With the Trimmings

 I can report that pork cooked in the air fryer produces the best crackling ever.  This was Debbie's full on Christmas sit down for 12 of us which was not a big number considering past sit downs.  Again I will not be eating much in the evening.  More presents were cleaned out from under the tree and I am not sure how some of them will be going back on the plane.  We finished off with trifle and pudding and chocolate with brandied cream.  And this is the last set of dishes I am doing until tomorrow.  Surely this is the end of it and don't call me surely.

Lunch Bugs

Another one of the talents from out beach friend Jill is cooking. We supplied a snapper and some prawns while she got some Moreton Bay Bugs. We were at Moreton Island recently and there was no sign of any bugs. These were cooked over the coals  and while they were being devoured, the snapper went on the coals as well. Each course was 30 to 40 mins on the heat and the bugs had the taste of the sea. It was all washed down with Yuzu lemon prosecco. Such a good lunch. 

Jill bugs

I did not have time to wrap her present

Hanging the Pud

 There have been the usual frenetic preparations that happen every year. A cruise ship passed us by yesterday and sometimes you think what if we were over there on that and you let the whole Christmas thing slide by just for one year. Let everyone else fuss over it. Back to reality and this years 1st world problem of where to hang the pud.  There are two schools of thought revolving around the creation of pudding. We are in the make it early camp as opposed to the make it on the day brigade. However we changed our shower heads this year and the previously straight pipe style is now a rounded slippery sucker on the end of a hose.  It is still working as a hanging space but a slow slight slip will send it to the floor. Only a few days to go.

The Lights are Back

 For two days after our tree went up there was a search for the flashing lights that get placed on the balcony for all to see.  These are a bit of a pain to get in position but once in place they work well. There were two separate sections each powered by a solar panel.  We could not find them anywhere.  They may have been tossed out after going faulty as these decos are prone to do, however they mat yet turn up.  Debbie bought a replacement set being one very long 75 metre run of flashing LEDs. Trying to get this large bundle over and under and thru and passed and back again was an effort but it is all working now.  A Christmas drink was needed after that.

Elf -Tastrophe

If you start a thing then there is bound to be consequences. Elves are now appearing on shelves everywhere after a book and toy business took off. There must also have been complaints about traumatised kids whose Elves had lost their powers after accidentily being touched. So now we have more books with more rules making it even more complicated for kids to have a Christmas.  As it turned out for today, Asher, Kaia and Estelle had two elves watching their every move. So we get back inside and one of the elves is on the floor.  Pandemonium has completely taken over as to what happened and how to recover. There was a lot of screaming about the recovery procedure.  First I was given tongs to pick up the elf but getting him back to the same position is almost impossible using tongs. There was more toppling over and jumping back out of the way in case there was a touching, when the Elf cartwheeled back down again. After a prolonged conference, three little girls with good intent, said the elf should be moved to a better sitting position.  So after 20 minutes of angst, he was now safe on the sideboard.  But then it started again as one elf was high up and the other low down, so I then delicately moved the higher one to match the same location.  OK now we all need a good lie down.

Oh No

Pool for Cool

This was one of the best ideas to keep kids occupied and cool while the heat was on in the kitchen. And when you literally throw in about 10 new water pistols then the game is on. These are not your midget variety pee shooters these will drill you from across the courtyard.  Kaia liked splashing about as well and James being the biggest kid kept them all occupied while the food was being prepared.  Even later it kept them going for more time until they finally needed a rest.  Best $50 you could spend. I haven't sat in it yet.

Christmas on Boxing day

 I think it is the first time we have delayed cooking up a large meal by one day across to boxing day.  At least there is some cricket you can have playing in the background.  For some reason Debbie was wanting to try some new recipes from Jamie Oliver. Later as she was getting thru the instructions she goes 'what was I thinking' but it all worked out well. The air fryer was playing up but we wedged the door shut and it cooked the crackle to perfection. The other highlight has to be the hollowed pumpkin, the hallowed hollowed pumkin and you could also eat the skin.  The present opening was reasonably quick and good timing to allow for the pud which we had steaming away for an hour.

note pumpkin

Christmas Pool

 We have had the grandie early morning phone calls and it is too exciting for words and they will tell us in person tomorrow. Debbie was looking back to10 yar ago and back then we hosted 23 people for a hot lunch and 17 again that night and we thought doing lunch for 6 adults and three kids tomorrow was a big effort.  I have opened a Christmas present for the Grandies before they could see it. As in the video below it only took a second to install. However one innovation we are trying is the foam mattress that is underneath.  The prediction is 38° tomorrow.  There's always the beach.

There must be Pud

It's not Christmas unless there is pud.  We heard rumours it is 40° today so we decided last night that lighting the gas for four or five hours today would not be a good thing.  So we started at 5:00pm and had it hanging in the shower at 9:30pm last night.  We have never tried the 'make it on Christmas morning then eat it in the afternoon approach' as there was too much going on.  I think it was Julie who said her Mum keeps it in the fridge. That is a lot of fridge space and doesn't that mean reheating is a lot harder.  Since we have been here the shower head of choice has been the upstairs one and trying to carry a boiling dripping cloth full of hot steamy pud up two flights of stairs is a tricky business.

