Happy Christmas, Happy New Year

Greetings of the season to all from Pussycat and me. May 2015 be a very good year for you.

The Joy of Carols

 

Carols are one of the joys of this season and a time when many of us love to have ‘a good sing’ together, whether outdoors with candles or in a church. I’m a choir member at Christ Church Lavender Bay and practices for our annual Carol Service - on Sunday evening, December 21 - are keeping us all busy. Pictured are choristers Catherine, left, and Rosemary Neal.

Please join us at the Service to sing favourites such as Silent Night and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and the lovely O Holy Night – Pavarotti made a good recording of this one.

Our choir will also be singing three special items, all unusual and creating a beautiful effect. The trio is: Benjamin Britten’s A Hymn to the Virgin, Mary’s Lullaby by John Rutter and The Shepherds’ Farewell, by Hector Berlioz, from his oratorio L’Enfance du Christ.
Where: Christ Church Lavender Bay, corner Lavender and Walker Streets, North Sydney (website: www.lavenderbay.anglican.asn.au)
When: Sunday, December 21, at 7.15pm.

After the Carol Service, refreshments will be served on the beautiful terrace of the church overlooking Sydney Harbour. Stay and enjoy one of Sydney’s great views, a mince pie or two, and you’ll also have a final musical surprise. 

As in past years, the choir items have been chosen by our talented Director of Music Chris Cartner, who leads all our practices, our singing in the services and plays the organ and piano brilliantly.
When I asked Chris to write a few lines about the choir items this year, he made time to email me these thoughts: ‘Christmas music is as wide-ranging and diverse as the feelings and thoughts that we all encounter at this time of year. This Christmas, within our carol service at Christ Church Lavender Bay, the choir will sing music which beautifully reflects the various aspects of the story.  From Gabriel’s Message (a simple and honest setting of a traditional carol) we will sing of the love for the infant as the shepherds depart (in a beautiful piece by Berlioz), as well as enjoying the warmth of contemporary composer John Rutter.  This, alongside music by Benjamin Britten and a very special ‘post-service’ offering will make up, for me, a carol service which expresses the many different sentiments which this extraordinary season brings.’

Please come along to our Christmas services:
Christmas Eve, December 24, a Family Communion at 6pm; and the ‘midnight’ Communion Service at 11pm.
Christmas Day, December 25, our big Communion Service at 9am. 

(see the website: www.lavenderbay.anglican.asn.au for details).  

The Meaning of Christmas
Christmas celebrates the love of God for human beings and his message of peace on Earth and goodwill to all mankind. Christians mark the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, born among us in human form as a baby. This is an event so exceptional as to be almost beyond our ability to grasp it: God loves us and came to be with us.

The Rev. Patrick Collins, our dedicated and much-valued minister at Christ Church Lavender Bay, wrote this for us about Christmas: ‘Christmas is that particular time of year to celebrate the coming of God in Christ on a mission of love. Love not just in taking flesh but in his saving sacrifice and compassion for each of us in providing the opportunity for forgiveness and adoption as the children of God. As we respond in thanksgiving and believing in him as our ‘new-born King”, the words “good news of great joy” become a reality for us and not just lyrics of a well-loved carol. Christmas is about love from before the beginning of time and stretching beyond eternity.’

Eyewitnesses and history
Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up in a human family in Nazareth. Then as a man, he embarked on the mission for which he was born. We are very fortunate in having the written testimony of eyewitnesses of the ministry of Jesus, found in the gospels and letters in the New Testament section of the Bible. The respected teacher and historian Bishop Paul Barnett has written extensively of the history of Jesus’ ministry and the beginning of the Christian church, and of the supporting written evidence of Roman historians Tacitus and Pliny the Younger, and Jewish historian Josephus.

When Christmas is a hard time
Christmas isn’t easy for everyone, and there are people who feel neglected, hurt and lost, most especially at this time. My thoughts are with you if Christmas is a hard time for you.
Around this country there are many generous people ready to offer help to people who are less well off. One group I found on the internet is Magic Moments Foundation Australia, which cares for people across our major Australian cities. Their Grandies Gifting Program is for elderly residents in care who no longer have family for friends to support them. Their Basket Brigades Program sends gifts, food and even toys to needy families and the homeless. They are looking for volunteers; check them out online.

In Sydney, where I live, the Christmas meal hosted by the Exodus Foundation at suburban Ashfield has become an institution, with huge numbers of disadvantaged and homeless people being catered for. On his blogsite, Exodus founder the Rev Bill Crews writes, ‘On Christmas Day alone my team and I will feed almost 3,000 hungry people.’ At the Exodus Loaves and Fishes Free Restaurant, which has prepared and served about 365,000 meals, the numbers of guests at tables has gone up 25% on last year: indeed a very sobering statistic.   

 

Sweet treats, delicious gifts

If you love baking for a special occasion, why not make one or two of the delicious nibbles featured below to share with your family, or as a charming personal gift for friends. I made these in my kitchen with only the supervision of Pussycat! However, they would make an ideal ‘cooking project’ to share with children or grandchildren.

I’d like to say a big thank you to my friend, Home Economist Maureen Simpson (left) for allowing me to reproduce these recipes from her cookbook Australian Cuisine – I’m lucky enough to have a signed copy.  I met Maureen when she was cooking editor of Australian House & Garden magazine. She has written on food for the Sun Herald and had a regular timeslot on ABC radio to broadcast her recipes, tips and sound culinary advice.

