Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2010 - December 15 - The Holiday Happenings!
With the madness of current Holiday Happenings I haven't had time for an Advent Calendar post for a few days. I didn't just want to just write about the preparations and functions we attend today but wanted something from the past that typifies what we do in Australia over the holidays. Fortuitously a link to a pertinent video arrived on my RSS feeds this morning.
As our weather is hot and the long school holidays coincide with Christmas many Australian families flock to the beach for annual holidays. I have previously blogged about our journeys to Ettalong, NSW. As a teenager I lived a afew hundred yards from Coogee Beach in Sydney, I spent most of my school holidays swimming and surfing with friends and getting burnt to a crisp.
The delightful video, Summertime, that I can't seem to embed in this post has been prepared from a series of glass plate negatives and set to music. The photos tell a story of summer on Coogee Beach around 1900. Although the imaages are old, the buidings have disappeared and the beachfront promenade has been updated the people enjoying the beach today still engage in the same activities that people did over 100 years ago.
Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2010 - December 8 - Christmas Cookies
Christmas cookies are missing from the list of seasonal food I serve at Christmas time.
Cooking and Catering
A biscuity item I bake each year is "Scotch shortbread" . The recipe comes via my husband's step-grandmother,Isabella Scott, and was published in "Cooking and Catering" compiled by the Arcadia Methodist Ladies sometime in the 1950s.
As a young bride I was given a copy of this book by Isa who religiously baked shortbread for the extended family each year. When Isa moved from the family home at Arcadia to a retirement village I started baking multiple batches of shortbread for the family and continue to do so each year.
Isa's recipe was a little short on instructions so I annotated her recipe in the book with cooking instructions dictated to me by Isa.
The book contains many recipes that are still useful in today's climate. I have reproduced another of my favourites below.
A Favourite Recipe
Until I started writing this post I hadn't thought much about the little cookbook that features quite a number of Isa's recipes. I am now going to copy the little book and store the original with my genealogy files as it is a printed resource that gives information about Isa and her activities.
This post was first published for the Advent Calendar Calendar of Christmas Memories in 2010
Outdoor Christmas decorations at our home are practically non-existent.
We live at the end of a long drive and our house not visible to passers by so we make do with a set of fairy lights on the verandah that we turn on if visitors or family are expected. We are so lazy that we leave this string of lights up all year but we can turn it on whenever we have a celebration at our home.
Our Christmas tree is visible through a window so, if any hardy souls decide to wander down our dark drive, they will see that we do decorate for Christmas.
Enclosed with my Christmas cards for the last ten years or so has been a family Christmas letter in which I summarise the hatches, matches, dispatches, trials and triumphs of immediate family members. I have heard people scoff at these annual epistles by calling them "brag bulletins" and other derogatory names. To these people I say "Bah, Humbug".
When I look back at my collection of Christmas Letters I find that I have a neat summary of important family events for the last decade. If I continue the practice for another couple of decades I will have a rich resource to pass on to future generations who may not be simply interested in the dry Birth, Death and Marriage facts in my family tree but in our activities.
I must admit to not fully reading some of the Christmas letters I get as they are just too long. I love hearing of the doings of other families but prefer an "executive summary" rather than a novel. I edit, edit and edit again and make sure that my letter is no more than an A4 page in a font size that is readable.
As it's now 4th December I must away, reflect on the past year and write my Christmas Chronicle".
As this is an Aussie blog I am going to write about some decoration that is an essential part of our Australian Christmas. It is not a Christmas Tree decoration.
Ceratapetalum Alberys Red, Ceratopetalum Gummiferum
or New South Wales Christmas Bush is an essential element in our Christmas decorating.
This Australian native shrub has masses of white flowers in spring followed by red, star shaped calyxes that appear in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Bunches of these flowers become quite expensive around Christmas time as it is a highly sought item. We are lucky that we have a couple of mature plants that provide enough flowers to fill vases for ourselves, family and friends.
Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2010 - December 2 - Holiday Foods
Christmas Pudding (made by Geniaus) - 1984
Why do we do it to ourselves? TRADITION!
Preparing the Christmas poultry - 2003
A Sydney Christmas is typically hot and humid but we continue to cook a traditional English hot Christmas lunch each December 25th. Slaving over a stove in a steamy kitchen is not my idea of a perfect Christmas morning but I still do it. My 87 year old mother, although she eats like a bird, would be saddened if I served up something other than roast turkey with all the trimmings followed by plum pudding and brandy custard.
Other traditional goodies that grace our table over the Christmas break include dark fruit cake, shortbread made to an old family recipe, rum balls and fruit trifle. Locally grown strawberries and homegrown stone fruits togehter with cherries and mangoes provide a healthy element to our menu. We usually reserve glazed ham to have with yummy salads for Boxing Day lunch.
