It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This is absolutely our favourite time of year, even though Christmas is very different to me now. As I child, I watched impatiently for snow - here in Queensland I’m just hoping for a cool breeze!
Nevertheless, we have our biggest family gathering with all the Christmas trimmings - lights, presents, a laden Christmas tree and of course, the food. The celebration starts on Christmas Eve when we have the full gathering of sons, daughters, partners, grandchildren and extended family.
Lately, with the family grown and scattered, some can’t make it to spend Christmas Eve with the Queensland Mob, but we always hook up to the internet so we can exchange greetings and web cam of our celebrations through MSN. Faiing that, for one reason or another, we get on the phone.
We always over cater our parties - it’s a family failing, but we’d rather have too much than too little. Besides, with all those grandchildren, hardly anything goes to waste.
I try to prepare as much ahead of time as possible. The cakes are made and decorated. For those who love almond paste, there’s the fully iced job decorated with silver balls and holly. As there are only two of us that like marzipan, we have a lot of cake to share! For those who hate marzipan, there’s a plain cake decorated with glace cherries. For the couple who loathe fruit cake, we have a mud cake.
I usually soak the fruit for my cake in Guinness, but this year I decided on a change and ssoaked the fruit in mulled wine instead. It looks and smells very rich and spicy. I’ll let you know how it tastes.
A traditional Aussie Christmas can’;t happen without a hunk of ham and a platter of prawns. Naturally, we fire up the barbecue. Whoever heard of an Aussie Christmas without some charred meat and sausages?
But there will also be the turkey, the cranberry sauce, and lots of nibbles and salads. I am making a pavlova this year, smothered in cream and raspberries, as well as serving Christmas pudding and brandy custard.
This year I am also serving a classy little fish dish, Salmon and Prawn Terrine. It’s so easy and simply lush.
Lightly steam two thick salmon steaks, cool and carefully remove skin and bones. Put the salmon in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add a tablespoon of cream and two tablespoons of Kraft salad cream (or your mayonnaise of choice) and blend well. Spread half the salmon mixture in the bottom of a terrine dish and smooth flat. Thoroughly drain a small can of prawns, and spread over the salmon layer. Top with the rest of the salmon, cover with cling wrap and leave in the fridge, best overnight. Serve with slices of crusty French bread.
This is a great buffet dish or entree at any time of year.

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