Eating separately at Christmas – strange?
We have an extended family get together each year, like many people of course.
A shared Christmas feast
It’s been going for about 45 years and has moved between different people’s houses with everyone bringing parts of the meal we share. This year (for transportation issues which are perfectly acceptable) we’re having a picnic in a park instead.
Now, someone has suggested that each family group takes their own food for the event – that is, we each eat only our own food instead of pooling resources and eating together.
Is it just me to think it’s a bit pointless to eat as distinct family units?
To me, sharing a Christmas meal is about sharing and eating together. If we’re eating separately from people we rarely see except at this Christmas function, I have to wonder if it’s worth continuing the tradition really.
Does anyone go to Christmas events where food is not shared? Does it work?
More importantly, any tips on how to make it a family event despite the separate meals?
Fruit smoothies
Just for fun, make some Christmas themed fruit smoothies 🙂
Made cold, they can be very refreshing (and are a lot healthier than soft drinks and energy drinks!) and I’d prefer one to an eggnog any day 🙂
It can even be a nice drink to leave out for Santa – although if it is a warm night, maybe leave it in the fridge with a note to tell Santa to help himself!
If making one for a baby or toddler, it can effectively be their meal and you can add a bit of formula powder to add nutrients if you feel the need (personally, I think adding some banana is enough to give then plenty of vitamins and minerals).
A Christmas fruit smoothie
2 bananas
6 – 12 strawberries
2 kiwi fruit
sprinkle of cinnamon
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yoghurt (fruit yoghurt tastes nice but adds sugar)
500 ml milk
Quick version:
Put everything into a jug and use a blender to mash and mix it up.
Pour into two cups (or more smaller serves for kids) and drink.
Christmas version:
Put bananas, yoghurt, cinnamon and milk into a jug and blend.
Add strawberries and kiwi fruit blend on a low-speed but leave some small pieces of fruit (to show the Christmassy red and green 🙂 ).
Pour into cups and serve.
Make an easy, edible Christmas decoration
Want an easy way to make a cake or cup cakes or dessert platter or whatever look really special?
Simply heat up a candy cane (buy them in whatever size suits the decoration you’re after – they range from tiny to huge!) and gently bend it into a shape to suit.
Adding more of a swirl than the traditional cane shape is more compact so it works better on some designs I find – the long cane just doesn’t fit in and looks stark so this is a nice option.
Quality Santa letters written with love
Yesterday I wrote about Santa asking me to help him write letters to Australian children each Christmas.
As it is an honour to write to children on Santa’s behalf, and a responsibility to give those children a special message, I put a lot of care and love into all the letters we write.
General principles of Love Santa letters
Every Love Santa letter (including our non-personalised self-print options) is written to meet the following aims:
Making each child smile is what we aim to do
- it is positive and makes the child feel happy
- acknowledge the good things children do, ann encourage them doing more good things
- be truly personal so the child knows the letter is for him or her
- includes references to Australia and a warm Christmas so the child can relate to what they are reading
- indirectly teach children basic letter writing skills
Making Love Santa letters personalised
There are a number of ways I strive to make each child feel special, but it mostly comes down to spending the time editing each letter just before it is printed and mailed to be sure it is just right.
- is mailed in its own envelope so the child has the pleasure of opening a letter addressed to him or herself
- starts with their first name
- is often adjusted to suit the child’s age or good deeds
- includes some good deeds done by that child during the last year. Good deeds are always written in a positive tone, too, to build self-esteem. So, for example, I write ‘being independant’ rather than ‘not being so clingy’, ‘learning to play nicely’ rather than ‘not always fighting’, and ‘trying your best at maths’ instead of ‘not failing maths’
- is checked to be different from siblings’ letters, and often is adjusted to include a sibling’s name
To share in this fun part of Christmas, request a Love Santa letter so your kids can experience their own personalised letter – and look out for some ordering tips in tomorrow’s blog post.
The honour of helping Santa
A few people have asked lately how I came to be writing Santa letters so here’s my story…
I am a professional writer and I love writing and reading.
I am also a Mum, love Christmas and love being positively engaged with the community. Helping other people is just what I do – I think it’s who I am.
No wonder Santa needs help if he still uses a quill to write letters!
Anyway, Santa is an extremely busy man and despite his best intentions, he doesn’t manage to write to all children every year.