The Santa Tree

With less than two weeks to go I have rumaged under the stairs and retrieved all of our Christmas decos including the tree.  Years ago when kids were around we had a proper pine tree but these days we have the recycled variety which is all the rage. Mind you there are grandies around but the topic of a cut down tree versus a tree from a box has not yet been raised but I guess I should get ready for that question. In the meantime we have a properly decorated three now, although we should have done it in the cool of the morning.  We have saved the upstairs lights for tomorrow morning. 

Elf on the Shelf split itSelf

We were having a sleepover at Asher's house and it just happened to be Dec 1st. Now this is the start of the countdown and an Elf can appear just to check up on what is going on during the leadup to Christmas.  So our sleep wasn't the best due to the constant pestering of the damn cat who seems to sleep during the day and keep us awake at night.  At least the two grandies were completely asleep for 10 hours but then the excitement started. At first Asher spied the Elf and was happy he had made it back but had not initially seen a second Elf that had crept in as well. Are you following?  So it seems each child can have an Elf reporting back to Santa.  You can't get away with anything these days.

 

Crackle

 Crackle is one of those illusive things. It might happen, it might not. Over the years there has been good crackle in spots, say down one side but soggy on the other side. Most likely the quirks of the oven not cooking evenly.  This time we used the air fryer.  Its small, easy to keep the heat circulating with the pork raised on a base in the drawer.  Yes perfect crackle but only enough for two. The guests will have to have chicken, turkey and ham.  The bonus was the easier cleaning of the drawer. Wipe it out with a paper towel and rinse.

Video Christmas

 It's 10:00am and we have seen all the Grandies running around already with video calls, couldn't do that in our Grandparents day.  It was good to see that Santa does not seem to have doubled up with what is under our tree.  I also see that there is a specific tray where milk, carrots and biscuits are laid out in the properly designated locations and kiddies are still amazed at nibbled carrots.  Debbie is scoring the pork and salting it down but at the last minute we have cut one third of it off due to its size but that has thrown all the timing out, after our exhaustive calculations on heat versus weight versus time versus air fryer.  Anyway it is going in soon.

Charlie flies in

 After a long day of travels Evie and Charlie have made it to Clifton Springs.  Car hire delays meant that Rick never made it here as his flying visit window closed without getting out of the airport.  Laura drove the hire car and arrived around 5:00pm.  Earlier in the day we had Asher over at the beach on a hot day but the shallows were the place to be.  So far we have opened the remaining Christmas presents and now need to think about some food for hungry kiddies.

Christmas Day into Evening

 With only two for lunch it was easier to make sure it was hot hot.  We spent two hours on the porker and the crackling was perfection. The Turkey roll was also melt in the mouth so it is a good thing we are not eating again until just now.  Asher and Estelle have been opening presents all day long so what is a few more.  I have to leave room for the pud.  All the guests are not here today so there is no mention of presents just yet.

New Pud Hanger

 Amongst the busyness we found five hours yesterday to get the Christmas pud cooked and hanging nicely from the new shower head. This has a flatter shape that allows the tied cloth to grip without sliding. (tautology - if something is gripping then also saying it is not sliding is not necessary.!)  We have been held hostage by the line after line of driving rain here yesterday but it did make for a good Pud Day.  This morning woke us up with a clattering of heavy rain on the windows.  I noticed a mother with a child on her front, also with a rugged up toddler in tow and two dogs being walked and bending at the same time to get multiple dog poos along the trail. Right, that's it I am going down with the rubbish bag in hand to see what is washed in, no matter what the weather is doing.  I got the usual blue tops, plastic bottles and cigarette butts but also two ice cream containers. I have never seen one before and today there were two.  I mostly fished stuff out of the creek, as this was more sheltered and the water level was high which meant I could reach without jumping down.

Decorations

 It is time to get out the 50 yar old christmas stockings again. Some backbone repairs were done last time to straighten and strengthen, this time I tended to all the little tears and cracks, particularly where the pin holes from previous years were gathering.  As the tree was going up we realised that we need to hold back on a few decos as there is nothing to put up at Williamstown.  A few decos around the door should do.  We need to keep the bottom branches clear anyway due to anklebiters that explore.

Another Day more presents

 An afternoon going into night of food and drink which finished around midnight.  The weather was a little chillier than last year but we did have the mega gas fire and a spare gas bottle for it.  After the huge barbecue lunch the even huger spit and smoker evening meal also went down well.  The smoky pork was the winner.  The presents  for kids took an hour or so even though ecven if was just for kids but there are a lot of them. It may be a beach afternoon but golf is definitely booked for 9:30am.

Why am I always asking these questions.

Boxing Day presents

It's organised mayhem here but somehow around 9:30am we gathered around the tree. There was the usual wrapping paper everyhere and mainly toys being uncovered. Estelle just managed to last out the session which ended in multiple robot cleaners being unwrapped.  No more cat hair.  The Smoker has been started and James is tending to its every need. We will see the result in about another 6 hours.  The Clancys have piled off the boat earlier and will be here in the next hour or so. There are many many photos from at least six cameras that I could count.