Christmas Crib

Enjoyed the Christmas Day Mass in Ponsonby this morning with the Christmas crib set up on a big piece of tapa cloth and beautiful singing by the Samoan choir which is always a moving experience, but more so  on Christmas Day.

Celebrated at home on Christmas Eve with a simple but tasty meal of marinated spatchcock chicken with rice and summer  vegetable bake, followed by raspberry pavlova roulade for just us and good friend Pam who shared the occasion with us.  

Cookies for Christmas

Finally made a start making a couple of batches of cookies to enjoy in the run-up to Christmas - spicy biscuits (Spekulatius biscuits in Germany) from my tried and true Doktor Oetker German recipe book which I bought when I first went to Germany all those years ago.  It is the equivalent of the Edmonds cookbook.

The second batch I made were plump buttery Viennese crescents  (Wiener  Kipferl) . They have ground almonds in them.  

Big Day Out

Had a trip up to Orewa yesterday to look at the house which Jane and Adam are busy  staining.  It looks like new.  I hadn't noticed how weathered the cedar had become what with the wind, salt and sand blowing in off the sea whenever there is a storm.  

We got the 9 .15 bus up stopping at Silverdale to go to the market.  Bought apricots and plums, both a bit tart for my digestive system which protested in the usual manner to which I have become accustomed.  Had coffee and an apple muffin before getting the bus on to Orewa where we spent a couple of hours browsing a couple of op shops.  Bought a black camisole at one for $1 which will go underneath my new black floral dress from Jean Jones.  Visited Gladys  and June for a catch-up on the local news and gossip. 

It was a hot day and the tide was right so had a wonderful swim and lounge on the beach before getting the bus back home again. Hope to go up more frequently next year and do a bit of snipping and pruning back to keep the place better under control.

The Festive Season

Sunday marked the start of the season for me with the First Sunday of Advent celebrated at Mass in Ponsonby and the hymn O come O come Emanuel!

On the home front it meant getting out the Advent stand and the handcrafted wreath Eli made at the age of 7 or so  all those years ago.

Time to think about getting Christmas cards started and recall the high points of the year over afternoon tea - little mince tarts and gingerbread cookies which were delicious.

This time next week hope to have made some cookies of my own from a book of Christmas crafts I unearthed from the bookcase, which included recipes for Christmas cookies from different countries around the world.