Yuletide dining

Garry and I hosted another successful Christmas in July last night. Including ourselves, we had seven in attendance. We lost three guests to ill health earlier in the week. Jon and Colm came down with the flu, and Jacqui found herself in hospital with an unusual atrial inflammation. However, the evening went off without a hitch, and we successfully maintained the high standard we'd set ourselves last year.

Garry spent the day cooking up a storm. His famous pavlova made an appearance. He also made some Christmas mince tarts. A turducken was roasted, along with a slab of pork and plenty of roasted vegetables. Garry’s homemade stuffing was a surprise hit (apparently pine nuts, mushrooms and bacon made all the difference).  Ian also brought over a platter of giant homemade lamingtons (delicious).

I spent the day ironing tablecloths, putting up Christmas decorations and dressing the dining table. I then prepared my signature cheese and charcuterie boards. This year I experimented with smoked wild salmon, capers and feta, in addition to the traditional classics. We also found cherries on sale in the supermarket on Friday.

After many bottles of wine, we finally said farewell to our guests shortly after midnight (and gave Mandy a foodie care package for Jacqui). Garry and I then spent half an hour organising the house and clearing as many dishes as possible. I’m glad we did. It was refreshing to wake to a relatively tidy home this morning, with just residual glassware and a few serving platters to wash.

Next weekend we’ll repeat the performance with friends up north. We’re flying to Ballina to spend four days with Liz and Adam Benson on their lifestyle block. Our hosts are putting on their own Christmas-in-July feast while we’re in town.