Tuesday, January 1

Christmas with a twist

Hi everyone. Here's hoping that a good time was had by all, and that you enjoyed some serious spoiling from your loved ones and friends. As with all things Christmas, some things (like this wonderful blog of mine!) ;-) inevitably got pushed to the back burner. The intention was to get this baby up and running before New Years, but here it is - dreadfully late - with New Year's day more than halfway over for many! Big boo! So everyone, happy 2013 to you all.

And here we are - another festive season under our belts (in more ways than one)! Hooray! Is it only me, or do you also breathe a massive sigh of relief when the festivities are over each year? Don't get me wrong. I love getting sucked into the whole excitement and preparation thing in the run-up to the big day. But equally I cannot wait for it all to disappear - like a magical wand's disappearing act! Without fail every year I start thinking about why we Southern Hemisphere dwellers feel that we need to celebrate Christmas in the traditional way of our Northern friends? The fact that we are literally Poles apart should, you’d think, have some bearing on location? It's true that many Aussies do flout with tradition, and each year sees more and more of us opting to happily queue our way quite literally around the block at local fish markets, waiting to snatch up those giant king prawns for the big day! The “barbie” is proving to be the Christmas tool of choice for many. I applaud us Aussies for taking tradition to a whole new level, modernizing it and making it our own!

Not wanting to follow the usual turkey & stuffing trend this year, we opted for a Chrissy feast – with a Thai twist! And oh my, did it turn out good! In fact, it turned out better than good. The family vote's been taken to make this scrummy meal a regular on our Christmas foodie scene! Full credit must go to Jennifer Evans (aka “Princess”), this year’s joint winner of Channel 7s, My Kitchen Rules, from whom I took the inspiration for a Thai-inspired Christmas spread. Acknowledgement goes to New Idea magazine in which Jen's spectacular Five-Spiced Glazed Pork Shoulder recipe featured in their November Issue 48 edition. From the same edition, we topped off our meal with our version of her yummy Coconut, Sago & Mango Mousse dessert – my personal piece de resistance choice! Thank you Jen!
 
Don’t you just love a fuss-free Christmas? I know I do.

Speaking of food, I ended up ad-libbing and making a maple-orange glaze for a very small leg of ham in case the kids didn’t quite get the whole Thai thing. I also ‘borrowed’ another beaut recipe for hard-to-resist roast potatoes, which I found in the December 2012/January 2013 double edition of the ABC’s, Delicious magazine. Three very do-able recipes that went down a treat! I just had to drop the pun! ;-)
Check it all out! I was so thrilled to get something onto the table that was totally left of center and not your usual traditional festive fare. If anyone would like me to post or email the recipes I used, just holler. 

You can see from the pictures that I kept our table low-key, while still embracing the beachy theme I adore. It seems a bit "out-there" to embrace a beachy theme while living in the bush, but that’s the thing about me and my quickly shrinking family, secretly we’re all a bit out there!  ;-)

 Now grab a bit of this an tell me what you think.
 
Five-Spice Glazed Pork Shoulder; Maple-Orange Glazed Ham; Lemony Parmesan Spuds; Steamed Pork Buns
And here's a close-up of that yummy nosh!
We got so caught up in the delicious food that we totally forgot to take any pictures of Jen's Coconut, Sago and Mango Mousse dessert. Another boo!  :'(  There was so much food left over that we were indulging our taste buds in the follow-up to New Year. We also packed our esky with left-over pork and ham, rolls and refreshments, and headed down to the beach on Boxing Day with the dogs!

Three other little 'happenings' happened over the festive season which I just have to share with y'all. Our Silkie chicken, Little Red, rewarded us with her very first egg! Isn't it awesome? So small and so perfect.


Here's the provider of this awesome little egg...


"Little Red" - Silkie

And we can't forget this cute little fella who came a-calling around the same time. Isn't he gorgeous?

Native Green Tree Frog

And here's another not-so-cute visitor! Urgggh. Actually, he's a beauty and was small enough not to be a threat to the chickens or dogs. He slithered off under his own steam after this impromptu photo shoot.

Juvenile Carpet Python

That's it for now folks. Be back soon!


HAPPY NEW YEAR!


 
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