Consistently, predictably, dependably, unwaveringly ERRATIC

Almost forgot but it is definitely that time! If you would like a Christmas/holiday card from ridiculously sunny Australia, you can leave your address here (comments are screened) or email me: venetia@iprimus.com.au

After the better part of a week trying not to expire thanks to temperatures of 38, 42, 37, 41C, etc, it has finally cooled down and I have been cramming all of my Christmas baking (minimum amount, sadly) into the last 24 hours.

Orange Blossom Shortbread, Chocolate Spice Cookies, Almond-Cherry Florentines, an attempt at Choc-dipped Candy Canes (such a pain) and I'd already made some simple double pretzel chocolate thingies, if all else failed.

So now the first gifts have been delivered, the Cranberry Orange Cake is in the oven for tomorrow, the duck is defrosting, carols are playing and I just need to wrap a few last presents (including new squeaky toys for the dogs!), tidy up a bit and finish rereading 101 Dalmatians. I thought I might watch the movie tonight but we got back from Christmas Eve dinner a bit late (we always do) so maybe tomorrow night!

For now, I will leave you with two versions of one of my favourite carols.





Merry Christmas to all ...

First trial of the spiralizer was successful! BLT zucchini noodles (I didn't roast the tomatoes, just chopped them and cooked them for a bit with the garlic.)

We put up the Christmas tree tonight. Or rather, Mum brought the various components up from the garage, then watched me figure out the new tree lights and decorate the tree, with occasional advice. (I remember when I was way too small to do any of these things! So weird.) We played the new Christmas CD I'd bought for this - Katherine Jenkins' This Is Christmas. Highly enjoyable.

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( Almost to the end of the Finding A New Dog Quest! )

It's not quite official yet but it's looking that way. We've got a new dog. And tomorrow I will tell you more about him and post some photos. Because he is really very cute!

Merry Christmas!!!

Whether you celebrate or not, I hope you had/are having/will have a lovely day.

I just woke up from a nap on the sofa to hear the dog snoring ferociously nearby (that might have been what woke me) and to find the cat curled against my chest. He has been determined to sit on me today but he finds it difficult if I'm lying on my side. He'll take 'plastered against me' as a second option.

I had trouble settling down to sleep last night - things to do and the weather was still quite warm and humid but I did fall asleep eventually. In the morning I didn't want to get up! I think all my pre-Christmas adrenaline disappeared once the day was here (I'm going, 'Wait, wait, not yet, not yet, let me enjoy it! And I have to make dinner!') plus the sudden change in weather (it dropped 20C in a few hours and it's been raining and stormy all day) combined to leave me feeling very tired and wanting naps.

Anyway, I woke up and opened my stocking gifts (we have new stockings this year! Mum has been complaining about the narrow, knitted ones she bought for years but we still used them. Not anymore! Mum is pleased) and we had croissants for a late brunch. Then I started the pork for our dinner before we sat down to open presents. The cat sat on my lap and refused to move.

Much spoiling occurred and I am relieved to say the various things I found seemed to be received very happily. The I had a little rest on the sofa for a while and the cat was reminded that really, there is nowhere to lie on me when I'm on my side.

After that, we headed across the road for an hour or so to say hello to the neighbours (the daughter had come over while we were having brunch to bring us chocolates and to ask if we would like to join their family lunch on Boxing Day. Very sweet of them but we're going out tomorrow.) Took them some of the Chocolate Saltine Toffee which I can now say is a success!

Came home again to cook. Originally I thought we'd have a late lunch but with my nap and the visit, it wound up being dinner.

And I don't usually say this about my own cooking but it was amazing. Try any of these recipes and enjoy.

Christmas Dinner 2012

Italian Red Wine Pork Roast
Pork Crackling
Roasted Italian Apples and Potatoes
Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
Sauteed Green Beans with Walnuts and Cranberries
Apple Cider Pound Cake Bundt with Apple Cider Glaze

(I still don't understand the pork crackling thing but Mum loved it.)

