I can see it now: the morning will be celebrated with a toast of bubbles, sporadic bouts of slow-dancing to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas on vinyl, nut cracking, the glow of goodwill and a joyful air of chaos.
Planning for the ‘big day’ has begun.
The mandarin tree has been nominated as our Outdoor Tree this year and is adorned with baubles and fairy lights. It certainly helps get into the festive season now that December has hit us!
It’ll be another pescatarian Christmas menu and, with the exception of a side of herb-encrusted hot-smoked salmon, my festive spread for twelve will be a home-grown, homemade feast, garden willing!
I know it may sound a bit daunting cooking ‘home-grown, home-made’ for so many, but I’m really looking forward to it. It is hardly a chore when you get to harvest and prepare something growing just a few metres away from your backdoor. I get huge satisfaction harvesting seasonal vegetables on a daily basis and can’t wait to share it with my extended family too over a sit-down Christmas lunch.
Will it be picture perfect? By no means. The carrots may be mutant; the strawberries may well be knobbly; and the asparagus in random supply, but I’ll be grinning all the same. The food will taste real, be spray-free and will have been nurtured with love and care from me – and that’s the main thing!
While we will have a massive spread (as all family members bring a plate too) as I’m hosting this year, this is what I plan to create:
Nibbles
- homemade crackers – inspired by a delicious All Taste No Waste lunch earlier this year
- Moroccan roast carrot dip
- beetroot & tahini hummus
- broad bean & pea dip
Main
- new potatoes dripping with minted butter
- leafy green salad (spinach, kale, various lettuce types, herbs) tossed with grilled haloumi, strawberries, edible flowers
- with a choice of homemade blackberry vinaigrette, garlic aioli and minted balsamic vinegar
- tomato, mozzarella and basil salad
- summer slaw
- tuna nicoise salad
- home-baked olive flat bread
- side of herb encrusted smoked salmon (*my only dish neither homemade or homegrown)!
Dessert
- meringues, cream and drunken mandarins (that have been soaking in schnapps since May)
- dark chocky dunked strawberries
- dark chocolate berry cake
Drinks
- bubbles for the adults
- mocktails for juniors
- plenty of iced water with slow release edible flower flavour cubes
So far my vegetable patch is behaving. Being summer, is like a factory growing many varieties of beans, peas, silverbeet, spinach, garlic, kale, lettuce, a whole bunch of herbs, capsicum, tomato, cabbage, carrots, asparagus, strawberries and potatoes. Pumpkin, courgette, cucumber, broccoli, eggplant, chilli and radish are in the ground but won’t be ready for Christmas – although I think we’ll have plenty!
I’ll be sure to share photos and recipes of my creations soon.
Let’s hope the sun shines. It’s our intention to sit beneath a couple of sun umbrellas and graze in the backyard on our recently built DIY picnic tables. Just metres away from the vegetable garden, I can’t think of a better place.
December 18, 2017
Where did you get those ball balls from
Please
December 20, 2017
Hi Symona, they look fun don’t they! They were ‘cheap as chips’ and knowing us, probably bought from The Warehouse or equivalent (a few years back now, so couldn’t advise whether they are current stock). We’ve decorated outdoor trees at Christmas for many years – starting from when the kids where young, so many of the outside decorations were those that we didn’t bother so much if they swung off in the breeze or got hit by a game of outdoor cricket! Good luck though and a Merry Christmas. >>Julie