CHRISTMAS....and A NEW ADDITION

Well, that's Christmas for another year.

I hope where ever you are you had a lovely day with those you love around you.

Our day started with a visit to Tony's 95 year old mother in the Nursing home.

With the rest of the family away we ( Sally, Tony and I ) took some goodies and champagne and spent a couple of hours with her there.

Nana loves  the sweet stuff so she had a ball.

She also loves animals so Scout came along too.

and so did Sally's new addition....

"Jem "

( there's a little "To Kill a Mockingbird " theme going on here )

More about him another time - 8 weeks old and very cute!

Note to self : Drinking champagne in the middle of the day can be dangerous !

We arrived back home round 1:00pm and all three of us were soon dozing in chairs around the house.

So were the dogs !

Our Christmas Dinner was eaten at night this year and with only the three of us for a change it was very relaxed.

No dressing up in good clothes for us.

Comfortable shorts and t-shirts were the order of the day.

However we did not skimp on the good stuff for dinner.

The ham was the standout.....absolutely delicious.

  and the rest was pretty good too.

( Sorry forgot to take a photo till it was half gone !)

For dessert there was a choice of

Pavlova

or

Christmas Pud

( this year we had Heston Blumenthal's pudding with a whole candied orange in the centre - O my !

Of course we all had a bit of both !!!

As we say every year - tomorrow the diet begins

( after we've eaten all the leftovers !)

Cheers.

CHRISTMAS 2015

Well that's Christmas over for another year !

It's been a very busy one this year.

Tony's mother did not come home for Christmas this year for the first time

But the family visited her on Christmas morning for presents and Christmas nibbles. 

Meanwhile we whipped up to Hervey Bay for Christmas in the Retirement Village with my Mum and Dad and brother.

You can see from these photos that our family are very partial to silly hats at Christmas time !

Chicken, ham and all the trimmings despite the 30 degree heat.

And Plum pudding and trifle for dessert !

Two days later we were back in Brisbane and lining up to do it all again with Tony's side of the family.

This time it was Turkey cooked on the BBQ.

With leg ham and lots of lovely salads.

Brett and Sarah joined us from Sydney.

 It was so nice to have all the family together for Christmas again, the first time in several years.

You'll notice there are silly hats once again.

More wonderful food followed by spectacular desserts

some cold and some hot !

There was plenty of this

Which led to more silly hats ! !

All in all it was a very good Christmas.

Hope yours was too.

Cheers.

Aussie Christmas Poem

Tonight was a pleasant warm ( not hot ) night so we decided to go into the city to see the Christmas procession and the tree and light display in the city square.

So did everyone else who lives in Brisbane !

They all decided to have dinner in town too !

Then we waited about an hour for a City Cat ferry to go home.

Been there , done that !

Roll on Christmas

CRANBERRIES

 

 

Cranberries are a relatively new discovery to me.

 

Oh, I've known Cranberry Sauce for many years -

 

you have it with your turkey at Thanksgiving

or on a sandwich with turkey and Brie

 

but turkey is not a thing we eat very often in this house

 

 - in fact this Christmas I cooked a huge turkey breast for the first time in my ( nearly) 65 years ! 

 

 

and then forgot to serve it with the Cranberry Sauce !!

 

Over the last year or so Cranberries have been there on the supermarket shelves with the other dried fruit and I've bought them home where we've tried them and liked these antioxidant-packed berries.

In Australia you can buy a variety of cranberry products all year round in major supermarkets, including dried and frozen cranberries, cranberry juice, and cranberry sauce. Frozen cranberries can be found in selected retailers, particularly during the festive season.

 

Fresh cranberries are not available in Australia as cranberries cannot be grown here at present.



 

Unfortunately, the climate in Australia has not proven suitable for growing cranberries successfully in commercial quantities.  

 

 

I found this map that shows where Cranberries actually grow - must be too hot for them south of the equator !

 

The harvest looks spectacular. 

All those crimson fruits floating in ponds being scooped up and taken off to be processed.

 



 

 



The most well-known benefit of cranberries is in the prevention of recurring urinary tract infections  UTIs are one of the most common reasons for visiting a doctor about an infection.

The PACs ( proanthocyanidins ) in cranberries interfere with E. coli bacteria ( responsible for 85 percent of UTIs), helping to prevent them from sticking to the cells in the urinary tract, thereby preventing infection.
Regular consumption of cranberries or cranberry products can reduce the risk of a urinary tract infection by as much as 50 percent. ( all this valuable information comes from my research on the internet !!)

Sounds like Cranberries and Blueberries are the new wonder fruits.

All this palaver is just an introduction to a recipe I tried for the first time for Christmas Day.