Now that our home is air-conditioned the discomfort has been somewhat alleviated. Cooking the meat outside in the Webber and BBQ has also relieved the strain on our domestic oven.
Roast Christmas Lunch - 1995
Will we change our menu when my mother is no longer with us? As I think my children really enjoy it I feel that this crazy tradition will survive.
Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - December 1 - The Christmas Tree
Whether I will be able to sustain daily blogging in the busy leadup to Christmas I do not know. I am starting off with good intentions with my maiden post in The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories proposed by Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.Australian blogger, Shelley, from Twigs of Yorehas started the ball rolling from downunder with her post and I am following suit.
New Christmas Tree 1978
My first three children are pictured in 1978 in our sparsely furnished new home with our brand new tree purchased from David Jones Department Store. We continued to use this tree for thirty years until we replaced it with a newer, smaller model in 2008. This 6 foot high plastic pine gave thirty years of good service and no doubt could tell many stories. It must have been of good quality as it is still in mint condition: it is packed away in our garage - I cannot part with something that has been so significant in our celebration of Christmas. It was the centrepiece for our celebrations over three decades in three family homes.
The decorations we used on the tree were not glamourous and did not change much from year to year. From 1984 the angel that perched on top of the tree was one made by our son in his kindergarten year; it wasn't too flash but it was made with love and we used it until its ping-pong ball head disintegrated a few years ago. Our tree was not a decorator item but a physical reminder of family Christmas traditions.
"It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas". I worked till 6:30 pm tonight and then spent a couple more hours Christmas shopping.With only three more shopping days I realise that I had better put my skates on or I might have some disappointed family members on Christmas morning.
As time is precious and I want to share some Aussie Christmas music I am going green - ie I am recycling a post I submitted for Blog Caroling with The Footnote Maven.
In Australia where Christmas falls in our hot and humid summer we sing traditional carols and Christmas songs about snow and mistletoe and open fires with gusto.
We also have some beautiful Christmas carols. One of my favourites, because it conjures up memories of a solo sung by my angelic. blonde six year old son surrounded by classmates in his school's Christmas concert many years ago, is The Silver Stars are in the Sky. There a a few versions of this carol on Youtube, I am posting one by The Phoenix Singers:
In case you feel like singing along here are the lyrics:
The Silver Stars are in the Sky
Words: John Wheeler. Music William G James
The silver stars are in the sky,
The red-gold moon goes riding high,
O, sleep my little one sleep!
Once long ago, against her breast,
A mother rocked her child to rest,
Who was the Prince of Heav'n above,
The Lord of happiness and love.
O, sleep, my little one sleep!
The boobook calls across the night,
The brown moths flutter in the light,
O, sleep, my little one sleep!
In Bethlehem long, long ago,
When roads and paddocks gleam'd with snow;
On this same night, that mother mild,
Lull'd into dreams her royal child.
So, sleep, my little one, sleep!
Another favourite that conjures up images of our red, dusty plains is "The North Wind is Tossing the Leaves". This Youtube version is by Bucko and Champs who have posted a great collection of Australian Christmas Music on Youtube.
The North Wind Words: John Wheeler. Music William G James
The north wind is tossing the leaves
the red dust is over the town
The sparrows are under the eaves
And the grass in the paddock is brown
As we lift up our voices and sing
To the Christ child the heavenly king.
The tree ferns in green gullies sway
the cool stream flows silently by
the joy bells are greeting the day
And the chimes are adrift in the sky
As we lift up our voices and sing
To the Christ child the heavenly king.
With the madness of current Holiday Happenings I haven't had time for an Advent Calendar post for a few days. I didn't just want to just write about the preparations and functions we attend today but wanted something from the past that typifies what we do in Australia over the holidays. Fortuitously a link to a pertinent video arrived on my RSS feeds this morning.
As our weather is hot and the long school holidays coincide with Christmas many Australian families flock to the beach for annual holidays. I have previously blogged about our journeys to Ettalong, NSW. As a teenager I lived a afew hundred yards from Coogee Beach in Sydney, I spent most of my school holidays swimming and surfing with friends and getting burnt to a crisp.
The delightful video, Summertime, that I can't seem to embed in this post has been prepared from a series of glass plate negatives and set to music. The photos tell a story of summer on Coogee Beach around 1900. Although the imaages are old, the buidings have disappeared and the beachfront promenade has been updated the people enjoying the beach today still engage in the same activities that people did over 100 years ago.
I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth! The pre-Christmas craziness is in full swing and I haven't had time to scratch myself.
I have, however, started my Christmas shopping this week. I am dragging out of cupboards those things I have bought through the year from sales and on two trips to the US where the shopping is so reasonable and bargains abound. I just love Macys and Ross Stores.
