Sesame Street - The King Gives a Picnic

Tricks for a successful Christmas: Part Two: The Food

For most of the year I am happy that I live in Australia, especially on a day like today when I can sit out in my yard with my laptop and watch the kids play on the grass, having fun under the blue sky and summer sun. But on Christmas day, well, the week after really, I have to admit that I get really jealous of people who celebrate Christmas in the winter. It's not for the snow – I don't particularly like being cold – it's for the winter clothing. You see, I eat too much at this time of year, way too much, and then decide that since it's hot and everyone else is, I should head down to the beach for a swim. But upon arriving at the beach I realise that all of the delicious food I ate too much of has now made it's way to my thighs and belly, where it intends to stay for the rest of the swimming season no matter how hard I try to convince it to leave and not return until winter when I actually need the insulation.



Actually, that year I had a decent excuse for the size of my belly...



So at times like these that I wish I lived in the Northern Hemisphere, so that I could eat whatever I wanted at Christmas without having to worry about anyone seeing the inevitable bulge. This is the first problem I have with the food at Christmas. The second is that I actually find doing a lot of cooking to be quite stressful, especially when presentation is important and when it has to be in the oven at a particular time of the morning in order to be ready four hours later and so on.



The fanciest dessert I've ever helped to make.



And that's why this post is about what I've learned to minimise the stress of cooking and food this silly season.

First and most importantly: Get someone else to do the cooking!

This is easiest when you are going to someone else's house for Christmas day because I don't know many people who would be willing to come to my house and cook up a full Chrissy lunch for me. So, get yourself invited somewhere. This is one of the great reasons we have parents and in-laws and grandparents too, to ensure that the culinary challenged in the world can at least finish the year with a decent meal.

Culinary challenged little brother.

If Christmas lunch is going to be at your house and there's nothing you can do about it, organise for everyone to bring something, salad or dessert or side dish so that at least you don't have to do everything (if you're going to someone else's house it's nice to offer to bring something too, to take a little stress from the shoulders of your host and their kitchen). If you go this path though, do it properly, you don't want to be like the king who didn't plan his picnic and was then surprised when everyone brought potato salad. Write a list of the food that you want to serve and then divide it among those coming. Do this in plenty of time and send people reminders so that they have plenty of time to get their ingredients and do their little bit of cooking.

Sharing the load means that stress is evenly distributed on Christmas day and may even prevent any custard related drownings and injuries from turkey leg duels.

Second and nearly as importantly: Decide where you stand on tradition.

I mean, how important is turkey? Really? If you can live without a turkey then I encourage you, do. I actually do like turkey but the logistics of fitting the thing in the fridge and then in the oven and then trying to make sure that it cooks evenly and in time for lunch as well as trying to cook everything around it... I'm afraid that fills me with dread. I have also found that on particularly hot Christmas days I don't really feel like an enormous cooked bird.

Our family has embraced the Australian tradition of a seafood lunch.

Oysters, prawn cocktails, crayfish, crab, baked salmon, and lots of delicious salad. The cooking time is almost nil, it's light (which helps solve my beach dilemma), and while it seems expensive when it's sp;it between the whole family it's surprisingly affordable.

Probably the most important thing to keep in mind when going the seafood route is to ensure that you have top notch refrigeration. No one wants to end Christmas day with the taste of bad oysters in their mouth.

Thirdly and finally: How much food do you really need?



The Christmas Biscuits.

 Yes, extravagance is fun, yes, leftovers are fun, but could the twenty dollars spent on food which never even made it out of the pantry on the day have been better spent? I don't mean spent on even more presents or alcohol, but on food for those who don't even have the option of an extravagant Christmas. Sorry to get serious but there are so many people in this country for whom Christmas dinner is a tin of tuna or a trip to Maccas. The gift of food doesn't just help people feel like their Christmas day has been special, it can help them feel more connected to their wider community too.

