Skip to main content

It's Christmas



It's Christmas and the Christmas Food Count down is over. Here in Australia at  my place, the family have just left after a day of excitement and fun .... and Christmas food. It is very quiet and we are relaxing with a cuppa and a repeat TV program. Lunch seemed such a long time ago, but we are still feeling the effects of a non- traditional, mixed cultural Christmas meal. My grandsons requested their favourite Chinese snacks - pork buns, prawn gow gees and dim sims. The adults also indulged in smoked salmon and cream cheese swirls, chicken, pork spare ribs,  ham  and prawns with a Chinese salad and potato, egg and bacon salad. This was followed some hours later with traditional plum pudding cooked in calico, and mangoes and ice cream.  Add in the nibbles like candy canes, fruit cake, and chocolates..... No surprise that everyone has gone home with "take away"  leftovers.
Our Christmas lunch 
Last week, at the Simmons family Christmas gathering, we had an Aussie cold spread with stuffed turkey, ham and pork with many different salads and side dishes.... a Christmas feast fit for a summer's day. 
Simmons Christmas gathering. 
 I know many of my friends will have had a traditional roast turkey with the trimmings and/or a baked ham.... others will have enjoyed a barbecue on the beach or a catered meal at a community Christmas gathering, or  like us at home, a bit of a mixture of favourite foods, depending on their cultural heritage. I do remember one Christmas when all of our family were away and we had an omelette!  Whatever food you enjoy as part of your Christmas celebrations,  it won't really matter  because ....when you look back on all the Christmases in your life, you'll find you've created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories, good and bad, are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul.- Caroline Kennedy. http://www.ibtimes.com/
Like the Grinch, I think there is "lot more" to Christmas ...  Eat drink and be merry... but don't forget to count your blessings, not your presents. 
Give the gifts of love, joy and your presence.


Labels:

Comments

  1. Carolyn Simmons LoganDecember 31, 2014 at 8:11 AM

    Wilma, you have done it once again!
    Your Christmas Countdown, as if you did not have enough to occupy your time! This has been wonderful to follow each day, and was a complete delight for me. Thank you so much. Thinking of you and Jim during the Christmas season, and sending our very best wishes from Canada for good health and many blessings during 2015.
    It has been wonderful to have finally found my extended family.
    Much love to you and yours.
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wilma Simmons (Empress Wu Designs)December 31, 2014 at 9:22 AM

    Thanks Carolyn - it is my way of making an advent calendar. Hope you have a very Happy New Year. I will try to get some photos of the family together at Christmas emailed to you in the next week or two... love and best wishes, Wilma

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Bilby Infatuation

  Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016  Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...
1 comment
Read more

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...
8 comments
Read more

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage?   I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results....  Here are  Peggy's  rules :  1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from  collage  box/stash  2. Make three  different compositions using each scrap at least once.  (some pieces can be used more than once)  3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way.  4.Do not use glue.  5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box.   I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags....  Did you spot the nine pieces? Would  you like to suggest some titles?   And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items.  Hope you will try this exercise -  it is lots of...
1 comment
Read more