I bought some goodies online at Big W this week and my daughter offloaded a few things for her kids on to me today. I just need a few days without visitors to spread out all the goodies so I can work out what I have and for whom.
Christmas cookies are missing from the list of seasonal food I serve at Christmas time.
Cooking and Catering
A biscuity item I bake each year is "Scotch shortbread" . The recipe comes via my husband's step-grandmother, Isabella Scott, and was published in "Cooking and Catering" compiled by the Arcadia Methodist Ladies sometime in the 1950s.
As a young bride I was given a copy of this book by Isa who religiously baked shortbread for the extended family each year. When Isa moved from the family home at Arcadia to a retirement village I started baking multiple batches of shortbread for the family and continue to do so each year.
Isa's recipe was a little short on instructions so I annotated her recipe in the book with cooking instructions dictated to me by Isa.
The book contains many recipes that are still useful in today's climate. I have reproduced another of my favourites below.
A Favourite Recipe
Until I started writing this post I hadn't thought much about the little cookbook that features quite a number of Isa's recipes. I am now going to copy the little book and store the original with my genealogy files as it is a printed resource that gives information about Isa and her activities.
Santa has been a part of our lives at Christmas for many years and has made the trip to my home in Australia each year without fail. For this contribution I am sharing a video of an iconic Christmas song "Six White Boomers" by Rolf Harris that shows how Santa gets around our hot land.
Enclosed with my Christmas cards for the last ten years or so has been a family Christmas letter in which I summarise the hatches, matches, dispatches, trials and triumphs of immediate family members. I have heard people scoff at these annual epistles by calling them "brag bulletins" and other derogatory names. To these people I say "Bah, Humbug".
When I look back at my collection of Christmas Letters I find that I have a neat summary of important family events for the last decade. If I continue the practice for another couple of decades I will have a rich resource to pass on to future generations who may not be simply interested in the dry Birth, Death and Marriage facts in my family tree but in our activities.
I must admit to not fully reading some of the Christmas letters I get as they are just too long. I love hearing of the doings of other families but prefer an "executive summary" rather than a novel. I edit, edit and edit again and make sure that my letter is no more than an A4 page in a font size that is readable.
As it's now 4th December I must away, reflect on the past year and write my Christmas Chronicle".
As this is an Aussie blog I am going to write about some decoration that is an essential part of our Australian Christmas. It is not a Christmas Tree decoration.
Ceratapetalum Alberys Red, Ceratopetalum Gummiferum
or New South Wales Christmas Bush is an essential element in our Christmas decorating.
This Australian native shrub has masses of white flowers in spring followed by red, star shaped calyxes that appear in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Bunches of these flowers become quite expensive around Christmas time as it is a highly sought item. We are lucky that we have a couple of mature plants that provide enough flowers to fill vases for ourselves, family and friends.
A Sydney Christmas is typically hot and humid but we continue to cook a traditional English hot Christmas lunch each December 25th. Slaving over a stove in a steamy kitchen is not my idea of a perfect Christmas morning but I still do it. My 87 year old mother, although she eats like a bird, would be saddened if I served up something other than roast turkey with all the trimmings followed by plum pudding and brandy custard.
Other traditional goodies that grace our table over the Christmas break include dark fruit cake, shortbread made to an old family recipe, rum balls and fruit trifle. Locally grown strawberries and homegrown stone fruits togehter with cherries and mangoes provide a healthy element to our menu. We usually reserve glazed ham to have with yummy salads for Boxing Day lunch.
Now that our home is air-conditioned the discomfort has been somewhat alleviated. Cooking the meat outside in the Webber and BBQ has also relieved the strain on our domestic oven.
Roast Christmas Lunch - 1995
Will we change our menu when my mother is no longer with us? As I think my children really enjoy it I feel that this crazy tradition will survive.
Whether I will be able to sustain daily blogging in the busy leadup to Christmas I do not know. I am starting off with good intentions with my maiden post in The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories proposed by Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.Australian blogger, Shelley, from Twigs of Yore has started the ball rolling from downunder with her post and I am following suit.
New Christmas Tree 1978
My first three children are pictured in 1978 in our sparsely furnished new home with our brand new tree purchased from David Jones Department Store. We continued to use this tree for thirty years until we replaced it with a newer, smaller model in 2008. This 6 foot high plastic pine gave thirty years of good service and no doubt could tell many stories. It must have been of good quality as it is still in mint condition: it is packed away in our garage - I cannot part with something that has been so significant in our celebration of Christmas. It was the centrepiece for our celebrations over three decades in three family homes.
The decorations we used on the tree were not glamourous and did not change much from year to year. From 1984 the angel that perched on top of the tree was one made by our son in his kindergarten year; it wasn't too flash but it was made with love and we used it until its ping-pong ball head disintegrated a few years ago. Our tree was not a decorator item but a physical reminder of family Christmas traditions.