 

Cranberry Stuffing Balls.

from Taste  magazine

 

4 slices prosciutto           

   1 tablespoon olive oil        

            1/2 red onion, finely chopped    

2 garlic cloves, crushed 

                             2 1/2 cups stale white breadcrumbs            

                            1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped            

     1 egg, lightly beaten            

             1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

50g butter, melted

 

Method :

 * Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut each prosciutto slice lengthways into four pieces. 

 

* Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until onion is soft. Remove to a bowl. Add breadcrumbs, cranberries, egg, sage and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.



 

 

* Shape tablespoons of mixture into 16 balls. Wrap one slice of prosciutto around each ball. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned and heated through. Serve

 

 

 

Extremely yummy.

 

Cheers. 

DONE AND DUSTED

Well, that's Christmas done for another year.

Many thanks for all your good wishes.
I've been without a computer for almost a week so I'm tripping round the blogs to see how you are all doing.
~~~

Despite the leadup being very hot and uncomfortable Christmas Day was pleasantly warm with a nice breeze.
We spent a fairly quiet day with Mum and Dad and my brother and his partner -eight of us in all.
The oldies made it through to 2 o'clock and then went off home for a snooze.
(I have to confess to a snooze myself - in airconditioned comfort - very relaxed !)

We put out all the food again about 7 o'clock and managed to polish off another lot before staggering home to our apartment on the beachfront.


Boxing Day

Ah , the day when you are allowed to sit around and do nothing if that's what you want to do.

Later in the day we strolled along the beach to a delightful cafe






where we managed to consume still more food while looking out on this view.



The beach was almost deserted.

 

 A lovely spot to unwind and just   b r e a t h e . . .
 

Cheers.

 

BAH HUMBUG !

No Christmas decorations going up here.

 

No, not even a Christmas tree !!

 

We'll be away in Hervey Bay for Christmas and I just can't see the point.

 

Not my favourite time of year - too hot to bother with Christmas.

 

I need to go somewhere it's cold to see what it's like to bustle around and cook and gather the family and be cosy. ( I'll need to take them all with me !!)

 

One day I hope.

 

But until then

 

this .......

 

 

is the only thing that's RED around here !

 

 

Cheers.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

We're off to Hervey Bay today for an early Christmas with my family up there

then back home for the actual day here in Brisbane with Tony's family and Sally.

 

The forecast for the day is 30+ degrees and as our aircon is on the blink it may be an uncomfortable day with high humidity.

 

I hope all my pals out there in Blogland have a lovely Christmas surrounded by the ones that matter most to you.

 

Keep safe.

Drive carefully.

 

Merry Christmas

from

Helen & Tony

 

Cheers.

BRISBANE SPARKLES

Friday!
Even though I no longer have my nose to the grindstone Friday nights still feel special so we headed into town to see the Christmas lights and visit the Christmas Craft Markets -  both which were being held in the city's King George Square.
We arrived before nightfall and made our way through the lovely old Brisbane Arcade towards the square.



It looked lovely

with decorations hanging from the high balcony and pretty lights twinkling everywhere.

It was "late night shopping " in the city and the shops were busy with the Christmas rush.

We made our way to the city hall and King George Square where the market was in full swing
 

and happy families were strolling around looking for something a little different.

Friends were gathered at little bars celebrating the end of the working week for many of them.

and the giant Christmas tree towered above it all.... waiting for darkness to fall so it could show off its thousands of solar powered lights.

We headed off to have some dinner and came upon this:

Unwittingly we had chosen the perfect time for our city lights excursion!

Crowds cleared a path through the Queen Street Mall and bands

and choirs, singing as they marched, led the parade towards the square.



 

Mary Joseph and Baby Jesus were there

as well as the shepherds - plus their sheep _

and the Three Wise Men mounted on their camels.



Next came Santa pulled along by a couple of "riendeer"

 

 

 Christmas Dinner arrived along with all the cooks!

and" The Night Before Christmas" was the bedtime story.

 

There were ballet dancers,

 

and Santa's elves.

 

By now night had fallen.

 

 

 

 It comes so quickly here in Brisbane.

One minute it's daylight and the next it's dark!

 

The parade finally passed us by and after a bite of dinner and a cool glass of wine by the river we made our way back to the Square and the tree.

 

 

The reindeer were sparkling ....

 

as they pulled the sleigh around the tree...

 

as it stood towering above us with with thousands of twinkling lights.

 

and there in the background was the church where we were married almost 41 years ago.

 

 

The weather was delightful too.

Warm but not hot, a cool, gentle breeze blowing as we caught the CityCat back to the car.

 

The countdown to Christmas is off to a great start.

 

Cheers.