We did not eat the cake straight away however. We sat in the living room and listened to carols and had our first cup of tea from the large Republic of Tea parcel I ordered last month (Mum was delighted.) I made some Holiday Spiced Plum in my new and gorgeous teapot and Mum had hers in the delicate glass tea cup I gave her and I had mine in the pretty blue and white cup Mum gave me for my birthday. Then we had cake before I could fall asleep (and ooh, the crispy top-becomes-base of that cake is so good. I mean, all of it's good but that bit is amazing. Especially hot, right of the oven. Ahem. Bits fell off, okay?)

Then I said goodnight and Merry Christmas to Mum, had a nap and now I am saying Merry Christmas to all of you. Have a lovely holiday.

After the Shakespeare evening I was tired but wired and didn't fall asleep until dawn so I didn't wake up until late afternoon yesterday. I was going to get a bit of sleep between baking and going to the market in the morning but it was so warm and the weather report looked ominous so I decided to just keep baking, go to the market, then sleep. Which I did through the worst of the 37C day. Feh. Tomorrow is supposed to be 38C (Mum's indignant squawk of 'WHAT' when I told her that was splendid.*g*) but Christmas Day should be much cooler.

Made the Florentines, Cranberry, White Chocolate and Lemon Biscotti (fabulous!!! The lemon zest makes a big impact) and Rum and Raisin Shortbread (Mum tells me it's pretty good. Not my thing so I'll take her word for it.)

The Sunday market is one we've only been to a few times. Rather than heading towards suburbia the way we do for the Saturday market, for this one we turn towards the more rural suburb where we used to live when I was little (when my parents were married, we lived on acreage and they bred horses) then go further on to the suburb where our vet clinic is. They've been treating our pets (including the horses) for over thirty years now.

We first decided to try the market because I found out that the honey people who had stopped coming to Sunday market went to the other one and I really wanted more of the Butterscotch Honey that had persuaded me that honey could be good. So we went and there was honey but sadly no butterscotch. Apparently it didn't keep very well so they stopped making it. But they have creamed Vanilla Honey which tastes like a cross between the Butterscotch and the Vanilla I was making for myself. Also, a clear Lemon Honey which is wonderful in tea.

On our next visit, they didn't have any Lemon but Mum tried some Chili-infused (...not my thing) and I tried some creamed Ginger (yes, please!) This time, still no Lemon but I bought some Vanilla, Ginger and a new one - Rosemary. Haven't tried it yet.

On our first visit, they were set up behind the little shopping village and it was a fairly small market but a nice mix of stalls (a few from the Saturday market there as well.) Since then they've shifted across the road and more stalls have appeared but on our last trip it was hard to really take it in. It was so hot. Absolutely stinking and we were there later and there were more crowds than today. Ugh. I couldn't think. (One poor woman with a heart condition collapsed from the heat and an ambulance had to be called. Fortunately the RFS and possibly the St Johns people were there with display stalls so there were trained first aid people to help her.)

Today it was very warm but we were finished before it got too bad. Bought some nice green beans and asparagus for Tuesday, tried some samples from a stall selling Eastern European sauces and sausages, bought some Hibiscus Flowers in Rose Syrup (Mum loves them in champagne) and Mango and Boab Chutney from a stall selling jams, etc made from native produce (I've never tried Boab. I'm told it's a bit like water chestnut and very high in protein.) Hmm, what else. Some Chicken, Spinach and Cashew Ravioli for dinner and we tried a sample of fried beetroot ravioli. Huh. Not sure about frying but I liked the flavour. Good canape idea, maybe?

There might have been something else but I can't remember it right now. I do remember that we met some sweet dogs. I patted a lovely Koolie x Husky x who knows. She was fluffy and white with faint brown spots and speckles and very loving. And on our way out we met a young Finnish Lapphund who was still being persuaded that people would want to pat her of their own accord, she did not need to leap on them and love them to death. But she's getting there! She was gorgeous, first one I've met. Her owners said there are only about 400 of them in the country.

