Hut Christmas 2013 - ham

Two years ago we bought our first Mount Gnomon farm ham. They breed happy free range Wessex Saddleback pigs in north west Tasmania.

Again, a Christmas ham is a favourite memory of my childhood Christmas'. To feed my family of 7, the leg ham Dad would buy would be humongous, taking up most of the fridge. I remember as a teenager taking the delivery of our ham and Mr Bean sized turkey at the front door. I nearly collapsed under the weight of them. Dad never glazed it though. 

Rob generally glazes it with a mixture of whatever is at hand, usually quince jelly, orange juice and mustard. It does make it glisten so nicely, and looks pretty studded with cloves. 

Do you enjoy ham at Christmas?

Any tips for the glaze?

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"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013"

It was a crazy idea really, a Christmas photo shoot at 5pm on a hot Sunday afternoon. The girls were unimpressed! 

But despite the fact we didn't get "that picture" there were still a few gems that Rob captured with the DSLR.

Maggie: now she can crawl, it's her favourite mode of transportation!

Elisabeth: those big brown eyes. 

We backed up with a more casual shoot the next morning, and we just might have got a few shots to print. 

Joining in with Jodi at Che and Fidel.

Hut Christmas 2013 - fruit mince pies

I love them. Always have. Which is saying something as my parents always bought them from the supermarket! As a child it was another excuse to eat Mother's brandy cream. A boozy, whipped egg white lightened cream that we loved on hot Christmas pud or little pies.

So it was a bit of a revelation when on celebrating my first Christmas with Rob we made a batch of Nigella's mincemeat (from How to be a Domestic Goddess), full of fruit, apple, cider and brandy. Rather than faff about with tiny mince pies we often make one large pie, either topped with pastry stars, frangipane or crumble.

We still make a batch of mincemeat every year, and we vary it a little each year, for example adding hazelnuts, or Italian glacé cherries. Last year's mincemeat went uneaten as Rob changed to a gluten free diet. 

We're hoping to try a gluten free pastry in the next few weeks, but in the mean time Rob treated me to a half-dozen Jackman & McRoss pies, which I shamefully have to admit didn't last a day!

Do you like mince pies?

Do you make your own? 

Hut Christmas 2013 - ornaments for the girls

Last year a friend gave us two sweet handmade decorations for the girls; felt mice in little stockings. 

Yesterday we all headed to the nearby Cygnet market and I went into a gift shop and found these cute wooden Santas made in Sweden which I couldn't resist for the girls.

Normally I would have put our tree up yesterday, but because of the girl's 1st birthday party I'm going to wait (albeit impatiently) until after that to decorate. 

My parents rarely put our tree up much before the 23rd December and it was always put away on the 6th of January. 

I also found three big glass tea light holders that match the smaller ones I already have. 

Is your tree up?

Do you buy special ornaments each year?

Hut Christmas 2013 - Advent calendar

Last year, given the premature birth of our girls 2 weeks before, our Christmas was a little subdued. 

Whilst I had decorated the hut before going into hospital, when I came home it felt wrong to get excited about the frivolities of the season.

Instead of joining in with the traditional family celebrations we chose to visit the NICU, have long kanga cuddles with the girls, then came home to eat a Christmas dinner of baked ham and salad.

If you've read my blog you'll know I like to celebrate Christmas, and now I am even more mindful than ever about traditions: both old family ones and creating new ones.

So in an effort to get back into blogging, I'm hoping to share a little of our Christmas each day.

Advent calendar

I have a red felt hanging calendar with pockets for treats or notes. I have written notes for Rob this year, but the calendar is still up in the loft. Oh well, he'll still get the notes!

Rob has rather extravagantly bought me a beautiful calendar filled with German truffles. The girls liked the sparkly gold stars, but luckily didn't seem interested in the chocolates. 

As a child I loved our family calendar, we shared one between five children, so we took it in turns opening the little cardboard doors. Back in my day (listen to me!) there were just little pictures behind the doors rather than chocolates. But I still got very excited to see what each door revealed. As my parents are religious the calendar usually was a nativity scene, rather than a cartoon character or Barbie. 

Hopefully next year the girls might grasp a little of the Advent calendar.

Do you have a special calendar you reuse every year?

Or do you come up with a new version every year?

Do your children share or have one each?