Christmas is a time for family and sharing

Christmas is nearly here again. This time of year I think a lot about those who are missing from my family Christmas table. My husband and I have lost both our sets of parents over the last few years.  In December of 2014, a couple of months after my father passed away, I wrote a poem "The Ghosts of Christmas Past". It was printed in my writer's group anthology, The Runaway Quill, which was published this year (you can see a pic of it in the sidebar). Recently I heard from one of our members that a friend of his who is a church minister in Adelaide in South Australia will be reading it during his Christmas services. This has made me feel extremely happy and humble at the same time. I know at the time I wrote it my writer's group said that many people would be able to relate to my poem. I have decided to share it with you here, as I know that we all have someone missing from our table at this special time when families come together.  

This is my Christmas gift to you, my dear readers. I have very much appreciated your support throughout the year, and I wish you all very happy Christmas spent with those you love.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Jill Harrison

                                                                                     

Christmas only comes but once a year

It brings with it joys and tears

As I go through the motions of gift buying, decorations

And planning menus

I am thinking of those who will be missing from my table for the first time this year

They are the ghosts of Christmas past.

My father hanging Christmas lights in the pine trees at our front gate

The carol singers under our corner street light.

I lay in bed wondering how Father Christmas could possibly come down

   our kitchen chimney and through the little doors at the front of our Metters Stove.

But he did – because the carrots and cake were gone in the morning.

The excitement of seeing my new big doll Lucy under the Christmas tree.

My mother dishing up the Christmas pudding with the threepences hidden inside

Her Christmas carols that filled the house.

The long Christmas table at my Aunts

With aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents

And silly hats.

Summer heat and laughter,

Playing under the sprinkler on the back lawn,

And laying on the cool passage lino with a new book.

The simple pleasure of humid summer evenings on the back lawn

   looking up at the stars.

As I hang the special Christmas baubles on my tree

And light the candle of remembrance

I look into the eyes of my grandchildren

And I see the ghosts of Christmas past.

And some photos from Christmas past - With my Mum and older sister at a summer holiday cottage at Safety Bay 1958, with my Dad going to church, with my sister and my big doll Lucy, and with my sister at a summer holiday cottage at Palm Beach in 1962. We had shirred front bathers - did you? 

I think my Dad was the first in our area to hang Christmas lights in our garden. We had two huge pine trees at our front gate where he used to hang them. We lived on a corner, and had a street light, and I remember the Salvation Army coming along on Christmas eve and singing Christmas carols under the light. I have such special memories from those childhood Christmases. 

And some beautiful music from Enya - The Spirit of Christmas Past.

  

 In Australia we don't have a white Christmas as it is the middle of summer, but we do have a native Christmas tree which is absolutely brilliant this time of year.

 Below is the Australian Christmas Tree - Nuytsia floribunda - which was named the native Christmas tree by early Australian colonists because it bursts out in orange blooms in December.

 The nuytsia tree is the world's largest variety of mistletoe. They are hemiparasitic plants, and grow by attaching themselves to host plants and draw water and nutrition from the host. ABC net - Australian mistletoe

Have you done your Christmas baking? I must start this weekend. Here is a simple recipe to spread some Christmas cheer. In the Australian summer we often hope for a cooler day on Christmas Day, although many people go to the beach in the afternoon or on Boxing Day.  I have memories of my Mum and Aunt cooking a traditional baked Christmas dinner (we blame our old English heritage for this) in a wood stove while it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in our kitchen.  

Whilst I still cook a baked Christmas lunch, it is nice to have some simple Christmas recipes that don't require cooking, like this one - Mini Christmas Puddings. 

 

Honestly this recipe is so easy and so yummy!

All you need is:
1x800gm fruit cake (any plain wrap supermarket brand is fine), 180gm dark chocolate - or use a mixture of light and dark chocolate, 1/4 cup brandy (or substitute with orange juice), white chocolate melts and red and green glace cherries to decorate (or you could use jelly fruit lollies).

