Because we’re all about books here, I thought you’d appreciate these quirky Christmas trees. I can’t attribute who made the first one but the second is from IJM Studio and the cute little ones on the right hail from Creative Try als. Here’s the link to their site which give instructions on how to make them, assuming you have leisure in these last few days before Christmas.
I’m currently trying to find a ‘black moment’ in a synopsis on a new book in between finalising Christmas food which means my mind is tangling ‘Did I pick up the glaced cherries?’ with ‘Hero breaks heroine’s heart by rejecting her proposal?’
It’s hard being mean to my characters because it’s the season of goodwill and I’m desperate to start cleaning my house because we’re hosting this year – twice. My family on Xmas Day, my husband’s on Boxing Day.
For my family, my sister had the very good idea of stealing our Christmas menu from a friend who’s an excellent cook. It’s supposed to be easy, delicious and foolproof. This fool will still be doing a dummy run with the chocolate pavlova a few days before.
Inspired by our bold break with tradition my husband has also shaken up his family’s menu and banned the familiar stand-bys. Which means his fresh berry salad, my brother-in-law’s potato salad, my father-in-law’s cheesecake and my sister-in-law’s cheeseball have all been barred in favour of something new.
I’ll let you know post Christmas how this all worked out!
I’m currently trying to find a ‘black moment’ in a synopsis on a new book in between finalising Christmas food which means my mind is tangling ‘Did I pick up the glaced cherries?’ with ‘Hero breaks heroine’s heart by rejecting her proposal?’
It’s hard being mean to my characters because it’s the season of goodwill and I’m desperate to start cleaning my house because we’re hosting this year – twice. My family on Xmas Day, my husband’s on Boxing Day.
For my family, my sister had the very good idea of stealing our Christmas menu from a friend who’s an excellent cook. It’s supposed to be easy, delicious and foolproof. This fool will still be doing a dummy run with the chocolate pavlova a few days before.
Inspired by our bold break with tradition my husband has also shaken up his family’s menu and banned the familiar stand-bys. Which means his fresh berry salad, my brother-in-law’s potato salad, my father-in-law’s cheesecake and my sister-in-law’s cheeseball have all been barred in favour of something new.
I’ll let you know post Christmas how this all worked out!
What about you? Are you a traditionalist with your menu or desperate for a change? If you're the latter, try cooking a chocolate pavlova with me. Here’s the recipe.
Make a comment and go into the draw for a copy of Kiss Me, Santa from my backlist.
Make a comment and go into the draw for a copy of Kiss Me, Santa from my backlist.
33 comments:
See. That is why paper books are better!
“Hero breaks heroine’s heart by rejecting her proposal?”
Ooh. I hope there’s grovelling if that makes it into your book!
My family is an odd mix of Ukrainian and extremely, traditionally Anglo-Saxon, so my Christmases fall somewhere in the middle. I’m no fan of Christmas pudding or that cake full of dried fruit, so I will be avoiding a lot of the traditional stuff! We’re thinking Christmas night we’ll go for a few platters of seafood and cheeses. Some of my relatives will not approve one bit!
Karina, you're a very brave woman. I took one look at the chocolate pavlova and ran away. If somebody serves it to me, I'm there, however.
Have a bunch of fun with both celebrations.
Good luck with the synopsis.
I've never made a Pavlova but I've always been intrigued by them. Since my extended family now has two people who must eat gluten free and one lactose intolerant boy I could see how this would be good if I left the whipped cream and some type of berries to be added after the base was served. It wouldn't be as pretty but everyone would be able to eat it. Now I have to research just Pavlova.
I know it's not earth friendly for me to have fresh berries in the winter but it so soul uplifting to eat fresh berries when it's freezing and maybe snowing outside. I keep telling myself that i'm helping the world economy.
Is there any secret to making a good Pavlova that you can pass on to us newbies?
Keep torturing your heroes and heroines as I love reading about it.
Karina,
Good luck with your Christmas dinner, You are very brave. We make the same things every year. Standing Rib Roast, baked potatoes, french onion soup.
Karina,
I agree with the others. You're very brave. No way would I attempt that chocolate pavlova, even though it sounds divine and looks even better. Good luck! And good luck with the synopsis.
Good luck with your Christmas dinner.
Sonya, I'm not a fan of Xmas pudding either so I could eat the brandy butter by the spoonful, which is why no one lets me near it. The platter of seafood and cheeses would also win my heart.
Yes, lots of hero grovelling eventually. Mandatory after being so mean.
Actually Mary, pavlovas are very easy to make as long as you have a good lectric beater and fortheloveofgawd don't open the oven while it's baking or it'll sink like the Titanic.
Kaelee, see above comment to Mary.
Here's the recipe from Edmonds Cookbook which is the gold standard of pav making.
http://www.food.com/recipe/pavlova-5467
Any egg yolk will stop the egg whites whipping up...is another tip. I did have some pav failures when we had our own chickens but learned much later it was because the eggs were too fresh, go figure. And again the whites didn't whip. Letting the eggs warm to room temperature is important too. Good luck!
Tammy, standing rib roast always intrigues me because I rank it up there with pumpkin pie as very American. I'm going to google it now to see whether it looks like it does in my mind. A kind of bony fort around a round of meat.