So when my daughters were very little, I wrote them a few letters on Santa’s behalf so they could experience to fun of getting letters in the mail and the excitement and self-esteem that comes from being acknowledged by someone special (and who is more special than Santa???)
Santa’s request
Santa was looking for someone to write letters to some of the Australian children he just wasn’t finding time to write to before Christmas.
In 2002, Santa gave me one of the highest honours I think is possible for a writer – he asked me to help him.
I’m not sure if Santa heard about the letters for my daughters or just looked for an Australian writer, but I am proud he asked me and do my very best to live up to his expectations.
Tomorrow, I will post a bit about how I manage writing these special letters.
If you have questions about Love Santa letters or my story, please leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer you:) Note I won’t give away any secrets though, so don’t ask how you can stay awake to see Santa or how he knows if you’ve been bad or good…
Anyone for tea?
I came across this recipe and enjoyed the flavour so much I am making packets of it as Christmas gifts. And my kids are making some this weekend to give their teachers and activity leaders as gifts, too.
Spicy orange tea
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into small pieces
14 whole cloves
3 tablespoons dried orange peel (I dehydrated my own after the kids ate a pile of oranges!)
10 whole black peppercorns
11 tablespoons loose black tea leaves (You could try green tea, too, or mix them together)
Put it all together in an air tight container
Leave it for a week
Boil some water
put one spoon of tea mix per person into teapot
add appropriate amount of water
steep for 2 – 5 minutes
pour into cups and enjoy!
Remember to label the packets you give as gifts, including instructions of use. Kids can decorate the labels to make them personal and unique gifts.
Maybe leave some out ready for Santa to have a nice cup (as long as he’s willing to boil the kettle himself!) while he puts presents into stockings for you!
Christmas jelly – not just for babies and toddlers…
Continuing on with the request for some Christmas recipes the very young can enjoy, here is another one that’s pretty easy to make. It is well suited to an Australian Christmas, but I think it can be eaten alongside a hot Christmas pudding and apple pie, too!
Christmas jelly
200 ml hot water
4 teaspoons gelatine
100ml red fruit juice
100ml green fruit juice
1 – 2 tablespoons chopped cherries or strawberries
1-2 tablespoons sliced grapes or kiwi fruit pieces
Dissolve 2 teaspoons of gelatine in 100ml hot water.
Stir into the red fruit juice.
Pour into a small bow or jelly mould. Add the grapes or kiwi fruit.
Put into the fridge to set.
Dissolve 2 teaspoons of gelatine in 100ml hot water.
Stir into the green fruit juice.
Pour into a small bow or jelly mould. Add the cherries/strawberries.
Put into the fridge to set.
Serve together, tipped onto a plate or straight into bowls.
In total, this makes about one metric cup of jelly which is a side serve for about two people or a few days’ supply for a baby or young toddler.
Notes:
- juicing the fruit yourself is a much healthier option, but bottled juice works. Red juice can be cranberry or mix apple with raspberries, cherries and strawberries. Green juice can be made from kiwi fruit, apple and celery together, green grapes or a combination.
- you can of course use packets of jelly instead of gelatine and fruit juice but it has a lot more sugar and less satisfaction!
- stand your jelly bowl in a hot water for 30 – 60 seconds to make it easier to tip out once it’s set
Have you ever made your own jelly?
Surprised to find it is this easy? I know I was when I made it for my first baby – it’s such as easy thing to feed them but I didn’t want the sugar and additives of the commercial jelly.
Have you ever left a bowl of jelly out for Santa? I haven’t but it’s not a bad idea, especially if it’s hot on Christmas Eve!
If UK children ran Christmas, they would…
Nearly 20% of children love to give gifts and help others around Christmas time. I’m not sure whether to be pleased 20% of kids are generous or sad 80% haven’t been shown the pleasure in giving and helping others.
What do you think?
All the more reason to focus on teaching kids about the spirit of Christmas and reducing the reliance on presents as the important Christmas activity.
Do you think the statistics would be different if this survey was repeated in Australia or other countries?
*Infographic courtesy of Santa’s LaplandSanta has to cope with international rules…
Santa has a long way to travel on Christmas Eve, and he has to cope with different climates and rules along the way.
How often do you check under your car for sleeping children? Do you dress well to keep your license? Do you bother buying sprouts for Christmas dinner?
These and other interesting questions arise from the following infographic kindly shared by case luggage.
