There is a lot of fun and delight to be had from Christmas lights, for the young and the young at heart! Some homes have lights in their tree, some have  just a few lights visible to the world, but there is a growing number of homes (and businesses) that make a display every Christmas for many people to enjoy.

Next year, when you are thinking about where to go for some Christmas magic, try some of the magnificent light displays across New South Wales.

Sharing…

Share the light displays you know of - give an address or directions to find the displays so other people can enjoy those lights, too.

Rank the displays as follows:

4 Santas - spectacular displays that are an event in themselves

3 Santas - displays that are worth taking a detour to on your way home

2 Santas - displays that locals should know about for choosing the best route home

1 Santa - nice displays that perhaps aren’t worth travelling to, but are enjoyable just the same

There is a lot of fun and delight to be had from Christmas lights, for the young and the young at heart! Some homes have lights in their tree, some have  just a few lights visible to the world, but there is a growing number of homes (and businesses) that make a display every Christmas for many people to enjoy.

Next year, when you are thinking about where to go for some Christmas magic, try some of the magnificent light displays across Victoria.

Sharing…

Share the light displays you know of - give an address or directions to find the displays so other people can enjoy those lights, too.

Rank the displays as follows:

4 Santas - spectuclar displays that are an event in themselves

3 Santas - displays that are worth taking a detour to on your way home

2 Santas - displays that locals should know about for choosing the best route home

1 Santa - nice displays that perhaps aren’t worth travelling to, but are enjoyable just the same

What smells most in a chimney?

Santa’s nose

What’s red & white, red & white, red & white?

Santa rolling down a hill!

How long do you leave your Christmas lights out for people to admire?

An increasing number of people appear to leave their lights in position (at least those on the roof and walls) all year, but only turn them on in the Christmas season. And for safety, I have to say that is a good idea!

Do you go to visit Christmas lights after Christmas, when life doesn’t seem quite so rushed?

Given Christmas decoration stay up until the 6th January for many places, why shouldn’t the lights also last that long? And why not enjoy them while they last?

Christmas decorations often have a mix of sentimental and monetary value, so it is rare for people to get a whole new set of decorations every year (of course, if you think it is common, let me know!)

So that means each December/January we have to pack away those precious decorations and store them for another year.

Decorations can vary in shape and size, especially once you have a few hand-made treasures in the collection, so it can be a challenge to pack them. And then you have to allow for some being fragile and needing extra care in packing.

So how do you pack away your Christmas decorations - do you have any tips or secrets that could help everyone else this year?

Along with Æbleskiver, the Danes usually drink Gløgg (which is very much like the mulled wine I’ve had on skiing trips.) Not sure if you could keep it hot enough for Santa, but I’m sure he’d enjoy it!

Persoanlly, I think this suits a Christmas in July celebration better than on December 25 for Australia.

Gløgg

250ml water

4 Tablespoons of white sugar

1 cinnamon stick

3 or 4 cloves

5 or 6 cardamon seed pods, peeled

small piece of ginger, peeled

peel & juice of 1 lemon

peel & juice of 1 orange

1 bottle of red wine

90 gram dried fruit (without glace cherries)

60 grams blanched almonds, chopped

0.25 cup of port, rum, brandy, vodka, or similar

Boil cinnamon, sugar, cloves, cardamon, ginger and peel in the water for about 10 minutes*. Remove the peel and spices.

Mix in the juices, fruit and nuts and heat to almost boiling. Take off the stove and mix in the wine.

The port/rum gets mixed in just before serving, but that should be pretty much straight away anyway to drink it hot.

* For a stronger flavour, leave the spices & peels water to sit overnight.

Another traditional Christmas treat from Denmark…

Klejner

.5 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

.25 cup thickened cream

3.5 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

.75 teaspoon ground cardamon

.25 teaspoon ground nutmeg

oil

icing sugar

Cream the butter and sugar.

Beat the eggs then whisk in the cream. Slowly mix the egg mixture into the butter/sugar.

Add dry ingredients to form a dough.