Crumble the cake in a large bowl, melt the chocolate, and mix with the cake, and add the brandy. Mix well and then form into balls with your hands. Place on a tray. Melt white chocolate bits and drizzle over the puddings. Use glace cherries cut to shape to decorate. 

Tip - only pour white chocolate over a few at a time as it will set very quickly and you need to stick on the glace cherries before the chocolate sets.  Store in the fridge.  Enjoy!

Do you have a special Christmas memory or recipe? Perhaps you would like to share in the comments. Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. 

Have a wonderful week.  I wish you and yours a joyous and peaceful Christmas, spent with those you care about.  For those of my readers who don't celebrate Christmas I wish you peace and happiness. 





I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday 
Life Thru the Lens 

Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard 
Sky Watch Friday

 ps - I have finally succumbed and I'm now on Instagram - please click on the link if you'd like to take a look - Life Images by Jill on Instagram

 You might also like - 

Christmas baking while it's baking hot in Australia
The Ghosts of Christmas Past - 2014 
A little bit of Christmas baking 
 

How to make and photograph Blueberry Pancakes

A few years ago a friend gifted me a blueberry plant, and this year we've had a nice little pick from i. I've been guilty of eating them straight off the bush. But I thought what better way to celebrate the blueberries summer goodness than with Blueberry Pancakes with cream and lemon curd.

 I saw a recipe in a foodie magazine, but I adapted it slightly. It is such an easy recipe and the lemon curd adds a little zing. So here is my recipe for how to make Blueberry Pancakes with lemon curd.

First off just make your pancakes using your favourite recipe. I used my pikelet recipe. 
So easy to remember - 4 tablespoons of self-raising flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 egg, and half a cup of milk. Do you see the formula? 4, 2, 1, and a 1/2.

 For the lemon curd recipe, I used a variation of my lemon meringue pie filling recipe, but used about half these amounts - 

2/3 cup lemon juice, 
3/4 cup white sugar, 
1/3 cup cornflour, and 
1 cup water. 

Combine all in a saucepan and stir till smooth. Stir constantly over a medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and quickly mix in 55 grams (2oz) butter or margarine till completely melted. Cool. 

To serve stack your pancakes in individual serving plates. Dollop on some lemon curd, a spoonful or so of thickened cream, and blueberries. Dust lightly with icing sugar. Yum!

 In case you were wondering the food images you see here were taken in RAW and the settings I used were - F 5.6, ISO 100, 1/13 sec exposure, 100mm macro lens, DSLR camera mounted on a tripod with a plug in shutter release. A little processing in Lightroom.  I chose a blue checked tea-towel to team in with the blue edging of the plates and the blue blueberries.  Take shots vertically and horizontally, review and move things about a little, and don't be afraid to crop the plate!

 As you can see below I just set the blueberry pancakes up on my kitchen bench which has a fairly neutral top. I set up a white card opposite the light to bounce light back in on the opposite side. The bounce card is white "foam core" card which you can buy in a framing shop.
 

Recently I finally bought myself a light for photography - you can see it set up above. I LOVE natural window light and that is my preference, but there are times as a food photographer where you might not have natural light. I have been looking and researching for a long time and finally came up with this LED light which I think will suit my purposes. It is a Edgelight LED light. 

This is a continuous light which is what I was looking for, as you can see straight away what your set up looks like lit. It has variable brightness adjustments and adjustable temperature from amber tungsten 3200k to white daylight 5600k. The light itself is thin, and the lights instead of being directed outwards, are directed inwards and diffused through the front, which means there is no harsh light on the product, and can also be used for portrait photography without the subject having to squint into a bright light. It comes packed flat in a portable padded carry bag. In addition you will need to purchase a light stand to mount the light. It runs on batteries or can be plugged into mains power.  

