Christmas Day with Family – 2024
Song Slade – ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’
This year I will be spending Christmas Day at Tuncurry with my husband, children, sons in law, and grandchildren. Tuncurry is a coastal town on Wallis Lake and about 2 1/4 hours from home. I will have to cater for 10 and want to keep it simple with minimal leftovers and waste.
I like to plan my menu and begin to purchase non perishables as I see things on special. I like to be the only person in the kitchen and am happy to be the organizer and cook.
The family will arrive for lunch and traditionally I have seafood.
I will have Balmain bugs (requested by my 7-year-old grandson), oysters and medium-king sized prawns. I am going to the co-op to get frozen bugs and prawns and will order Sydney Rock Oysters probably from Woolworths as last year they were reasonably priced and deliciously creamy. I like to make some Kilpatrick and keep some plain. Lots of lemon, a small side salad with avocado and seafood sauce. Lunch done!
I will have everything prepped, lemon cut up, bacon cut up, seafood thawing in fridge from day before, music ready, table set. Just before lunch I will put the food on a platter, take out the chilled bubbly, place finger bowls, and tongs out so everyone helps themselves and makes their own seafood masterpiece.
After lunch we will do our family gift giving and then go to the beach or park depending on the weather or have a game of pickle ball.
I like to have some quiet time and usually we watch Christmas Vacation and chill before Christmas dinner.
I will make a savoury Christmas wreath if anyone is peckish while I prepare dinner.
I love a hot dinner, but I will keep it simple. Roasted potatoes. I love Aldi precooked potatoes roasted in duck fat and they can be cooked in the air fryer. Broccoli, cauliflower and carrot mornay (I can make that the day before), I will buy a cooked chicken and small cooked pork and cook a small lamb roast the day before. Then it just all goes on a platter along with lots of gravy.
I am making a medley of small desserts. A small bought pudding, mini pavlovas with cream and fruits and a small trifle. Christmas dinner done!
One day I might relinquish making my family Christmas Feast and let my family take over. For now though, I am capable and its good stimulation for the brain and the huge enjoyment making the meal and having my family break bread together.
Christmas is a time of reflection. I reflect on family and friends who are no longer with us and the happy times we had. But now we are making new happy times and memories that I hope my children and grandchildren will reflect on in the future.
I often think about my parents, who in a rowboat, equipped with tilly lamp and nets would start prawning on the lake well before Christmas to ensure there were enough prawns to feed 30 or more people. The prawns would be cooked and frozen the same night. Christmas was simple, salads with home grown tomatoes and cucumber, chicken and ham and boiled potatoes. And Christmas pudding with brandy custard and ice cream topped off a wonderful feast.
It was a feast and never any waste.
Christmas is a time of giving so I make sure an elderly couple who don’t have family with them for Christmas have a nice hamper of treats to open on Christmas Day.
My maternal grandmother lived to 100. Her family of four grew to over 30 and Christmas was a great gathering of the clan. This is just another reason I hope to live a long and healthy life. Perhaps I will be around when my family grows to 30 or more !
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you for the ongoing support. I also was grateful for the lovely comments I received from some of the group that I toured South Africa with.
Enjoy the holiday season, stay safe, well and happy.
Till next time ‘ Keep on rocking and rolling’
Kim