We Aussies look for any excuse to have a get together and celebrate something, and with Christmas 2023 just around the corner there will be hardly anyone in the country who will not spend time with family and friends on either Christmas day or the subsequent week leading up to New Years Day.
This countryโs beginnings as a convict settlement instilled in us a sense of comradeship that is possibly unique in the world, and along with other Aussies we celebrate Australia Day, on the 26th January each year!
My way of contributing is by holding a street luncheon dinner each year for about a dozen of the neighbours. We live in a short street which leads nowhere with a couple of dozen houses. Itโs a nice friendly community on large house blocks and we do get along well with each other.
Being the biggest loudmouth in the street, I relish the opportunity to stage this event each year, show off my cooking skills and have my local mates around me. They bring along what they want to drink, and Ade and I supply the food!
As itโs the middle of summer here, despite the fry-pan in hand, I don't serve anything hot.......but there is a decided Aussie flavour to whatever we serve.....I think the only thing we donโt do isโฆ.โThrow a Shrimp on the Barbieโ!! That expression is about as loathsome to an Australian as drinking a can of โFostersโ beer.
Got to have the patriotic table decorations
And it wouldn't be Australia Day without one of Ade's Pavlovas. Whatever New Zealanders might say, Ade (who inherited the art from my mother) is the Pavlova queen! She has cooked a single humongous Pavlova that offered 24 servings in the past! This particular one managed a dozen!
We do what Australians do, we eat and drink heaps in our lovely stable, carefree environment and thank God we live in (what we feel is) the best country on Earth. In these troubled times we just wish we could share some of our good fortune with the rest of the world.
Have a great festive season all you lovely contributors to the Community Centre family, and on Australia Day Ade and I will raise a glass to all of you.
Cheers.........Rob
Marisa, I have to admit, in younger years Ade was not the greatest of cooks! She had no interest in cooking and many is the time she would say to me...."I am going to try something a bit different tonight"! And my reaction would be...."Oh don't bother, the old usual will do just fine"! I had, had a hard days work and was almost prepared to live on takeaway!!! That might sound unkind but Ade will be the first to admit, cooking was not her strong suit!
But she felt somewhat privileged when my mum called her aside 35 + years ago and said to her....."I don't want my 'Pav' recipe to die when I am gone, can I entrust it to you"?
Marisa, they spent literally weeks.....the crust was too thick......it spread out like a pancake.....there was a few failures before Ade's mind clicked and she said to me, "I need to do this for Madge" (my Mum) and she put her heart and soul into it!
Ade went on to master every form of pavlova from the tradition cake to the Pav roll.....
with Strawberries, raspberry's, passion-fruit and Pistachios!
There is one sitting in the oven at this very moment for friends of ours who are coming for a Christmas lunch with us tomorrow.
They never look great out of the oven......it's how you decorate them that makes them stand out, but it's the taste
Marisa, if you would like Ade's, (my mum's) recipe.....I am sure she would not mind me passing it on to you.
It is a guaranteed success every time but, you have to follow it to the letter, never assume that you can take a shortcut! The only way she has added to it over the years is, once decorated with whipped cream and fruit, place small sprigs of Rosemary around the edge! It does great things for the flavour of the Pav. Sounds weird but, it works
If you would like it I will send it in a DM to you.....just let me know!
Cheers........Rob
That's strange Marisa, I did follow the email address correctly and it didn't bounce back to me as un-deliverable so goodness knows where it ended up.
What I will do is post it again here for any that might be interested.
Ade's recipe is just a short handwritten note, and lacks all the important detail as per.....
So I have typed it as per instruction.....
Cheers.........Rob
Oh Ruth, isn't life Freudian, in 1999 we passed through Moreton on our way back from a couple of weeks in Cornwall and I took away some lovely memories from there. The church was subject to some unexpected bomb attacks during World War 2 and all the windows of the church of St Nicholas were blown out! Rather than replace with leadlight they were replaced with etched glass with beautiful effect.
Yes I still have this picture Ruth!!!
But the thing that stuck with me was, Thomas Edward Lawrence......"Lawrence of Arabia' is buried in that Moreton St Nicholas Church cemetery!!!
The history I felt in Moreton was so palpable, it was so much a part of England that I as an Australian so cherished!
Glad Molly and Em have got themselves a pit-stop on their way around the country.
I got a lovely card from Molly a few weeks ago.......
We are thinking of you Ruth, hope Mike's back is on the improve and would love to think we could personally raise a glass to each other some day!
Have a great Christmas Ruth!
Cheers.........Rob
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