Simple Christmas cooking

We take a simple approach to Christmas and that extends to catering for our Christmas lunch. Christmas day here in Melbourne was 36 degrees celsius and I personally didn't want to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen on such a hot day to cook a big hot meal.   

For us, Christmas lunch means sharing a good meal with loved ones, not stressing out in the kitchen. So we take a relaxed approach to lunch....

 

Christmas lunch....and what a festive tablecloth!!

 
Our vegetarian Christmas menu this year consisted of:

• Spinach and Fetta Filo Pie
• Heather's Quinoa recipe 
• Lemony Chickpea Salad
• Green leafy salad

• Plum pudding with Icecream Plum Pudding 

(There might have been a few G&T's that snuck in there too)

All of the above recipes are simple and straightforward and leftovers store well in the fridge for several days.  Perfect!

How did you celebrate Christmas day?

Homemade Christmas decorations

While we love seeing those homes who really go for it in terms of Christmas lights and decorations, our own approach to Christmas is pretty low key. A branch from a pine tree at our block serves as a little Christmas tree, and one of our few decorations was found on a local hard waste pile. 

This year though I decided to up the ante a little....while keeping spending to a minimum.

First off I decided to get a little fancy for our Christmas lunch and make some Christmas napery. In the week before Christmas I noticed that Lincraft had reduced the price of their Christmas fabric by over 50%.  For $30 I was able to buy enough 100% cotton fabric to make a tablecloth for a table that seats up to 8 as well as 12 napkins.

Christmas fabric - why go for subtle when you can be bold?

It was quick easy sewing, made even more fun as I made them in the company of my good friend and sewing  buddy, who was  busy sewing Christmas things of her own.  I was pretty pleased with the results. It will certainly add a festive touch to our lunch and it's something we'll be able to use year after year.

completed napkins and tablecloth

While I was buying the fabric I also spied some coloured felt. For a couple of bucks I got enough felt to make some garlands of little Christmas trees:

Christmas tree garland production line

 
Finally, as I've mentioned in earlier posts, I like knitting socks.  I often have bits of yarn leftover after making a pair, so rather than chuck it out, I used it up to make a garland of little socks.  Strung up over the fireplace, they look sort of Christmas-y. Okay, well maybe you'll have to use your imagination here folks, but they remind me of Christmas stockings 😊

And here's the wooden Christmas pyramid we scored for free from the hard waste:

Not bad, eh?

So don't get sucked into spending heaps to decorate your home for Christmas.  With a bit of imagination, some time and some basic sewing skills you can add a touch of Christmas to your home without spending much at all.

Hope you all have a happy Christmas!