T’was a week before Christmas

There’s always a horror story some time around Christmas – plane crashes, strikes and the like. But nothing quite so awful as the events in Devonport, Tasmania, where five kids attending an end-of-school windup party died in a freak accident, others are in hospital, some in critical danger. They were in a jumping castle which was picked up by a mini-tornado that tossed the structure ten metres into the air. Read this report from The Guardian for the details.

Devonport is not a big town. Every resident would know somebody who was directly affected by this tragedy. But its impact has been felt all over the country. It would have been terrible whenever it happened but it is especially awful that it occurred so close to the Christmas holiday, a time of giving, sharing, and enjoyment. For the parents of those children, Christmas will forever be blighted by the memory. So, hug your kids and grandkids. Nobody ever knows what might happen next.

Moving right along.

Christmas at our place will be vewy vewy kwiet. In the past we’ve tended to try to be away from home for the day, so that somebody else does the cooking and the washing up. Covid, of course, has put paid to all that. So we’ll be preparing our own seafood and relaxing at home. I’m going to make prawn cocktails with a wonderful home-made sauce from The Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbook 1970.

• 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 dsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 dsp white wine vinegar
• few drops tabasco
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 2 tbsp lightly whipped cream

Mix all the ingredients except the cream together. Fold in the cream Enjoy. I know you can buy bottled seafood sauce – but this is really nice.

What else? What about mussels in a tomato and white wine sauce? Like this. Simple and yum

Or we could make Rick Stein’s marvellous seafood gratin. We have the fixin’s for that. (It’s yummy but it’s a bit of work/washing up) Here’s the recipe.

Sweeties will be an Aldi chocolate black forest tart. With cream.

What else is there to say at this ass-end of a difficult year? For the first time in over a decade we haven’t been on a long holiday this year. Even in 2020 we managed to get ourselves to Cairns and environs for the 70th birthday bash. This year we stayed overnight in Brisbane in April and spent a couple of days with friends at Bribie Island in October. Given the conditions in Europe with covid and Putin, we’ve given up on going over there next year. But hopefully New Zealand will be open for business sometime before 2023. We live in hope.

To all our friends everywhere however you celebrate, may your day be peaceful, joyous and healthy. Cheers.

And here are a few of my personal favourite things.