Christmas-time, Mistletoe and Wine...

In the rush to Christmas I have been a little remiss on this front again.

This is my favourite time of year, holidays, traditions, craft, packaging, hunting for the right gift, food. But I wasn't so organised as I would have liked to be, people - if they were lucky - got store bought cards this year. I just couldn't get motivated to get crafty in time this year, My mind has been focused on other matters when I should have been planning. 

Oh well.

There were Christmas lights to hunt out again. We found a few locally, but there was a lot of driving for not too much reward. One little cul-de-sac though had almost every house taking part. Some with just a string or two of lights, others all out - snow foam machines, piped music and all manner of lights. Franklin Rd was a wonder again this year. Residents of some side streets joining in too. I wonder if it is a clause on the house sale/rental agreement that they MUST participate. You couldn't be the Grinch and live there.

Typically, as soon as work finished for the year I wanted to do more - bake and ice cakes, make thing. But with just one day (Christmas Eve) between finishing work and the big day, it just couldn't happen.

Food though, had been planned, and we ate well.

Beginning on the last day of work when some of us ordered lunches from Eat My Lunch which is a fairly new local business with a heart. A social enterprise giving back to the community. Much like many that we found and embraced while on holiday in the States earlier this year. Delicious too.

Lauren is working through (again) but didn't want to miss out on the cooking so she planned a Christmas Eve feast, as well as Boxing Day dinner and I looked after Christmas Day. Everything turned out well.

 Crunchy Apple and Cheese nibbles

Homemade Butter beer - just like Harry Potter ! 

Spinach wraps filled with Cucumber and Pesto with Peach, Tomato, Mozzarella and crouton salad

Bulghur tabbouleh with halloumi & pomegranate, Potato pesto cherry tomato & herb salad, Green salad with avocado, strawberries & Feta and mulled wine 

 Watermelon and mint infused water

Zucchini loaf, Israeli couscous & cherry salad, roasted carrots with yoghurt & dukkah dressing

...and each night a little bit of that pavlova roulade which seems to have become a traditional part of Christmas now.

We were spoilt with gifts, and enjoyed watching Christmas movies which are also becoming a tradition - can you wear out a DVD with too much playing ?

Today then is the first day to start sorting boxes which have been moved, and moved again and never opened. Maybe I might even find my missing linen ! Time to reorganise the chaos and sell some of the items which can be replaced when need be. 

I am going to have to limit my online distractions too - or nothing will get done. But, there have been many family discoveries in the last month and they keep niggling away at me to find more out.

Dinner deliciousness

When we were in England last year we were really impressed by the number of businesses offering ready to prepare healthy meals delivered to your door once a week. The options were endless. Hello Fresh was the one which impressed us the most, but we didn't get the opportunity to try them out. Their veggie boxes looked divine. Not long after our arrival back at this end of the planet a company launched here too, but only offering meals for carnivores and families initially. But over time that has changed. 

So, we decided that we would try a Food Bag this week. Well actually we decided about two weeks ago, but we had missed the order deadline for that week, so we had to wait for last Sunday for our delivery.

We got the veggie option (obviously). Dinner for four nights. We started on Sunday instead of Monday, and so tonight we've had the last (although there are leftovers for lunch again). They have all been pretty easy to put together - even with our rubbish stove, We did set the smoke alarm off last night - and it was pretty close tonight as well.

Stupid oven which is a fire risk and has only two temperatures - you might remember me mentioning this before. 

So anyway, this is what we have been eating.

  

And now, we missed the deadline to pause the order for this week - so we are getting another delivery this weekend. Oh well. On the plus side the oven might be fixed by then...if not it could be "Hello Tenancy Tribunal, and goodbye to this landlord"