Divide dough into four and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Leave in fridge overnight.

Work with one dough section at a time…

Roll dough out to about 6 mm thick. Cut into strips about 5 cm wide and then into diamonds by cutting the diagonals about 7 cm apart.

Cut a small slit along the length of the diamond and tuck one end of the diamond through the slit until it is a diamond shape again with just a little twist in the middle.

Keep refrigerated while doing the remaining batches.

Heat oil in a pan or deep fryer until hot. Add a few diamonds at a time (about 5 but it depends on the size of your pan) until they are puffed up and golden brown on both side - don’t forget to turn them once!

Drain on paper towel then roll in icing sugar.

Store in layers with grease-proof paper in air tight containers. This recipe makes about 4 dozen so I think I’ll reduce it when I make them!

At one of the Christmas function I went to, a friend of a friend turned up with some Danish Christmas treats. These were really yummy so I begged the recipe from her! Just don’t ask me to pronounce the name in Danish - she had to write it out for me!

Note it needs a special cast iron pan (like a frying pan but with circles in it like a patty cake tray) - I haven’t figured out what alternatives would work yet.

Æbleskiver

510 gram plain flour

1 Tablespoon of white sugar

0.5 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of baking powder

4 eggs

2 cups of buttermilk

oil

icing sugar

Combine the dry ingredients then add the eggs and buttermilk.

Heat the pan then add a little oil into each circle. Put enough dough in each hole to  fill it about 3 quarters of the way to the top.

Once it starts to bubble around the edges, turn them over with a fork or something think like a knitting needle (apparently the traditional tool!).

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve - if you can bear to give any away! They’re nice with jam, too.

** I was told you can put in slices of apple or apple sauce  or blobs of jam when turning them during cooking. So many variations to try! Once I find a pan anyway.

Ah, it’s a sad task but the Christmas decorations can’t stay up all year.

I mean, I’d love the magic and spirit of Christmas to be with us always, but it wouldn’t be so special if we saw Christmas trees everywhere and lived with tinsel around our houses all year.

So it needs to come down, be packed away carefully and stored until next December.

But when should they come down?

I have heard many times that it is bad luck to still have them up on/after the 6th January, and others say it is bad luck to start the new year with the Christmas decorations still on display.

The twelve days of Christmas ends on the evening of January 5 - just as Christmas starts at night fall on the 24th December (traditionally, days ended/started with the light, not at midnight.)

Traditional decorations were mostly ivy, which were believed to hold the spirit of the trees. Taking down the decorations and putting the ivy outside releases the tree spirits back into nature; leaving the tree spirits trapped in the house for too long would prevent plants growing and the arrival of spring (obviously not an Australian tradition!)

When do you take down your decorations? Do you make it fun or is it just a task to get done quickly?

What was the best gift you received this Christmas? And why do you call it your best?

Don’t go by anyone else’s standards - the best gift you got may have been the cheapest, the least practical or the ugliest, but if it has meaning to you, we’d love to hear about it

The 26th of December is known in many countries as Boxing Day, in particular, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada.

Some say it originated as the day when Christmas was packed up - things put away, boxes thrown out, etc.

In England, it was tradition that on Boxing Day gifts were given to employees and the poor. The theory being that staff would work hard to give you a nice Christmas Day so on Boxing Day you thanked them with a gift.

It is a public holiday in Australia* so most of us don’t work unless we are in essential services or retail…

How do you celebrate (or not) Boxing Day? What does the term ‘Boxing Day’ mean to you?

* In South Australia, they have a Proclamation Day holiday instead of Boxing Day but it’s still the 26th of December.

This was sent to me by e-mail. I don’t know who wrote it.

Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It’s Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Engine’s getting hot;
we dodge the kangaroos,
The swaggie climbs aboard,
he is welcome too.
All the family’s there,
sitting by the pool,
Christmas Day the Aussie way,
by the barbecue.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Come the afternoon,
Grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce
are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes ’round to go,
we take the family snap,
Pack the car and all shoot through,
before the washing up.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.