You can even go a step further if you like and, in the right circumstances, invite a person or family over to celebrate Christmas lunch with you. My grandparents are doing it this year and my parents and in-laws have done it in years past.

Trust me when I type that it will enrich your Christmas experience, mean less food wastage and, in my case, put beach related body hang-ups back in perspective.

So basically, when it comes to the kitchen this Chrissy, share the load, reduce the amount of actual cooking, and remember that this holiday is about celebrating, sharing, loving and reconnecting with the people around us, not about the amount of food we actually put on the table.

Oh, and to reduce the stress over the resulting bulge: eat less and wear board shorts to the beach! They are both flattering and practical in hiding post- Christmas thighs.

Ta!

Every Christmas cake should be required to have a dinosaur on top.

Tricks for a successful Christmas: Part One: The Tree

I've only been “doing Christmas” in my own home for a very short while but I've been paying close attention to what works for my mum, my mum-in-law, my grandmas and my practically-a-second-mum and I'm going to share some of their tricks and some observations of my own.

My parents' tree



Christmas trees:

When I was a kid we had a good old plastic tree. I liked our plastic tree and since we didn't really know anyone with an actual dead pine tree in their house I didn't feel left out. (I should point out that I don't call them “real” Christmas trees or “live” Christmas trees because plastic trees are real, not a figment of my imagination, and once you cut down a “live” Christmas tree to bring it into your home it is actually cut off from that which gives it life: its roots and the sun.)

Plastic trees are good for several reasons:



They are an investment as the money spent on a tree this year does not need to be spent next year.

They don't drop pine needles all over the floor and make all your Christmas morning photos look messy.

They don't require water so your cat won't be temped to take a drink from the pot and when said cat decides to climb the tree (because that's how cats celebrate Christmas) there won't be water all over the floor, the presents and the cat.

They don't need to be creatively disposed of in the new year.

My sister-in-law isn't allergic to them.

But, of course, an actual,chopped down and propped up in a pot Christmas pine tree has its pros too and because my husband doesn't feel that it's really Christmas without the smell of pine in the house (an can of air freshener doesn't cut it apparently) and because he's the one who can drive, we have one and I have some tips for surviving Christmas with one:

ASPIRIN – according to my in-laws popping a couple of aspirin into the water around your tree will stop it from shedding its needles or turning brown before the big day. It will also stop your tree from developing a headache from all the horrible little flashing lights.

DON'T BUY TOO EARLY – the Adelaide Christmas pageant may happen in November but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good time to bring the tree in. A whole month is probably too long to expect your evergreen to stay green, no matter how many aspirin you give it.



A friend sent me this. Badgers are supposed to be vicious and scary,
not cutesy wootesy.



CHECK FOR SIGNS OF LIFE – and I don't mean with a stethoscope. This is a tree that has been growing outside and may have been a home or food source for animals. While you're unlikely to find a birds nest or badger in your tree, insects are a real possibility so do a quick check for ants and mites before bringing the tree in.

SERVO TREES – they're cheaper and usually a bit smaller and this is not a bad thing. Ok, some are a bit scruffy but really, after a three-year-old shoves baubles all over it and winds tinsel through it, it's going to look scruffy anyway. So don't turn up your nose at a servo tree, Father Christmas will still visit and I'm pretty sure Jesus doesn't mind.

SIZE MATTERS – I know the big trees look impressive but think about the logistics before handing over your money. Will it fit in your car? Will it fit in your house? or will you be using the top of it to catch the cobwebs? Will you need a ladder to decorate it?

Seems silly I know, but trust me, you'll feel sillier trying to shove a six foot tree into your hatchback because you were too proud to check.

STRING – to tie your tree to something secure so you aren't woken by a crash and a splash in the middle of the night because the tree has fallen over (it's usually the cat's fault). Bricks around the trunk inside the pot aren't a bad idea either and help to keep it weighed down.

