Our family Christmas was early this year. We headed over to my Mum’s and all took some offering of food. My contribution was Chinese duck, picked up from the restaurant in Footscray on the way. Such an easy and satisfying contribution!
The other dishes were also delicious and varied. And we had a choice of 10 different cocktails. 🙂
On Christmas Day the Fella and I went down to a beach house at Somers, where we met up with my gorgeous Mum. For lunch we cooked pancakes and ate them with smoked salmon, sour cream, rocket, asparagus and a few salads. Simple, but very tasty. No Christmas pud for dessert, instead we had Mum’s warm fruit salad. That is simply stewing fruits ~ apricots, pineapple, prunes, whatever you have, fresh or dried ~ and then eating it slightly warm with cream and meringues.
Oh my, the foodie presents….
Gingerbread and truffles, and rocky road chocolate straws from my nieces.
An Indian cookbook from my brother and sister-in-law. I love cookbooks that are filled with photos and stories as well as enticing recipes. I know I will be sharing lots from this with you.
There were lovely non-Christmas gifts from friends.
Chilli infused olive oil. It is rich and gives a luscious hit of chilli.
From the same friend was another cookbook, from the Moroccan Soup Kitchen. This is well known Melbourne restaurant that serves simple, tasty food with love and care. I used the chickpea bake as a salad on Christmas Day. Again there will be many recipes to share with you.
Another friend gave me this simple posy of herbs, tied with a velvet ribbon.
Other friends shared the produce from their fruit trees. I stewed the nectarines and apricots in the same way ~ honey, cinnamon, vanilla essence and five spice mix. Then into the freezer.
I am so lucky to have such bounty in my kitchen. Such simple gifts, all given and received with love and friendship. I hope you were as fortunate over the holiday time.
In My Kitchen is hosted by Maureen over at Orgasmic Chef. She has just taken over hosting it. Drop on over to see what’s happened in her kitchen as well as kitchens around the world.
Anne Lawson Art 
16 replies on “In My December Kitchen”
What a lovely way to spend Christmas! I particularly liked your Christmas Day fare – simple yet rich and satisfying. Happy New Year, Anne. 🙂
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Happy New Year to you Meeks. I hope it is full of successful writing!
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Thanks Anne, going well so far -knock on wood-
Hopefully this will be a very creative year for both of us. 🙂
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So delicious! I wish we had somewhere locally where I could buy a whole duck – I have to steer clear of the restaurant ones because the glaze contains gluten. Your Christmas lunch is magnificent, beautiful salmon, and all those fruits! I have just eaten a little windfall mango from my back yard tree: small, but perfectly ripe and delicious, not a hint of turpentine and not at all fibrous. And my Christmas cake has taken a hammering but is still wonderfully tasty and boozy!
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The thought of gluten in the glaze never crossed my mind. Fortunately no one in the family has issues with gluten. It must be so difficult for you, as so gluten is in so many unexpected places. Your avocado tree sounds delicious. Last night I was talking to a friend who has successfully grown avocados in Melbourne. He says it is all about positioning for warmth. He also had a nut bearing macadamia tree.
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90% of all soy sauces contain gluten, and I’m pretty sure the duck glaze will contain soy sauce… :-(. I’ve become very accustomed to asking, assuming the worst and simply avoiding anything I’m not 100% sure about.
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I did a double take when you said you’d dropped by Footscray – I thought “Have you visited Kent?” Then realised it must be an alternative Footscray in a land far far away…!!
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that’s one of the problems of “British colonies” around the world – place names pop up in extraordinary ways. Many English towns found their way to New Zealand.But we don’t have a suburb/town names Footscray as far as I can tell – although there are some streets, i believe…
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That’s so true, and it is one of the reasons why going to Britain is so satisfying — so many place names are familiar. Catmab, I only wish I was travelling in the UK, and able to pass by The Kentish Footscray for the duck! I bet the Footscrays are very different though. Ours is a very working class suburb, in the inner west of Melbourne. It has a reputation for drugs etc, but is a very vibrant place. Many people originally from Vietnam and the Sudan live there, and so the restaurants and food are diverse and interesting. It also has a strong arts community. Lucky me, as I only live 10 minutes away.
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How wonderful to live in a place you can stop off on your way to mum’s and pick up some duck for dinner. Your kitchen is a very special place with heaps of wonderful things. Those cookbooks look very interesting.
Thanks a lot for being part of In My Kitchen!
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Anne, smoked salmon-topped pancakes sound like a stellar way to celebrate Christmas… so do Chinese duck and your choice of 10 different cocktails. 🙂 Looks like you have some budding chefs/bakers with your nieces’ gifts, too. So glad you were surrounded by family, friends, and fantastic food. Blessings, all. Happy New Year!
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Anne I have that Indian Cookbook, the recipes are very reliable and super delicious. An Indian friend assures me it’s quite authentic too, not dumbed down for the Aussie market.
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Chinese duck is a wonderful answer to the what can I bring question, and I love your Christmas Day fare… I’ve mentally filed it for a just the two of us Christmas. I love your Christmas-foodie bounty style, especially the posy of herbs 🙂
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I was very touched to be given the posy. Such a simple but thoughtful gift. And the duck was a great idea…..even if I do say so myself!
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How fantastic to be able to pick up Chinese duck for your Christmas celebration. Love the pancakes also, I’ll have to remember that for the future. The best though is 10 different cocktail choices, I want that kind of holiday!
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To make it even better, Gretchen, we had a Cocktail Waiter aka my nephew! He had everything organised, even chopped up the garnishes. All we had to do was put in our order and then drink! Thanks for dropping by.
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