him. Determined to get to the squeak he has already chewed his side seam.

We’ve just had Fruit Cake Day. Very convenient straight after Christmas when so many of us make Christmas Cake. Yesterday was Card Playing Day which is also handy when so many of us  are on holidays. So, cut the cake and deal the cards and enjoy it all today.

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To begin making the gingerbread dough, I melted the butter and mixed it with sugar and golden syrup. Looks unattractive, smelt wonderful.

The dough coming together.  The recipe is Mary Berry’s from a BBC TV site and includes the templates to make the house.

Ginger was first cultivated in China and was used as medicine. It arrived in Europe via the Silk Road, and the biscuits became so popular in England, it became the staple of Medieval Fairs, spreading to Holland, France and Germany.

Queen Elizabeth Ist had her gingerbread biscuits cut and decorated to represent certain characters in her court, a fashion which quickly became widespread.

Gingerbread Houses originated in Germany during the 16th century and became very popular when the Brothers Grimm wrote the story of Hansel and Gretel, where the main characters stumble upon a house deep in the forest, decorated entirely in sweets.

To make the house pieces, I divided the dough into five balls and began rolling, before placing the templates on the dough and cutting them out.

The house pieces ready to put in the oven.

Used the leftover dough to make biscuits. They were very popular with the family and visitors.

Made royal icing and began constructing the house, using jars to support pieces until the icing dried.

The decoration was a joint effort and took two days, leaving the icing to dry before doing the next stage.  Aesthetics took second place to fun in this project.

The house is wrapped in cellophane and is on display. We’ll declare it open for eating on Christmas Eve.

As we head towards Christmas Day, commemorating the birth of Jesus, many of us in Australia observe festive traditions, such as singing carols  and lighting candles, visiting family and friends, decorating our houses, cooking special food, wrapping and exchanging gifts and attending church services.

Wishing you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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1. Write Christmas cards. I really enjoy receiving cards from family and friends here and in the east and overseas and hearing their news and finding out what their children are doing. I know lots of people send an email now, but I love personal, hand written news in a card.

2. Making trays of shortbread to put into gift boxes. These little sweet treats go into cellophane packs which are sealed and put into the boxes I’ve already made. Then a ribbon and a card. Done. Delicious.

3. Fresh linen on the guestroom bed and everything ready for my mother arriving for Christmas.

4. Cherries mean Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere. Start eating them now!

5. Hang the stockings in the sitting room and begin filling them. Louis, our dog, sniffs his several times a day.

6. Decorate the fountain in the portico. Looks pretty.

7. Get in supplies of champagne and other Christmas drinks.

8. Hang a wreath on the front door. The string of lights comes on at night.

9. Watching series two of The Crown. So good, so added Her Majesty to the decorations. Try the Tattler magazine site for these.

10. Massive clean out of the fridge so there’s room for the Christmas cooking.

11. Start eating Christmas cake. This one has been drizzled with brandy several times since it was made. And it’s nearly gone.

12. TO DO lists! Do you have lists of food shopping, of cooking, of house jobs and also presents which still need to be bought? And wrapped.

Today is International Tea Day. Celebrated since 2005, the aim is to draw attention to the impact of the global tea trade on workers and growers and has been linked to fair trade goals. And you thought it was about enjoying a nice cup of tea!

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