So what happened at Mother Hubbard’s (AKA Liz) house this Christmas and what yummy food actually graced my table this year?

Well as you may know, I don’t have any children, so it was a nice sleep in and breakfast at 8am consisting of eggs benedict with champagne and orange juice (don’t worry the Veuve wasn’t drunk with orange juice). We then opened the presents and started getting ready. I received a small, nominal present this year, to have something under the tree, an iced tea jug from T2 (which I love) because in July this year my parents bought me a brand new car… which is pretty much Christmas’s and birthday’s till I die!

This was my Christmas present, HARRY, I just got it 6 month earlier!

A little bit of Christmas lunch prep, as I had done most of it the day before, a shower and a bit of makeup, then sitting around drinking “Veuve” this year. I am known to be a bit partial to the odd glass of Champagne, especially the brand in the lovely orange box, and we somehow ended up with 3 bottles at our house this year, which were promptly dispatched as a part of the Christmas Cheer. I think I might have had a whole bottle to myself, so it is a wonder that anyone got fed at all!

I catered for only 8 this year, which was very nice and very civilised! We started with beautiful Ocean Medium King Prawns, with home made seafood sauce and some oysters, which I served 1/2 natural and 1/2 with and asian dressing, black sesame seeds and micro herbs.

Sorry about the photo, I was rushing, but I thought you would still want to see it.

Main Course was an Organic Turkey Breast (bought from a local turkey supplier, I didn’t even know I had a local turkey supplier) marinated in Cumin, Coriander and White Wine from Chef Ottolenghi’s cook book. I don’t know which cook book it is, because I was at a friend’s house having a look, liked the recipe and took a photo… but I must buy the book ASAP, goodness know where I am going to put it!

The Lamb Ham and Marinated Turkey.

We had your standard free range ham, supplied by our local butcher, but we also purchased a Lamb Ham, that’s correct you read it perfectly well, A LAMB HAM, ordered from Silverwood Organic Farmers in Longreach. I had tasted their meat at “The Good Food and Wine Festival” and was so impressed with the quality, that I ordered a whole Hoggart, (two year old sheep) and when you ordered a pack you could also order a lamb ham, which was divine. They have free delivery to the Gold Coast and Brisbane and it felt wonderful to order directly from the farmer knowing they will get all the profit! If you would like to have a look at their packs please stop by their website and see what you think. I can throughly recommend the quality of the meat and it was delivered and even put into our fridge for us! So great service as well. silverwoodorganics.com.au

I then made my Brown Rice Salad which I have blogged previously.

A Kifler Potato and Asparagus Salad with a Salsa Verde Dressing.

A Mango, Avocado and Grilled Halloumi Salad inspired by the wonderful Jane Grover. I know that there are pomegranates on the top and they have high food miles (coming from USA) but I just had to have them and they  added that little bit extra to the dish, plus they taste just like Christmas in every mouthful!

And a home grown tomato, basil and feta salad, with a balsamic vinegar reduction…

So all very fresh and tasty with wonderful flavours that satisfied, without that feeling of being heavy in your stomach and also no slaving over a hot stove with roast etc…

Some of you may know that I have been exploring the world of bread at the moment, so I also made a delicious Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Sourdough Loaf made with “Penelope, daughter of Priscilla” a starter sent to me by the wonderful Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

BUT I also made some plain white rolls, which were a specific request from my dad. In the middle of lunch he exclaimed that “these rolls are better than the bakery” so it didn’t matter that I had made all this delicious “rabbit food” as he called it. I was the best daughter (and only child) because I can now bake bread rolls on demand! I am sure there will be a few posts later on about my battles with dad’s requests for fresh bread rolls everyday! 🙂 If you are a Thermomix lover, this recipe for the rolls can be found on the Recipe Community and it really is fool proof!

I must add that I bought some more Myrtleford butter from Farmhouse Direct.  You are able to purchase wonderful produce, direct from the farmer, at very reasonable prices. I also ordered (they were having free delivery offer) the most amazing cherries (pictured below), they were (they are all gone now 🙁 ) so big and so full of flavour and only $15kg. I didn’t see any cherries that looked nice for under $18kg in the shops and these were delivered straight to my door, direct from the farm!

After all my pre Christmas baking, I just couldn’t get inspired for a pudding, so mum said why don’t we just do a nice cheese and fruit platter! PERFECT!

The only problem was, Christmas eve, I got the guilts because there was going to be no pudding so I whipped up a Torte Caprese (flourless almond, chocolate cake) in the Thermomix and served it with Drunk Grapes. I did have the grapes soaking just in case we needed something for boxing day 🙂

It was delicious served with the Caramel Grapes

So that was my wonderful day. It is now 8pm on Christmas day as I am writing this blog for tomorrow and I am not a bit hungry, but I am sure that I will eat another round of food before bed… Maybe prawns, lettuce and homemade seafood sauce on one of those fresh white rolls. Yes in fact, I think I will do that right now! 🙂

I hope you enjoyed a look into my Christmas. I feel very blessed that I get to eat wonderful fresh food, surrounded by people who I love. I am truly thankful.

What did you do for your Christmas Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. I would love to hear about your day, so pop in and leave a message.

Merry Christmas, and enjoy eating your boxing day left overs!

Liz xx

Elizabeth Connolly

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I have been cooking since I can remember. I am a Thermomix consultant, so now (whenever possible) try to give you Conventional AND Thermomix methods for the recipes. I like to share tips on how to save money and how making food from scratch isn't really that hard (especially with a Thermomix). If you have any questions about the Thermomix or cooking/food in general please email me as I'm happy to chat.
Liz xx
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