Christmas 2008

December 28, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella

Every year, my husband’s family and mine rent a house at Echo Point in the Blue Mountains. We always get the same house as it’s huge, lovely and just right for the 10 of us. This year it seemed that some were out to ruin Christmas with last minute cancellations but despite this, and the many, many changes of plans we still had a fantastic Christmas, made even better because of the absence of Grinches! :)

Breakfast spread (not shown, muesli)

Mmm bacon….food of the gods!

We had a range of foods for breakfast including of course French Toast with bacon and blueberry jam. During the day copious amounts of Watermelon (from a sweet and juicy 11kg behemoth melon) were consumed, one night was a Pot Luck plate dinner with Hawaiian bean salad, noodles, cheeses and dips.

Crimson Rosellas in the backyard (amongst many other native birds)

Eumundi Organic Sausages

The highlight was the Christmas Day BBQ which featured a Coke Butt Chicken (a Coke version of the Beer Butt Chicken, click here for the recipe), Eumundi Sausages in 3 flavours (Pork & Ginger; Chicken & Leek and Beef, Tomato & Spinach); vegetarian sausages, tofu patties, coleslaw, freshly buttered corn, caramelised onions, asparagus, rolls, and of course for dessert, gleaming Maple Cheesecake (recipe to come) and sweet, juicy watermelon.

BBQ’d onions

Tofu and vegetarian sausage platter

Grilled corn on the cob

Cooked Eumundi’s – yum!

Coke Butt Chicken

Grilled asparagus

The Eumundi sausages, which were a bit of a race around to buy as they weren’t answering their phone so we couldn’t find out their opening hours, were finally procured at the Fox Studios markets. The Pork & Ginger was a coarse grind sausage, heady in ginger. The Chicken and Leek were my favourite, a mild finely ground sausage and the beef, tomato were delicious with a fantastic flavour to them.

As for presents, this year I was thrilled to receive:

Nigella Christmas book
Grade A Spanish saffron

Excuse the wrinkly hands…

Chanel Kaleidoscope Nail Polish
Signed Ferran Adria “A Day at El Bulli” book
Icing tubes (yes seriously, I love the ones from the UK)
Box of assorted Lindor balls
Fairy flower cookie kit
A tin of Goose Fat
Cupcake apron
Cupcake oven mitt
Maldon Smoked and Regular salt
Monk Season 6 DVD
Dermalogica Skincare
Money
Le Petite Cafe Mocha mix
The Family Guy The Untold Story of Stewie Griffin DVD
Microwavable ice cream scoop
Eiffel tower umbrella

Wicked umbrella

Inside the Wicked Umbrella-so clever!

Shakalaka tapenade and Quinoa from the Oxfam fair Trade shop
A ceramic box filled with Dime bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups

I hope you had a fabulous, fun filled Christmas too!

Love,

NQN

xxx

We shall call him Ernie (of Bert and Ernie)

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Posted in Aust wide Eating & Travel, Blue Mountains, Christmas, Themes

30 Comments | Add your own

  • 1. Arwen from Hoglet K | December 28, 2008 at 7:20 am | #

    Good to hear the Grinch didn’t steal Christmas. How is the Coke chicken? Is the can open?

  • 2. snookydoodle | December 28, 2008 at 7:43 am | #

    wow plenty of food! seems you had a nice Christmas :) the coke butt chicken looks so funny :)

  • 3. Howard | December 28, 2008 at 8:29 am | #

    Great idea hiring out a place for Xmas!

    The Eumundi sausages sound good, Can I only get them at the Fox Studio’s markets ? I found something on Google, something about Eumundi Smokehouse but it doesn’t look the same.

  • 4. Lisa | December 28, 2008 at 8:36 am | #

    Sounds like a wonderful Christmas! After my little incident last time, I can’t wait to cook some Eumundi sausages on the BBQ, outside, far away from smoke alarms !! Love the nail polish too :)

  • 5. Barbara | December 28, 2008 at 10:46 am | #

    We came to love the fabulous bacon in Australia. Much better than in the US. Your table looks wonderful, besides the food – hydrangeas! How lovely! I haven’t seen Wicked yet, but have booked tickets on my birthday when it finally comes to my town!

  • 6. Paula | December 28, 2008 at 10:58 am | #

    NQN, that looks fabulous! Can you give more details on the chicken? I have never seen that before!

