Christmassy.

First things first, our front door has finally turned pink.....or magenta:

In our house, the colour terminology depends on where you went/go to school. Pink may be considered a particularly feminine colour yet magenta, of course, is manly as it's the colour of valour, of blood spilt on the battlefield. It's all about  perception. The girls in our family are happy with pink, yet the boys console themselves with magenta.

The sample pot that I had decided on, way back in the dim reaches of time, turned out to be all wrong, so the painter had to randomly conjure up this precise shade.....by mixing up a bit of this and a bit of that. Of course I had to endure lots of eye rolling when I explained that I was a simple girl and all I wanted was bright pink that could be passed off as magenta.....after the requisite four coats were applied he admitted that he was 'quite chuffed' with how it ended up. Me too, I love it. And in case you were wondering, so do the boys.

Why does our tree always undergo a dramatic growth spurt just at the beginning of December? I'm sure that it grows centimetres at this time every year, moments before we lug it inside to be all loved up. This was our tree, the first year it did Christmas with us.....nine years ago:

And this is how it looks this year:

 

So, while we've been wrapping presents and cooking....today we made Turkish Delight and all day I've been in denial about how much gelatine, or rather gronund up animal hoof and horn, is actually needed to get it to set. Yuck/yum.....I've also been reminiscing about Christmases around our tree, which for the rest of the year sits forlornly potbound in a corner of the garden struggling to receive the attention that it craves. Miraculously, this year it has performed again and has now outgrown the whole family....and that's no mean feat.

In a blur of daydreams of Christmases past, I've been thinking about that first year when we lived over the river in a different house, when the not quite one year old was covered in the horror that is a bad dose of chicken pox and how the fairy sustained scorch marks on the pink tulle layers of her dress when she ventured too close to  the cooktop in the only just finished in the nick of time kitchen.....about the year when all of the hints and innuendo paid off and there was a pink KitchenAid under the tree....and about all of the hysterically funny dress up concerts over the years that it has inspired our children to perform.

So then, because Christmas is such a bittersweet time for tripping down memory lane, I started remembering all of the people who have helped us celebrate our own version of Christmas around this very same tree. About how, against all expectations, we have been so fortunate to have four amazing children to share our lives with. And about how my dad won't be joining in. This will be the fifth Christmas that he's been gone and while it's not as raw as the first...or even the second...there is still such a sense of absence always present in the shadows. For me, the magic of Christmas seems to be equally about the creation of new happy memories to add to the memory bank and an opportunity to unashamedly dip in and reclaim old ones.

My heart goes out to anyone reading this who has lost a loved one this year and who will be experiencing their first Christmas without them. I remember so vividly what it feels like, I think it's because Christmas rolls around, without fail, year in year out and acts as a prompt for hope for the future and an opportunity to indulge in recollections of the past.

Rx

Oops.

So yesterday went by without a post. In my defense I was busy building up yoga credit and making this:

Which Nigella calls an 'Easy Action Christmas Cake' on page 92 in Feast. It really works fabulously as a last minute fruit cake and interestingly has a secret ingredient - chestnut puree. Luckily my corner shop sells it.

I have only just this minute finished it off by glazing it with this:

Which I am also hoping will also do double duty and work well with foie gras and toasted brioche.

Now my cake is all glazed and patterned with almonds it looks like this:

It's all ready for tomorrow and sitting in the pantry next to Jean Pascal mince tarts:

And  Jackman and McRoss mince tarts:

I can't really blame my lack of a post yesterday on yoga and baking. Time to fess up. After my baking frenzy the whole family wandered up the road to a drinks party. And that was the real reason that I didn't get around to posting yesterday - I was drinking bubbly and chatting and didn't get home until after midnight. 'Tis the season and all that.

R

Fare.

I am finalising what we are going to eat for Christmas and have been busy perusing the cookbooks:

How much do you love Christmas food? I think about it almost obsessively at this time of year - OK maybe not on the yoga mat!

We always buy our ham and from The Wursthaus Kitchen at Salamanca and this year, because we are nostagic for France, we are also getting a guinea fowl. 

The best accompaniment to a glazed and clove studded Christmas ham is my friend Ally's Mango Mayonaise. Try it:

1. Blend 1 or 2 room temperature egg yolks in food processor and slowly drizzle in 1/2 to 1 cup flavourless oil.

2. Add lemon juice to taste and teensy clove of garlic if you fancy.

3. Add one or two ripe mangos.

Our pudding is all sorted - made back in November from Stephanie Alexander's Cook's Companion. Two have been dispatched to impress friends in  France ($133 in postage later!). All it needs to accompany it is a vanilla bean flecked custard and some fresh local berries. We have also ordered a Buche de Noel from Jean-Pascal Patisserie - Hobart's own French Pastry Chef originally from Normandy.

As we do every year at this time, Kim and I have been taste testing our way around Hobart's mince tarts. If you were to ask us both the question Kim would no doubt say his faves are from Jean - Pascal because he prefers the more malleable pastry and more subtle fruit mince. Whereas I am a fan of those that come from Jackman and McRoss (Hobart, Battery Point and New Town) with their light, short, crumbly pastry and darkly spiced fruit mince which boast whole hazlenuts and citrus peel.

R