Christmas wreath

Today I’ll take down the boxes filled with Christmas decorations and brush off the dust.  Guaranteed, there’ll be lots of sneezing.
So begins another Christmas.  My mother actually prepares for Christmas all year – she goes to sales, buys gifts and stores them away in cupboards.  An idle moment might catch her pushing cloves into oranges or topping up the fruit mince with brandy.
All families have their own traditions and ours is no exception.

Christmas Swan

When we were younger and still living at home, my parents invited friends to visit on Christmas Eve.  Outside, the garden statues were decorated with red and gold bows and a sprig or two of holly, and the trees strewn with fairy lights.
Inside, the bannisters were tied with bows, mirrors hung with garlands of flowers, and gingerbread men, Christmas cookies, oranges, nuts and dried fruit were set in bowls throughout the house.
In the dining room, a table groaned with food.

Christmas side table (from my book "Entertaining At Home") : photograph by Rodney Weidland

On the table in the front hall sat a gingerbread house, waiting to be demolished by little hands and mouths during the evening.  For that was the night on which spirits were high and we children full of anticipation and excitement.
We would spend weeks preparing for this party, baking cookies, creating papier mache ornaments to hang on the tree, and making and wrapping edible gifts to give to friends.
These days, it is our children and grandchildren who fill the house with Christmas spirit, and our main celebration – after opening presents under the tree on Christmas morning, is either a mid-afternoon lunch or an early dinner on the day.  We usually eat a good breakfast of thick slices of ham with fried eggs and toast accompanied by champagne and orange juice which appeases appetites until early afternoon. And we always leave something out for the reindeer – though, come to think of it, perhaps it should be for kangaroos in our part of the world.

Christmas reindeer

Edible Christmas Gifts

Now that Christmas is getting close, one of the most welcome and simple of gifts is an edible one.  The giving and sharing of food is an age-old custom.  It may be a jar of jam or preserves, a box of shortbread or  gingerbread or chocolate truffles, a small fruit cake or basket of fresh seasonal fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches and mangoes.  Wrapped in cellophane or tissue paper and tied with a bow, such gifts are always appreciated.
Admittedly over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of food gifts available in kitchen specialty shops, gourmet delis and farmers’ markets.  Tapenades, Moroccan preserved lemons, Thai curry pastes, marinated cheeses, fruits in liqueur, panforte, fudge sauces and lavender jelly are just a few which spring to mind. While these are tempting, a home-made version will be even more welcome.  Its very lack of slickness and of the imprint of a commercial enterprise will be its apeal.  What’s more, the rewards will be two way because the satisfaction you derive from making your own will be immeasurable.

Christmas Classes on Saturdays 2pm – 5pm: Saturday December 5th and 12th: Edible Christmas Goodies and Gifts
Next School Holiday Dates: December Thursday 17th and Friday 18th, 10.30am – 1.30pm.

$60 per person.

Please call Sheridan Rogers for more details: 0400 741 951