    I love the nail polish, I always buy my mum a bottle of Chanel nail polish as a stocking filler and this year the saleslady tried to steer me towards your shade but its a tad funky for my mum, now I regret not buying it for myself!

  • 7. Bria | December 28, 2008 at 11:47 am | #

    Looks like you had a great day with great food. You got so many presents I would have loved to receive myself!

    Hiring out a place is a really good idea- I’ve never thought of that before. Merry Christmas :)

  • 8. outdoor griller | December 28, 2008 at 2:04 pm | #

    That sounds great I love beer chicken and asparagus.

  • 9. Johanna | December 28, 2008 at 2:08 pm | #

    Merry christmas – Looks like a great feast and some great presents (I love your wicked umbrella – and the optomism about rain that goes with it)

  • 10. the projectivist | December 28, 2008 at 3:37 pm | #

    wow. great pics! i am in love with that umbrella! All the best for the new year, Lorraine!

  • 11. Reemski | December 28, 2008 at 4:21 pm | #

    Merry Xmas! Looks like you had a fabulous one!

  • 12. Christie @ fig&cherry | December 28, 2008 at 6:21 pm | #

    Gorgeous darling! Merry Xmas!

    Love the gold nails and the coke butt chicken – cute! See you soon xx

  • 13. SydneyGal | December 28, 2008 at 7:11 pm | #

    Love Eumundi Smokehouse, they are the most delicious sausages!

    I got the new Neil Perry book, Balance & Harmony, plus a 600+ page cookbook called Pie. Not surprisingly, it’s all about pies, sweet American ones.

    Oh and a custom-made pink granite pastry board!

    Merry Christmas NQN & readers!

  • 14. Lilia | December 28, 2008 at 8:46 pm | #

    Merry Christmas! I hope the Maple Cheesecake is lighter (not heavy cheesecake). I just bought a maple syrup for my french toast.

  • 15. FFichiban | December 28, 2008 at 10:02 pm | #

    Oohh what a fantastic Chrissy banquet ^^! This is such good bbq weather isn’t it?! :) and hee hee at the coke butt chicken… again :P and cool nails ^^!

  • 16. Not Quite Nigella | December 28, 2008 at 10:31 pm | #

    Hi Arwen-Me too! :P If you click on the link under Beer Butt chicken I’ve got step by step instructions on how to do it. It’s delicious although I can’t really say that there was much of a Coke taste.

    Hi snookydoodle-Haha it seems that Christmas is all about food :) The chicken always makes me laugh!

    Hi Howard-They also have a shop, if you click on the link above I visited there last year-such yummy sausages! :) However their opening hours are a bit unusual so I tried to call them but they only had the fax on.

    Hi Lisa-Haha you know a few days after your incident I did the same! Thanks, it’s my new favourite colour :)

    Hi Barbara-Oh really! How fabulous, I didn’t know we had good bacon here :) This garden had such a bounty of flowers, it seemed a shame not to make use of them. What a fabulous birthday present, I’d love to know what you think of it! :)

    Hi Paula-Thankyou! :D If you just click on the link to the Beer Butt chicken there are all of the gory (and amusing) details :lol:

    Great minds think alike-that’s what my husband used a stocking filler too! :) It’s really lovely and suits my skintone unlike the Gold Fiction :(

    Hi Bria-We had a great time indeed! :) It’s easy and good to combine it with a short trip away too! Hope you had a great Christmas :D

    Hi outdoor griller-grilled asparagus and chicken are so delicious aren’t they! :)

    Hi Johanna-Merry Christmas to you too! Christmas just isn’t the same without good food :P I coveted that umbrella for so long and I’m so glad to have gotten it!

    Hi the projectivist-Thanks! I think the umbrellas that they sell in other countries are different and are missing the witches hat part :) Thankyou, your Christmas sounded fab and I hope you have a fantastic New Year!

    Hi Ffichiban-Thanks! :) It so is isn’t it…especially when you smell other people BBQing. The chicken deserves a TV Show :P

    Hi Reemski-Thankyou-Merry Christmas to you too! I could definitely say the same about your fest!

