Christmas for my family is less about the religious holiday and more about a family holiday. It is the one time of year when our family really does put all differences aside to come together.
In Oz the whole feeling of Christmas starts early, the moment that the stores start putting up their trees and decorations you can feel the change in everyone around you it's the promise of what is too come, the feeling that you can be transported back to a time in your life when things were simpler, your childhood, when the only concerns you had, was had you been a good enough Girl/Boy for Santa to bring you that years latest must have toy. People have their houses decorated with lights, fake Santa's sticking out of their chimneys or fake chimney's if they don't have one, Office Christmas parties, friends Christmas parties, but I digress, not being a religious family our Christmas Eve mass consists of watching Carols by Candle Light live from the Myer Bowl in Melbourne, singing along to the carols that we know and even the ones we don't, then making sure we leave out Beer and Christmas cake for for Santa (usually the cake also has about a cup of whiskey in it for good measure) and carrots for the reindeer, then of to bed for the kids, the parents then usually stay up into sometimes the wee hours of the morning frantically wrapping pressies and putting bikes and the like together to leave under the tree, not forgetting to drink the beer, eat the cake (making sure to leave crumbs on the plate)and munching on the carrots.......
Christmas Day Morning Kids usually up at 5am which is always great considering you only went to bed at 3am after finally figuring out were that left over screw you had was supposed to go, watching with as the children delight in the unwrapping of their presents, with each and every new wow, fantastic or scream of joy and the amazement that comes from them, on how did Santa know, your tired but for those moments it doesn't matter.
Being a chef, means I do the cooking (which is good because it means once my jobs done everyone else has to clean up and i get to sit and enjoy a drink or two actually in most cases it's usually more), I've usually started days before preparing. In Oz our Christmas lunch consists of My Famous glazed Ham, Oysters, prawns, Our families special fried rice, Potato salad, Coleslaw, and green salad, Christmas Cake Christmas pudding and a fruit platter,plus all the condiments that go with it. We set the table making sure that we have enough Christmas crackers (and it is mandatory for you to wear the hat even if it is just for the beginning of the feast or till it breaks)when everything is ready and everyone is there Family that can be there and friends who have no one else to share the day with, we open the champagne and toast to the family, we then sit, eat, drink and be merry til everyone has had enough of the food, is tired or wants to go to the beach for a swim. The merriment lasts til the last person goes to sleep.
Our Christmas here is only different in the sense that the feeling doesn't come till about the week before, when you realise that its the 17th of Dec. It's also winter. We still do everything much the same though with a few detailed changes, the menu for one, twice cooked duck with blood orange sauce, Mustard Crusted Crown of Veal with a Cranberry Jus, Glazed carrots, Buttered Sprouts, Warm Baby Potato and green bean Salad, still have pudding and christmas cake though. No carols by candle light, But we still share it with the family we have here and those friends who need one, we can still go swimming( pools Heated) and we still carry on till the last person standing.
For us Christmas is not about were you are but how you spend it, a great meal with family and friends to share it with......
"Your born, You Live, You Die, given this premise, one can conclude since we have no control over when we are born and when we die, the only thing that matters to us should be how we live, simple really?" Mis-Cat to her philosophy Lecturer.
Christmas for my family is less about the religious holiday and more about a family holiday. It is the one time of year when our family really does put all differences aside to come together.
In Oz the whole feeling of Christmas starts early, the moment that the stores start putting up their trees and decorations you can feel the change in everyone around you it's the promise of what is too come, the feeling that you can be transported back to a time in your life when things were simpler, your childhood, when the only concerns you had, was had you been a good enough Girl/Boy for Santa to bring you that years latest must have toy. People have their houses decorated with lights, fake Santa's sticking out of their chimneys or fake chimney's if they don't have one, Office Christmas parties, friends Christmas parties, but I digress, not being a religious family our Christmas Eve mass consists of watching Carols by Candle Light live from the Myer Bowl in Melbourne, singing along to the carols that we know and even the ones we don't, then making sure we leave out Beer and Christmas cake for for Santa (usually the cake also has about a cup of whiskey in it for good measure) and carrots for the reindeer, then of to bed for the kids, the parents then usually stay up into sometimes the wee hours of the morning frantically wrapping pressies and putting bikes and the like together to leave under the tree, not forgetting to drink the beer, eat the cake (making sure to leave crumbs on the plate)and munching on the carrots.......
Christmas Day Morning Kids usually up at 5am which is always great considering you only went to bed at 3am after finally figuring out were that left over screw you had was supposed to go, watching with as the children delight in the unwrapping of their presents, with each and every new wow, fantastic or scream of joy and the amazement that comes from them, on how did Santa know, your tired but for those moments it doesn't matter.
Being a chef, means I do the cooking (which is good because it means once my jobs done everyone else has to clean up and i get to sit and enjoy a drink or two actually in most cases it's usually more), I've usually started days before preparing. In Oz our Christmas lunch consists of My Famous glazed Ham, Oysters, prawns, Our families special fried rice, Potato salad, Coleslaw, and green salad, Christmas Cake Christmas pudding and a fruit platter,plus all the condiments that go with it. We set the table making sure that we have enough Christmas crackers (and it is mandatory for you to wear the hat even if it is just for the beginning of the feast or till it breaks)when everything is ready and everyone is there Family that can be there and friends who have no one else to share the day with, we open the champagne and toast to the family, we then sit, eat, drink and be merry til everyone has had enough of the food, is tired or wants to go to the beach for a swim. The merriment lasts til the last person goes to sleep.
Our Christmas here is only different in the sense that the feeling doesn't come till about the week before, when you realise that its the 17th of Dec. It's also winter. We still do everything much the same though with a few detailed changes, the menu for one, twice cooked duck with blood orange sauce, Mustard Crusted Crown of Veal with a Cranberry Jus, Glazed carrots, Buttered Sprouts, Warm Baby Potato and green bean Salad, still have pudding and christmas cake though. No carols by candle light, But we still share it with the family we have here and those friends who need one, we can still go swimming( pools Heated) and we still carry on till the last person standing.
For us Christmas is not about were you are but how you spend it, a great meal with family and friends to share it with......
"Your born, You Live, You Die, given this premise, one can conclude since we have no control over when we are born and when we die, the only thing that matters to us should be how we live, simple really?" Mis-Cat to her philosophy Lecturer.