Christmas Lunch

This year, I spent my first Christmas abroad- Out of Germany, missing out on sitting with my family under a (real) green Christmas tree/ Tannenbaum. I was in Australia with a light bulb installation that functioned as our Christmas tree. It wasn’t the same feeling and spirit as at home but nevertheless I felt like being among friends and enjoyed the day.

I was wondering what to expect. I knew it is quite unlikely to celebrate Christmas at the beach in Tassie, but I would not have expected that we would have a WHITE CHRISTMAS!

Summers here are pretty rough. With winds that change rapidly so that it is quite likely to experience temperature drops of 10°C in just 30 minutes.

Well, Christmas Day was cloudy and rainy in Hobart and about 9°C. That meant snow in the mountains. The mountains draw an impressive skyline when I look out of my window. A massive wall with an altitude of more than 1200 meters….

White Christmas yes …

But actually I was about to tell you about one of my favs: food. Yeah, ‘cause lunch @ Christmas Day is all about socialising, eating and drinking.

We were 14 people at Andrew’s house. Family and friends. Aged from 17 till 80. And everybody was bringing something along. I was meant to take care about the starters, but I missed the changing of opening hours over the holidays and I had to improvise a little.

However, I like cooking with what I have, and the fridge was full anyway. I did double-decker water crackers with a layer of a dip out of broccoli, garlic, pepper and cream cheese and some little fruity- gouda kebabs (I was told it is all about meat, so I tried to add something half-way healthy J …). And people liked them.

I also had oysters for the first time in my life. I haven’t been eating any seafood for the longest time of my life. Just “discovered” seafood 3 years ago and am sushi addicted now… So I eat raw fishy and fish-alike stuff, but having a look at the oysters made me have a strange feeling in my stomach. I picked a small one and tried it with lime. The flavour of lime was so strong that I hardly tasted anything but the lime. The consistency was … uuuhm … bit strange. I tried again another oyster- this time I had a bigger one with lemon. Not bad, but I was done with them - at least for this time.

The main course included: turkey, ham, lamb, pork, roasted potatoes as well as pumpkin and carrots, a salad of something sorghum-like, cole-slow, potato salad and a very scrumptious salad of spinach/ ruccola with avocado, mango, bacon and nuts.

After like half an hour of time to digest, the desserts were served. Ice-cream cake, fruit salad, a hazelnut-dough cake with raspberry filling, crustas and a vodka based pudding (grandma Babcias specials) as well as traditional ginger bread and fruit cake were dished a long with nuts, self-made rum pralines and “Vanillekipferl” that I could contribute.

It started by 13:00 and the last guests left the house by 18:00. I was soooo full. I don’t remember when I ate that much in such a short period of time…

I only had some juice and tea for the rest of the day. In fact, I went jogging and went to the gym on Boxing Day. And only after that (around 2 p.m. the next day), I was able to eat again – Tuna and crab sushi!!!

I experienced a little bluesy break-out and Feeling of homesickness when I read the Christmas cards from Adina & Todd and Opened the gifts I took with me from my Family and Mona & Dwayne. I realized how Far away from home I really was. I know it is Only for a limited period of time, but Emotional “Reality” can be harsh and cruel and I miss Home in many ways.

The rainbow is a sign for luck and hope. May the one we had on Christmas Day stand for

A new year full of joy and a healthy successful future - I don’t need to find the gold pot…