Monday, December 20, 2010

Be Jolly By Golly

Today is Melissa and Jen's festive blogfest.

So, here are the things Melissa and Jen are asking for...

Pictures of decorations

Here is our Christmas tree, expertly decorated by Ali.

Because we don't do a huge amount of decorating, other than the tree, here's a couple of shots from the lighted truck parade that wound through Victoria at the start of December. Sorry they are a bit out of focus, the trucks were moving at quite a pace and difficult to catch properly in the dark. These are the best I was able to pick out from a series of shots taken during the twenty minutes or so that the trucks streamed past, horns tooting.


Favourite holiday treats

Along with the traditional turkey dinner, we always make an effort to liven things up with some out-of-the-ordinary veggies. I recently posted a couple of recipes here.

Afterwards, a special treat with leftover turkey is a creamy turkey curry. Recipe here.

But the real seasonal treat, very British (I think) but not something that seems to have taken hold this side of the pond, is Christmas pudding. This is a very rich, dark, steamed pudding.

I'll transcribe and post the full recipe another time, but, in brief, it consists of a large quantity of dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, etc.) plus breadcrumbs, suet, sugar, and flour, all mixed together, poured into pudding basins, and steamed for hours. We add moisture by soaking the fruit in brandy beforehand. Puddings are best made months before they are needed, because they mature over time. The one we'll have this Christmas is the last of a batch made over a year ago. In January, once the seasonal hullabaloo is over, we'll get on with another batch ready for next Christmas.

The pudding is steamed again to heat it up ready for eating, and is served with cream and brandy butter.

Favourite holiday drink

Because we put so much effort into food, I don't have a drink recipe to offer. We are quite happy with beer and wine. For special occasions, however, our sparkly tipple of choice is an Australian Seaview Brut. There are a couple of bottles in the fridge ready and waiting...

Now, visit everyone else in the blogfest


See the list of entries on Melissa or Jen's blogs.

23 comments:

Unknown said...

That looks like the Coke advert only times by lots of large trucks ;)
Christmas pudding made with Guinness is a delicious Christmas treat. I'll pass on the cold beer; we are having mulled wine weather over here.
Happy Christmas.

Avalon Cat Cartoon said...

Here for the blogfest. Merry Christmas from Avalon!

Christmas Blogfest said...

Happy Holidays!

Melissa said...

I love the light up trucks! That's awesome!!

Can I come over for christmas dinner? I promise not to be too intrusive! Your food just sounds so good and you aren't that far away. ;)

The tree is awesome.

Thank you so much for participating in our blog fest!

Bitsy Bling Books said...

I like the sneaky kitty getting ready to pounce on a ornament hiding by your tree. You just might have caught a crime about to happen on film (or digital). LOL

klahanie said...

Hi Ian,
Seeing all those lit-up trucks certainly brings back some memories.
Wishing everyone who participates in the blog fest, much fun. I've had the occasional interaction with Melissa and I do wish both her and Jen, much success with that endeavour.
It's bloody cold here, Ian!
Have a peaceful and warm Christmas.
Kind regards, Gary:-)

Candyland said...

Sweet pics! Thanks for stopping by Candyland. Have a great holiday :)

Carol Riggs said...

Oh yes, the truck is way cool, but your tree is perfect, too. (I see that cat lurking behind it, there...) Merry Christmas!

Botanist said...

The lighted trucks were amazing to see, and noisy!

Elaine & Gary, hope you are keeping warm in the unusually fierce conditions over there. Yes, Elaine, mulled wine should do the trick, preferably in front of a crackling log fire.

Melissa, you are welcome to pop in any time. It's just a short hop across the water, isn't it?

Charlie & Carol, I didn't realise I'd caught one of the cats on camera. She's an old lady. Her pouncing-on-ornaments days are over. A few years ago we used to start each day by putting the tree back together again, but luckily they've all lost interest in that game now :D

Avalon, Christmas, and Candyland, thanks for stopping by.

Kimberly said...

The tree definitely looks expertly done and very beautiful!

The lighted truck parade sounds like a lot of fun to see.

Merry Christmas!

RaShelle Workman said...

Cool trucks. Lovely tree and your food sounds amazing! I'd like to try it all, please. ;D

Deni Krueger said...

The pudding sounds delicious! I'm making some special stops at our little German bakery this week just to try some of their holiday treats.

Nicole Zoltack said...

Awesome trucks! I'm sure my sons would have loved to see the lighted truck parade. Merry Christmas!

Jennie Bailey said...

That lighted truck parade is really neat! I wish we had that here!! Have a Merry Christmas!

Elizabeth Briggs said...

Wow those trucks are so cool!

Botanist said...

Wow! Looks like the trucks were a big hit. I'm glad I had those pics to post. Thanks everyone for stopping by and commenting. I'm still working my way slowly through the other posts in the blogfest, so if I haven't got around to yours yet, I will.

Anonymous said...

Those trucks are pretty cool. I like the Christmas tree.

Tara said...

My son would have flipped for those trucks!

Happy Holidays.

Danette said...

The truck looks awesome and food sounds great. Have a happy holiday!

Be Jolly by Golly!

Michael Di Gesu said...

Never heard about a truck parade before. How fun! It must be really cool to watch in person.

Happy Christmas to you and your family.

Michael

Botanist said...

And happy Christmas to you, Susanne, Tara, Danette, and Michael. And thanks for stopping by my blog.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Great pics! Thanks for sharing....

I love Christmas Pudding! I've made it a couple times. Dad sent me a handful of silver sixpences to put in them.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Botanist said...

Thanks Sharon. Hope you had a great Christmas too.

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