    Hi Christie-Merry Christmas dahlink! Hope you’re having loads of fun in Lennox Head :) See you very soon luv! xxx

    Hi SydneyGal-Wow, great haul! :o I definitely need to see a pic of the custom made pink pastry board and I see where your cherry pie came from. Merry Christmas to you and your girls :D

    Hi Lilia-Merry Christmas to you! Lighter than what? It’s a regular cheesecake, I think that only Japanese cheesecakes could be called truly light (they’re like a cheese mousse) but regular baked cheesecakes are always a bit heavy.

  • 17. yaelian | December 28, 2008 at 11:43 pm | #

    what a nice Xmas you had and wonderful food! Your pictures are great and mouth watering ;-)

    Nice presents! And your nail polish looks great too.

    Wishing you a very nice end of the year!

  • 18. Brenda | December 29, 2008 at 3:05 am | #

    Merry Christmas~
    your Christmas was lovely! The Crimson Rosellas are adorable.
    Your fairy cookie cutter kit sounds fabulous. My daughter would love this!
    Kaleidoscope and Dermalogica are two of my beauty staples.

  • 19. grace | December 29, 2008 at 7:04 am | #

    is there anything more beautiful than a pile of crispy bacon? i doubt it, but if anything stands a chance, it’s coke butt chicken. :)

  • 20. Su-yin | December 29, 2008 at 10:54 am | #

    Oooh you got your Wicked umbrella! :) I will definitely look out for it now if I watch Wicked again. And you watch Monk! And use Dermalogica! :P

    I realise I’m using lots of exclamation marks, but oh well, it’s the holidays. x

  • 21. Not Quite Nigella | December 29, 2008 at 9:22 pm | #

    Hi yaelian-It probably looks very different to a Finnish Christmas (which I hope to experience one year :) ). Thankyou so much and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you the best for the New Year and 2009 too! :D

    Hi Brenda-Merry Christmas to you too! :D Thanks so much, I always love the colourful native birds we have here. I’m yet to use the kit but it sure looks pretty. That’s fantastic, they’re both great aren’t they! :D

    Hi grace-Yep bacon is the shiznit! Couldn’t live without the stuff :D I can’t live without a Coke Butt chicken sitting on the can either :P

    Hi Su-yin-Yes I was so happy when I did. Now I just need to wait for rain lol. Yep a Monk devotee (although they’ve stopped playing it so I resort to buying the box sets). Haha no problems, it’s all wonderful! :D

  • 22. the airy fairy | December 29, 2008 at 9:48 pm | #

    lorraine…i wanna come to your house next year for christmas…what a fabulous spread!

  • 23. Johanna B | December 30, 2008 at 9:56 am | #

    What beautiful birds. Your Christmas dinner sounds like a summer picnic in these parts. I forget that the seasons are reversed.

    Happy New Year.

  • 24. maris | December 30, 2008 at 12:52 pm | #

    It sounds like you ate like kings all weekend – glad you had fun.

    Happy Holidays!

  • 25. Not Quite Nigella | December 30, 2008 at 9:33 pm | #

    Hi airy fairy-Hehe sure! But I think a holiday where you are sounds better ;)

    Hi Johanna-It felt like a Summer picnic /BBQ. I always feel like we sometimes miss out with not having a White Christmas though! Happy New Year! :D

    Hi maris-We did, which is the best part of Christmas hehe. Happy Holidays to you too! :D

  • 26. Y | December 30, 2008 at 9:37 pm | #

    Wouldn’t have known you were food mad, what with all your food related gifts :D

  • 27. Not Quite Nigella | January 1, 2009 at 10:47 am | #

    Hi Y-I make no bones or denials about it. I AM FOOD MAD! :lol:

  • 28. Lilia | February 12, 2009 at 8:49 pm | #

    Hi NQN, I couldn’t erase that Chanel Kaleidoscope. I haven’t applied it yet, but was curious why it’s look gold on your nail but it’s silver colour in the bottle?
    The counter gilr told me today that they are going to raise the price $2 dollar more expensive by the end of this week and it’s limited edition, so I bought it immediately.

  • 29. Not Quite Nigella | February 12, 2009 at 10:21 pm | #

    Hi Lilia-It looks goldy silver to me when I put it on but definitely looks silver in the bottle. Also don’t forget that some computer screens show colours differently. It’s a great colour and limited edition so it’s a good purchase. I’m waiting to get my hands on Vendetta now! ;)

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