 The one I bought is a 52cm round panel which cost nearly $1,000.00 Australian, so not cheap. But there are smaller cheaper options. There are different styles available, and even one that can be mounted on to the top of a DSLR camera. I bought mine in Perth, but here is a link so you can look into it further - Protog - Edgelight
and here are a couple of little videos I found on the web - YouTube - Flapjack LED light 
and   You tube - Behind the Scenes

On the same day I made the blueberry pancakes I made these ones topped with crushed nuts and cream, and drizzled with caramel sauce. I had fun trying to drizzle the caramel sauce and take the picture at the same time. A remote shutter release will help you with this. The advantage of a remote shutter release is that there is no movement of the camera when you press the shutter, which is important if taking images in low light with a slower shutter speed.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this post. Do you like blueberries? Do you have a favourite blueberry recipe? Perhaps you'd like to share it in the comments. 

Natural light outside under my patio

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday 
Life Thru the Lens 

Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard

How to make a paper wreath

Hi everyone this is my first official craft "how to make....." post. Come on in and join me making a beautiful paper wreath. It can be for Christmas or just to hang on your wall. Or your wreath could be used for a decoration on your table.

I saw a blog about making paper wreaths recently, so I set about making one and ended up making four to sell at my friend's gallery Christmas fare.  The wreath you see above was my favourite - made from a very colourful children's book which was on a second hand sales stall. 

You can make these paper wreaths from old books - Reader's Digest condensed books are ideal (you can often buy them in second hand stores), magazines, sheet music, or even an old atlas.  Use something with a stiff paper. If you don't like the idea of cutting up books, think of it as upcycling and giving it new life.  Craft paper will work well too, but I think paper with pattern or colour on both sides works best.

Ok let's dive in - here's how to make a paper wreath -

You will need - paper or old book to cut up, a cutter, craft glue, hot glue gun, cardboard, a small amount of paint, scissors, lacquer suitable for paper, a piece of string to hand your finished wreath.

Step 1 - cut your pages. I measured my pieces - 14cm ( 5 1/2 inches) x 11cm (4 1/4 inches).  I cut a cardboard template and used a good sharp paper cutter and a cutting mat. The bigger the pieces of paper, the bigger your completed wreath will be.

Step 2 - Glue one of the short edges. A glue stick is fine for this.

Step 3 - Holding your paper on the diagonal, fold the unglued short side inwards

Step 4 - 5 - Wrap the glued edge over and around to the back and stick down.

 Step 6 - 7 - easy! Make about 60-70 cones. A great little thing to do sitting in front of the TV in the evening.

 Step 8 - 9 - cut a circle out of the cardboard. My circle measures 14cm (5 1/2 inches) across. At this point it is probably a good idea to paint the back of the cardboard whatever colour you like - mine were gold, or glue some coloured paper onto the back. 

Now start gluing the cones on in a circle to make your wreath. I used craft glue, but you could use a hot glue gun. Start by dividing the circle into four, then fill in the gaps. The further out you start the bigger your completed wreath will be, and you might need to make more cones.

Step 10 - keep going around in a circle gluing on the cones, building it up as you go. Try to keep as even as possible. You will probably need to flatten the bottom of the cones. As you get in to the centre you will also need to cut off the tips of the cones so they fit into the middle better.

Step 11 - Finished! When you have finished spray with a couple of coats of lacquer to protect the paper.  Thread some string on the back for hanging.

I made four wreaths - one from a Reader's Digest condensed book, one from a magazine, one from a colourful children's book, and one from an old Atlas.  Think of it as up-cylcing! If you don't like the idea of cutting up books, use craft paper.

So how do my wreaths look? Do you think you will give them a go? Let me know if you do. Is there a Christmas craft that you enjoy? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about it in your comments.

And this is where the inspiration came for these wreaths - RedAgape
Thank you so much Mandy for sharing.   In Mandy's tutorial she used double sided tape to make the cones, and then stapled the bottom of the cones down. I didn't think this was really necessary. 
Mandy lives in Millthorpe, a heritage town, just outside of Orange in New South Wales, Australia. There are lots of craft ideas on Mandy's web page if you'd like to take a look.

Made from old school Atlas

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday 
Life Thru the Lens 

Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard