Monthly Archives: December 2016

Homemade coleslaw – to serve with that delicious leftover Christmas ham

Yes, Christmas has come and gone for another year.

It’s a funny old time, Christmas. Although things are always on the move and changing in our society a few constants remain, especially around this time of the year. The shopping will always be chaotic, finding a park at the mall nigh on impossible and many fridges will be groaning with leftovers come Boxing Day.

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Christmas Down Under (and a deliciously festive pasta dish)

Last week I talked about how much I long for a traditional winter Christmas with all the trimmings that add the festive cheer associated with this time of year.

But this morning I was up early walking on the beach and it was so perfect I had to concede that perhaps having Christmas in the summertime is a small price to pay for living in such a wonderful place.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year (for mulled wine and Christmas cookies)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow . . .

I have a fondness for the old classics when it comes to Christmas songs. As soon as I hear Andy Williams and Dean Martin on the radio it starts to feel like Christmas. And we need all the help we can get down here in New Zealand to bring on that festive cheer. With our seasons being the opposite to that in the Northern Hemisphere Christmas falls in early summer. That means no snow, no warming fires, no hats and gloves or chestnuts roasting.

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Patatas bravas – the wonderful flavours of Spain

Each country has its own unique cuisine and certain elements or dishes of that cuisine are more famous than others and tend to make their way into popular eating in other countries. Spain is probably most famous for its tapas and rightly so. When I’m in Spain it’s always what I look forward to most.

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Salade niçoise – a welcome to summer

Yesterday was the first of December, which also happens to be the first day of summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere. Well, in technical terms. In reality, summer comes a little later than it used to in New Zealand. The upside is that we are often still having wonderfully warm days as late as April. The downside is that summer takes a little time to get going.

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