The tree is packed away, my main source of vitamins for the last weeks has been cherries and we’ve hit that lull between Christmas and the New Year.
My heart is saying Happy Festivus Inbetweenus but my mind and body are stuck in the world of work.
It’s not all drudgery and sleep deprivation.
Opportunities to experience the great outdoors for myself have presented themselves and I’ve greedily snatched up the chance to go for little walks before I have to be in at work.
It’s a sign of a great Christmas when people like me manage to lose their appetites for a solid two days afterwards. On the menu at our place were a number of tried and tested dishes as well as some bold departures from routine.
The jelly for the trifle came from a packet. Albeit an Aeroplane jelly packet.
And I went for citrus rather than white chocolate for the richer layers of the trifle.
I made my own lemon curd and it was delicious.
Ever the loyal Woolies shopper, my trifle recipe came from the Woolies magazine Christmas edition.
I pored over the recipe as I sipped a Christmas break classic – a DIY affogato made with Moccona and two scoops of vanilla Connoisseur ice cream.
Christmas Eve wouldn’t be Christmas Eve without planning an emergency trip to the supermarket where you shop as if store closures will last a week rather than the 24 hours they actually do.
It’s also a time of staycationing which finds me going high maintenance as I lucky dip my stash of luxe beauty product samples (thank you, Adore and you too, Mecca). Scalp masks are a thing but sadly not for me. I don’t even face mask. But it was fun to momentarily live the life of a beauty influencer.
The search for Australia’s Next Top Face Cream is well underway. Which will the nation choose? Will my strategy to start with the cheapest work by hopefully influencing me to go with it as I tend to fall hard for the first of anything I have to choose from?
I predictably bought myself a little something as I made that final pre-Christmas trip to Westfield. I swear each year to never put myself through the drama but each year I still find myself there.
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| I wasn’t organized enough to have a pavlova platter for dessert this year but mark my words, I’ll be onto it next year. For now, smashed meringues in the trifle will have to do. |
Shopping and treating myself had a purpose. I needed to do something while the jelly hardened and the curd cooled down.
It’s always a tense moment wondering if the trifle bowl will fit into the fridge and its always sweet, sweet joy to find that it does. And not only that but that later the bowl and fridge will part ways without either coming to any harm.
Christmas morning has developed this beautiful routine I don’t ever want to end. I’m the first to wake to not only a house that’s fast asleep but a neighbourhood that, for once, is also still in the land of nod. I potter around a bit doing things like staging the ‘evidence’ of Santa’s visit with some floury footprints in front of the fireplace.
Before going on that run.
The one that clears my head ahead of a marathon morning of cooking.
You saw it here first. Rudolph is partial to Smith’s Original Potato Chips.
A snacky, carbtastic breakfast is eaten in stages as presents are opened.
Ready or not, it’s somehow suddenly time for Christmas lunch.
Honeycomb on the cheeseboard is my new favourite thing.
This red rice layered salad was very well received. So much so that I only got a photo of it pretty late in the piece.
My trifle in all its homely glory.
And yes, I ate it for afternoon tea and dessert through Boxing Day as well. It’s calorie-burning work being the bike holder upperer…..
That’s about it from me for now. Just a day and bit more with work before that break for New Year’s. Can’t wait. It’s going to be 24/7 me time….
