Monday, 9 December 2013

Online Advent Calendar: December 9th

I am lucky enough to taking part in  Jo from Serendipitous Stitching's Online Advent Calendar.

I am Day 9.


This stitchery is one I did for an exchange.  It was a lovely quick stitch as I stitched and completed it on the train to and from work in just one day!


I thought that you might like to see the sparkly tree and reindeer which graces our foyer at work. 

 

The bigger building next door has the same tree but 10x bigger!  Here I am with one of my work colleagues Kieran as we were on our way to get a coffee at one of new cool coffee places at Collins Place.


 Jo has asked us to share a Christmas tradition with you all.  One of mine is that I always make the Christmas pudding.  The recipe I use is a really easy one and I have made it since Christmas 1983 - that is 30 years!
It lives in the scrapbook of recipes which I have been collecting since TraderVic and I were married in 1982.  It is an Australian Women's Weekly recipe from Christmas of 1983.

Here is my tatty old recipe scrapbook:




The true beauty of this recipe is that it is cooked in an oven bag!  Yes, an oven bag!  It always makes two puddings and once it is made it can be kept in the fridge for weeks.  And if we don't use both puddings on Christmas Day, the second one is popped into the freezer (right at the back) and it will keep there for a whole year!  (Unless we host Christmas in July).

The last really great thing about it is that all you have to do is microwave it for 10 minutes on Christmas Day and it is ready!  ... and it is delicious! Wow!  I really love this recipe!



My dear friend Marie, of Princes Park walking fame, just gave me my Xmas present early this year as it is this awesome snow globe which lights up and snows just at the press of a button.  I shut all of the shutters to take this photo so that you could get a bit of an effect.  Cute, hey?  It is a nutcracker which I just love - thank you dear Marie.



Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Xmas, don't forget to go to Jo's blog to check out the other days of the Advent Calendar  and....

hugs,

26 comments:

Vickie said...

A wonderful post Kaye! Thanks for sharing. =)

Zeb said...

What design is it? :)
And I think you might need to share your oven bag pudding recipe!

stitchersanon said...

A lovely finish and a great post!

Margaret said...

Seriously? You microwave it in an oven bag? How cool is that! Love it! Love your stitching, and your tradition too. Beautiful trees as well! Hope you have a great Christmas holiday -- you deserve one.

SoCal Debbie said...

Merry Christmas, Kaye! What a great blog post! It's nice to see you at work with your decorations and read about your Christmas pudding tradition.

Justine said...

I love that last photo...so festive. Merry Christmas to you too!

Anonymous said...

what a lovely post kaye and i love the sound of this recipe for the pudding.xx

Catherine said...

Lovely post, Kaye ~ thanks for sharing! Your ornament is so sweet!

Barb said...

A post with many wonderful things! Thanks for sharing!

gracie said...

Love your Advent Day 9 post. This has been a fun journey.

Chris said...

Merry Christmas Kaye! Great holiday post.

Pinnylea Creations said...

How productive were you on your train journey? Unbelievable LOL. What a beautiful smile. Merry Christmas to you too :)

Unknown said...

lovely sampler there, I love the colours of it...
I like your snow globe and the tree and merry christmas to you, I like following your blog x

Sarah in Stitches said...

Beautiful Christmas tree stitching! And that's a great tradition too. I hope you and your family have many more to come! Happy holidays :D

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Thanks for taking part. I like the thread you have used for your design, I BELIEVE I have seen it before!!

The pudding sounds great, I love a rich Christmas pudding.

Astrids dragon said...

I love the tree you stitched, very sweet.

You may just have to share your recipe, I would love to make one for my parents instead of the store bought kind - yours sounds wonderful!

Happy Christmas!

Shebafudge said...

That little tree is adorable! Love it! Who is the designer Kaye?

Stitching Noni said...

Lovely post Kaye :)
Love the snow globe... What a beautiful present to receive :)
Hugs x

Simply Victoria said...

Your exchange piece looks so pretty.

Linda said...

What a great post Kaye. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Linda

Quilting Chemist (Danette) said...

Beautiful stitching and thanks for sharing your Christmas tradition.

Valma said...

what a beautiful post Kaye :)
I love that picture of you
and what a tree at work !!! amazing !
you made a lovely piece for the exchange
xxx

Anonymous said...

Kaye,
What a beautiful exchange piece you did for your partner. I love the beads and the floss colors.

Those are nice trees but the reindeer's are my favorite!

I love to see old cookbooks and how much use they have gotten. Your pudding sounds delicious!

Awwww...what a sweet gift Marie has sent..The globe is adorable.

Have a wonderful Christmas Kaye!

Brigitte said...

I've been visiting all the advent blog posts and have enjoyed the stories and recipes found there.
This exchange gift looks very lovely.

cheryl said...

I enjoyed my visit to your blog during the Advent Calendar blog hop. Lovely photos and a lovely stitched piece. Happy Holidays!

Gillie said...

What a pretty ornament, who is the designer, Kaye? I love the Womens Weekly recipes, you can get a few here in book form.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop.....

  Hello my lovelies and Happy Valentine's Day....   ... and this means it is time again for the fabulous Valentine's Day Blog hop o...