Most people around the world associate snow and cold weather at Christmas time, well, here in Australia it’s quite the opposite as it’s summer time here.

In Australia Christmas is different… we have the option of having our Christmas breakfast, lunch or dinner’s outside in a backyard, a beach, a park for instance. Pubs are open for Christmas lunch as well and it’s something you have to book weeks in advance as they book out quickly.

Even the food we eat on Christmas Day can vary from the traditional Christmas foods to having seafood, a barbecue, or a pub meal.

In my family, we all meet for Christmas lunch at a family member’s house and we all contribute something for the meal, whether it be a part of the meal or money to help cover costs. We eat outdoors under cover. A few of the members of the family bring food they cooked so the host isn’t cooking the whole main lunch.

Bowls of chips (crisps), mixed nuts, Christmas lollies (candy) are put out on the table before lunch to tide us over until lunch is ready. Our menu usually consists of turkey (cut up turkey roll), rotisserie chicken (from a fish and chip shop which was previously ordered for the lunch), leg ham, roast potatoes (cooked in a Webber Barbecue), roasted carrots, peas, beans, potato salad, noodle salad, coleslaw and bread rolls. A couple of hours later it’s the traditional Christmas pudding or for those who don’t like Christmas puddings there’s a chocolate pudding with either custard or ice cream on top.

Our food is buffet style where you go and get your own food and put it on a plate, then go sit down and enjoy. We use paper plates and disposable knives and forks to save on washing up.

After Christmas, the young ones and a few of the adults go for a walk to a nearby park and kick either a soccer ball or a footy around.

Christmas for my family is really just another day as we no longer have kids in the family but it is still a fun day to get together with everyone and I only get to see my family one day of the year.

The weather can be mild temperatures in the mid 20’s to the early 40’s degrees Celsius. On Christmas Day in 2016, the temperature reached a scorching hot 40 degrees Celsius and our lunch was moved indoors as it was too hot to sit outside. Me personally, I’ll take the weather in the mid 20’s on Christmas Day.

However you celebrate Christmas and whoever you celebrate Christmas with, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Until next time

Kaye