Thank goodness for the lovely Northern hemisphere blogs I read. Summoning the fortitude to bake Christmas goodies when it's 28 degrees and sunny outside - and I'd rather be somewhere airconditioned, AWAY from my oven - can be a challenge. But I love imagining what it might be like to do the same thing when it's cold outside and dark early.
Growing up in Singapore, the weather at Christmas was much the same as it was all year, only sometimes wetter. We used to have our dinner on Christmas Eve - civilised and sensible in that climate - and visit people on Christmas Day.
Down in the Antipodes, we (or at least the family I am part of) cling tightly to our English notions of a Christmas lunch, so every year it's the turkey and the ham and everything else (hot) ... but usually outdoors. By mid-afternoon the children are normally having water fights.
An Australian Christmas is all about summer - mangoes and cherries, long evenings, lots of seafood, loud cicadas, sandy children and cold beer (or wine).
Nevertheless, I persist in baking shortbread, rolling chocolate truffles and heating my kitchen to unbearable temperatures.
How I amuse myself when I should be working
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Real people: May at the market12 hours ago
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Echo, echo, echo...9 years ago
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Under the greenwood tree9 years ago
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3 comments:
I've often dreamed about having an air-conditioned kitchen, but then I wouldn't hear the birds, insects and marauding macaque monkeys!Hang on in there and keep cooking. I'm taking a "sabbatical" this year as we're dining at the house of friends on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Which leaves the 25th for a festive lunch and cold champers and beer on a beach on Gaya island. Life is tough in the East.
I'm not sure I could stand to cook the Christmas meal on a hot summer day! Does your family manage to work up an appetite in the heat?
Mater, we do indeed manage to work up an appetite, although we probably eat more slowly than we would in a colder climate. Typically lunch doesn't start till around 2pm and tends to go on for at least a couple of hours ...
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