EXIT PLAN – know what you're going to do with the thing ahead of time. There's nothing worse than getting to January 5^th and realising you don't know how to get rid of your now brown and spiky dead tree. And there's nothing more sad than a street lined by dead trees that the rubbish truck won't pick up because they're too big for the bin.

I'm sure there are many more good tips out there so if you know any, please post them in the comments section.

And remember, unlike a puppy, a Christmas tree really is just for Christmas, not for life. It's ok to throw it out when the new year rolls around.

Do you know what's in your washing?

Last week I got talking to a friend of a friend whose husband is a plumber. She had been shocked by her husband's announcement that she had to stop using powder in her washing machine. Her husband had dealt with five broken washers in four days and put it all down to the powder they were using in their machines.





A washer after its failed attempt to break free of the laundry.



He'd also fixed a pipe on an elderly lady's washer and had been astounded at how clean her pipes were and what good condition her twenty year old machine was in. The lady told him she put it all down to the fact that she only used liquid detergent and was very particular about the ingredients in it.

So, my friend's husband looked into the matter and discovered that a lot of powder detergents really do cause unnecessary wear on our washing machines. When I was told this I did my own research too (cos I'm a bit stubborn and don't like to do what men tell me, even if it seems like good advice), and it turns out to be true. For instance: Benzene! It's made from petroleum! It's carcinogenic which means it's bad for us and our environment. Diathanolamines! Another irritant which is carcinogenic and adds nitrogen to our atmosphere. Peroxide! Ever had your hair bleached and felt that burn when the bleach has been left in too long? I have (Yes, I once bleached my hair. I was young and foolish). We're putting that on our clothes and then we put them on our skin. Amonia! Are you kidding me?! I didn't think I was reading the website correctly but there it was (once I translated all the number and codes designed to confuse us so we don't know what we're buying). Amonia is a serious skin irritant and once again, releases nitrogen into the atmosphere. By this point I was sitting at my desk staring at my laptop like a brain dead angler fish. I was shocked at what was in the average box of laundry powder. Then I discovered that some companies even put small amounts of cement into the mix, goodness knows why and they don't have to list their ingredients on the box and if there is a fragrance added they don't have to list the ingredients of that either.

Now, looking at what I've written above, there are quite a few exclamation marks. But I think they're justified. I have really sensitive skin and I know so many people in the same boat. Eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, dry skin, peeling skin, rashes, allergies, they seem to be on the rise and I bet you didn't think your laundry detergent could be contributing to the problem.

I must admit there have been a few failures because, while my principles are important to me, so is not smelling of sweat and knowing that the baby puke stains on my clothes will be gone after only one wash. Some products were just not strong enough, others made the clothes stink.

Then, I discovered... (insert angelic choir music here) NutriClean!

I've been interested in Nutrimetics for a little while now and when I discovered that they do all natural, plant based, biodegradable laundry detergent I was thrilled. I tried and was even more thrilled because it works! Clean clothes, clean washer, less pilling, happier skin and peace of mind because I'm reducing my family's impact on the environment.

I was a little wary of the price, $20 for one Litre isn't exactly cheap. We do upwards of 8 loads of washing a week, towels and sheets included and go through our laundry detergent pretty fast. If it lasts longer than two weeks I know I'm behind and the dirty clothes baskets are overflowing. The idea of paying $20 a week for clean clothes made me freak a little but then I started asking people who use it, whether it's economical. The answer was a resounding “Yes!” You only need to use a really small amount of this stuff to get a result and so instead of buying a litre of detergent every two weeks for $5 we're spending $20 every three months! Which is a saving, especially if I'm extending the life of my washer and my clothes too.

Now, I know this sounds like a sales pitch and that's cos it kind of is. I like this stuff so much I'm selling it to make some extra pocket money so that when I get my driver's licence I can actually get a car.

So, if you're interested in this product or anything in the NutriClean or Nutrimetics range, send me an email. The shipping is quick, the products are natural and they work!

And... no more dry and itchy skin!