Thanks Linda, the synopsis worries me more than the pavlova at this stage but I'll get there.
jcp, now I'm starting to get nervous. Is it too late to default to trad?
I think it is nice to add new traditions to Christmas every year... My mother never let us unwrap a Christmas present on Christmas Eve, but now that she is gone, as is my dad, I am starting a new traditon of openning one christmas present on Christmas Eve. I have a special gift for each of my brothers... I can't wait for them to see it..
As dinner is at my Brother and Sister in Laws this year, I don't have to worry about cooking... I am taking a loaf of my pumpkin bread but that is all my contribution to dinner...
Love the book trees, Karina! Kind of looks like my bookshelf only I didn't mean to have them all lying on their sides.
I used to be a traditionalist when it came to Christmas but since we moved to Australia, cooking a hot turkey dinner in the height of summer just seems wrong. So I usually get creative and try new recipes for bbq meat and salads.
HOWEVER, this year for the first time in seventeen years I'm cooking a turkey!!! So excited. Gravy, mashed potatoes, dressing, yum.
Lovely trees, Karina!
We're tradionalists in the morning--every year we have Eggs Benedict with champagne for Christmas breakfast. Christmas dinner changes. We're pretty nontradional there. This year we're having stuffed cabbage.
Karina, thank you for introducing me to the pavlova! Or, well, the idea of one--I noticed you didn't offer *us* any. ;-) Thanks for the recipe--one day when I'm feeling especially brave I'll give it a whirl. We're the turkey and ham for Christmas kind of family--one year we tried to go with healthy, low-fat dishes and NO ONE was happy. I don't know what we were thinking! :-)
Jeannie--my dad always made stuffed cabbage for New Year's Eve--a traditional Polish dish called helupka. It was an all-day process.
Love the book trees. Good luck with your black moment. More luck with your chocolate pav.
Christmas is very traditional at our house. The recipes are all handed down from generation to generation and my kids feel strongly connected to their roots as they make the foods that their great-great-grandparents made.
Kathleen O, that sounds like a nice tradition to start with your dad. Great that you're happy with your presents for your brothers, I'm curious now as to what you bought them?
Joan, my mouth's watering at your turkey...I'm obviously in need of sustenance. How long did it take you to get used to a summer Xmas? Does a winter one feel odd now?
I've enjoyed my northern hemisphere Christmases, I still remember the light displays in LA.
Jeannie, eggs benedict with champagne...how decadent. I'd lose any interest in cooking after that (and the alcohol wouldn't help). I'm guessing you have an evening celebration, not lunch, to give that breakfast time to digest.
Ours is always an 11am kick-off so breakfast is usually bites of whatever I'm preparing.
"thank you for introducing me to the pavlova! Or, well, the idea of one--I noticed you didn't offer *us* any. ;-)"
Oh that's right, Kathy, Xmas is a time for sharing isn't it? Let's see if it turns out first.
I can imagine low fat not going down well!
Linda S, yes, cracked that synopsis and sent it off. I now await judgement on it.
I love the idea of recipes being passed down from generation to generation.
You'd need a gene pool of great cooks, my family is equally divided into gifted and challenged in that department. I'm probably in the latter.
That pavlova looks good! :)
Karina, good luck with your dinner! My dh is cooking, and he has decided upon ham (his old favorite), with mashed potatoes, carrots, and asparagus. I am in charge of the Christmas punch (spiked, of course.) ;)
We are traditional all the way with the turkey, dumplins, gravy mashed potatoes, green beans, salads. We only have this at Christmas and Thanksgiving so we always enjoy it.
Cathryn, very clever marrying a cook. Does punch come any other way than spiked. I'm an egg nog fan myself.
Virginia, I haven't braved cooking a turkey, a chicken's tough enough (and I mean that literally).
I'm loving our Christmas theme week!
I'm actually a traditionalist in ALL things Christmas. Food, Carols, decorating!! It's the traditions that I look forward to. Some passed down through generations.
We have local food for the holidays... for thanksgiving we usually have kalua turkey, stuffing, potato/egg salad, cooked ulu and/or kalo. For Christmas, my mom makes vinha d'hols and for New Years we have sushi, aku or ahi poke, mochi, teri beef, kalua pig and whatever anyone brings over :)
Rogenna, it's fun isn't it. Maybe it's a tradition for Super authors to follow every year.
Marybelle, sounds like this is your favourite season.
Snookie, I have no idea what ulu, kalo and vinha d'hols are, or aku or ahi poke and mochi but they sound wonderful!
We are traditionalists: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, rolls, gravy, at least one form of cranberry (usually frozen cranberry salad or my hubby's mother's cranberry gelatin salad and often cranberry sauce right out of the can for my mother), and usually a pumpkin pie.
When we shake things up, it's only a minor tremble, really. For example, this year, my daughter brought pumpkin cheesecake instead of the traditional pumpkin pie. Some years, we'll substitute or add a cranberry apple pie or some other dessert. Sometimes we'll throw in an extra dish, like macaroni and cheese, but we tend to maintain the basics because it's what we all love and tend to have only at Christmas and Thanksgiving. (And besides, we love to make Hot Browns out of our turkey leftovers! Yum!)
Post a Comment