And as for me – I never check under my car or sleigh for sleeping children (I don’t think that makes me negligent!), I don’t dress nicely for the sake of my license and I don’t buy sprouts very often at all, and certainly not for Christmas!
Champagne Punch without a kick
There’s nothing like holding a glass of something sparkly while celebrating family at Christmas, a new year approaching or a beautiful summer evening. But not everyone is able or willing to drink alcohol (kids, pregnant women, drivers, etc).
S here is one solution – make a mock champagne punch without the alcohol!
Simply mix the following in a jug or carafe then pour into 16 (preferably chilled!) champagne flutes.
1.5 litre sparkling mineral water
1.5 litre dry ginger ale
1.2 litre white grape juice
Make sure everything is cold when you mix them and you get a refreshing cold drink that is perfect for a summer Christmas treat.
7 tips for a beautiful Christmas tree
An elegant Christmas tree in St Petersburg
Decorating a Christmas tree is a once-a-year activity that gives pleasure to many, and is worth spending a bit of time on.
I think there are two techniques or models for Christmas tree decorating – the throw on as much as possible model (often experienced when children are involved!) and the classy or stylish model. That is, some people just want colour and glitter while others want it looking a certain way.
Personally, I think both approaches look good and have a special place. However, today’s tips are for the more deliberate Christmas tree approach – although adding them to a more chaotic tree is good, too!
Creating a stylish Christmas tree
- put larger ornaments and thicker tinsel lower on the tree, leaving the top half for smaller and finer ornaments
- hang things towards the centre of the tree as well as on the outer edges – it gives more depth and interest (and gives you more hanging space overall!)
- hanging lights first makes it easier to hide the cords and get them evenly distributed. It’s just easier to do, too. Again, remember to put lights towards the centre of the tree as well as on the outside – twinkling lights behind the tinsel and decorations adds some magic
- work with one colour at a time when hanging ornaments to get them evenly distributed – for example, hang all the green balls then the red bells to spread red and green across the entire tree.
- no matter how stylish you want it to be, remember Christmas is about family, magic and memories so don’t hide away your treasured mementoes just because they are not your theme colour or style. Put one or two as a centrepiece or off to the side where you will see them when sitting in your favourite chair. As well as the sentimental value, they will make your tree unique and interesting – and could serve as a nice conversation starter, too
- stand back occasionally and look at the tree as you go – if you get each stage looking good, the whole will be balanced and effective
- avoid fragile ornaments on the bottom branches as they are likely to get knocked around when presents are put under the tree.
If you are serious about a colour theme for your tree, you can even choose wrapping paper so the pile of presents under the tree will match 🙂
So, how do you achieve a ‘perfect’ look for your Christmas tree?
Do you have other tips for decorating Christmas trees?
* Image courtesy of 123rfToddler’s Christmas dessert
This is a variation of a simple dessert I have made for all my kids while they were toddlers – and they all still love it actually!
Vida_Ilevares – I hope your toddler enjoys this one 🙂
This quantity is feeds a toddler and an adult or two small adult serves. For older people, I’d probably count this recipe as suitable for 1 adult or 2 kids as a dessert so multiply it as required!
Baked Christmas Custard
Green grapes, red cherries and baked custard – healthy and yummy!
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
2 drops vanilla essence
cinnamon
1 or 2 tablespoon dried cranberries {or use 6 – 10 fresh cherries, pitted and sliced}
6 – 10 grapes, pitted and sliced
Put the milk in a microwave proof bowl and cook for 1 minute on high – if you can’t see tiny bubbles around the edge, try another 5 -10 seconds. You don’t want the milk to boil.
Whisk the sugar and essence with the egg.
Pour a little of the hot milk in with the egg and mix.
Pour egg mix into milk bowl, stirring as you go. Mix in the dried cranberries.
Sprinkle with some cinnamon (I use nutmeg most of the year, but cinnamon is more Christmassy!)
Cook on a medium setting for 2 minutes.
If not set, cook for another 30 seconds.
Serve in a bowl with sliced grapes (and cherries if you use them). Obviously, cut the fruit to a size suitable for the age of your child – halving them is enough for older kids.
My two and four-year olds love watching the custard change from runny to set so I let them help by sprinkling on the cinnamon, adding the cranberries and serving the fruit – the rest is a bit tricky for little people.
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