Then we bought a few last things at the supermarket, came home and I fell into bed and avoided the worst heat of the day.

Now, Chocolate Saltine Toffee is made ... what else do I need to do? Besides tidy up. Um.

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Happy thing! I bought this album a few days ago. It's an odd mix but I rather like it. And when it comes to country singers and Christmas carols, the only one I've said that about before is Jo Dee Messina with A Joyful Noise.

Thank you for the holiday card, turlough! And Lancecat, of course. :)

Still don't know what that weird nap was about but I don't seem to be getting the cold so yay! Not what I need right now. I have baking to plan/do and we're going to see a performance of A Comedy of Errors & The Tempest tomorrow night. This will be the third year we've gone to a performance by this company and I'm looking forward to it! We'll also be going to Twelfth Night just before New Year.

Sooo, Christmas baking. I made some of this fabulous Salted Honey and Lavender Shortbread for Mum to give to her hairdressers tomorrow. I probably need to make a batch of Florentines for Dee's family (they love the damn things. Be warned, this is what can happen when you make things for people - they will like them so much, they will keep asking for them.) If I have time, I should make some lemon curd since it's been a couple of months since I've managed any but I probably won't have time. I'm considering some Rum and Raisin Shortbread - Mum would like that, Roz and Dee probably would too ... maybe Cranberry and White Chocolate. Who knows with Brother and SiL, I don't think they've ever bothered to tell me if they liked anything I've made for them.

I've usually decided on recipes way before this. I think all my organisation with presents this year overran my baking organisation.

I do want to make this Chocolate Saltine Toffee. I really want to know what it tastes like.

Dug out the slow cooker that I bought a few years ago, used a few times, then stuck in the cupboard. I kept meaning to use it, I just ... didn't. But I want to make this on Christmas Day so I thought I'd better check that the cooker still worked. (The butcher was apparently quite confused as to why I wanted the crackling separately. Wasn't I going to roast them together? Wait, I was doing a pot roast for Christmas? ... Why? Well, why not?) Having made Sesame Chicken last night, I can say it works very well.

Nearly all the presents I've ordered have arrived except a couple of things that were apparently posted at the end of November (from China and England.) Nothing I can do about it though. Still, there's a couple of postal days to go!

Happy thing! Besides recipes. :)

I don't like Christmas cake (or pudding) but Mum loves it so I just finished making my maternal aunt's Christmas/Celebration cake recipe and now it is in the oven and I am nursing a sore wrist. It's really a very simple recipe, there's just A LOT OF IT to be mixed together, mostly by hand. Seriously, a mass quanitity of dried and glace fruit goes into this thing and once I'd chopped it all up and set it to marinating in alcohol a few days ago, the idea it would all fit in a 20x20cm cake tin was laughable. But every year it does.

(And yes, I should have made it weeks ago, but Mum was saying 'Tell me how much fruit we need!', I'm saying, 'It's right there on the recipe!' and then she kept forgetting to buy it and then it was too hot ... you get the idea.)

Also cooked tonight was the marinated duck Maryland from market along with pan-roasted purple and orange carrots with crispy sage and some peas. Oh yeah. Reminder to self: do not order anything Maryland in a restaurant, there is no dignified way to get all the meat off.

(I kept my dress clean all the way through cooking the meal, sat down to eat and two minutes later was going, 'oh, this just not fair', while looking at grease spots on my bodice. That duck was tricky.)

Happy things?

Animal families photos

And check out the Great Dane being so gentle with a four-week-old kitten.

"I will climb this mountain! And give you a hug!"

If anyone else would like a holiday card from me, the post is here.

(I apologise in advance for my handwriting. *g*)

It's that time! Already, my goodness ...

If anyone would like a Christmas/holiday card from me, leave a comment with your address here (comments screened) or send me a PM.