Thank you, Maureen, for letting me use your recipes for White Christmas (see following) and Walnut Kipferl and to Sydney journalist Gwenda Edwards for allowing the use of Hazelnut Snowballs, which also appears in Australian Cuisine.

 

Walnut Kipferl

125g (40z) butter

¼ cup castor sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

100g walnuts

1 ¼ cups plain flour

Icing sugar mixture

1 vanilla bean

 

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence until light and fluffy. Put walnuts into food processor and process until finely chopped, making sure that they don’t become oily by over chopping. Add to the creamed mixture with 1 cup of flour. Mix into a dough, then take small pieces and roll between palms of hands. If the mixture is too sticky, add the extra ¼ cup of flour. Form into little balls tapered at the ends. Place on greased trays and shape into crescents. Bake in a moderate oven for 20-25 minutes. Overcooking spoils the flavour, so watch them carefully during last 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

When cold, place on a sheet of paper and sift over a light drift of icing sugar, turn over and repeat on the other side. Be careful not to use too much icing sugar as it can melt during the hot weather forming a sticky icing. Pack kipferl into a jar with the vanilla bean and seal tightly. Makes about 3 dozen.

 

Two easy temptations

Hazelnut Snowballs

(pictured right)

 

250g (½ lb) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

½ cup icing sugar mixture

¾ cup hazelnuts, finely chopped

2 cups plain flour

Additional icing sugar

Cream butter, vanilla and icing sugar.  Add nuts and flour. Mix together into a dough, then roll into small balls in palms of hands. Place onto lightly greased baking trays and press down lightly to flatten. Bake in a moderate oven for approximately 20 minutes. Remove from trays and cool, then store in an airtight container.

When ready to pack into airtight jars, toss biscuits lightly in icing sugar.

 

 

White Christmas  (pictured above left)

2 cups Rice Bubbles

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup icing sugar mixture

½ cup each raisins and glacé cherries, chopped

1 slice glacé pineapple, chopped

250g (½ lb) copha, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

 

Mix Rice Bubbles, coconut, powdered milk and icing sugar in a bowl, add the chopped fruits and mix through. Melt copha over a low heat and pour into mixture. Add the vanilla, mix well. Press into a foil lined lamington tin. Chill, then cut into squares. Store in refrigerator.

My note: For the photograph, I cut these into quite large squares, but to serve I would prefer to cut them into smaller, bite-sized squares, as I find White Christmas quite rich.

 

Cherries

Special offer! This week only. Order cherries from The Cherry before December 1, 2014 and receive a 15% discount when you include the code word FOOD42 with your order! See details below.

Cherries, I love them. And they’re in my local fruit shop now. The easiest way to enjoy them is simply served fresh in a bowl – a treat when friends drop around. I like to put together a fruit platter with cherries and other berries. On the Aussie Cherries Facebook page, I noticed cherry compote with cheesecake and very lush black forest cake with fresh cherries and cream. There were likes for the dark red cherries from the Young district of New South Wales and I have a friend from that area who simply loves the Ron’s Seedling variety.

My favourite cherry dessert is simple. Pit a punnet of cherries (see note below), then make a berry compote using a pack of frozen berries from your supermarket. (For my berry compote, I add a little raw sugar and a small slurp of white wine to the frozen berries and microwave them on HIGH for about a minute.) Serve the cherries and berry compote over vanilla ice-cream, or any other flavour you fancy (say, one vanilla scoop and one chocolate!).

Facebook page Aussie Cherries reminds us that cherries are fat, cholesterol and sodium-free and a great alternative to sugary snacks.

Exclusive Special Offer

For a scrumptious corporate Christmas gift, place an order of cherries from The Cherry – see their website – and it will be hand-delivered to your clients or friends. And you’ll receive a 15% discount when you include the code word FOOD42 with your order. But hurry, Christmas orders should be sent by December 1, 2014.   

Check out the website The Cherry for full details. The Cherry organises hand-deliveries of cherries to lucky recipients in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Now that’s a touch of luxury.

Pitting cherries

Christine from the Fresh team shows how to use a cherry pitter (find her on YouTube). She also demonstrated other pitting tips. I liked the one with an empty bottle and a chopstick. Remove the stem from the cherry. Hold the cherry over the top of the empty bottle, the bit where the stem was facing upwards, then push the chopstick through the cherry. The pit will land in the bottom of the bottle.

The glorious 100 days

In Australia, the cherry season begins in late October and continues through December to mid-January, though in Tasmania it continues until late February. So make the most of it.

Tasmania has Area Freedom status for Fruit Fly and exports cherries to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (where import restrictions are stringent) to Asia more generally, to the Middle East and to Europe.

Storage tips

Simon Boughey of Cherry Growers Australia Inc. advises that the ideal storage temperature for cherries is 0-2 degrees. Keep cherries out of direct sunlight and put them in the fridge immediately you get them home. Cherries can absorb odours and bruise easily, so store them safely in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Cherries can be kept frozen for up to six months. If you’re freezing a lot of cherries, place layers of baking paper between berries to stop them freezing as a solid block. Some supermarkets sell frozen pitted cherries, but I believe they are not local Australian cherries. The label should tell you.

Cherries and gout

Online sources say that eating cherries can help relieve the pain of gout. It seems that more studies need to be done, but research so far indicates that cherries reduce uric acid in the body and that can reduce the likelihood of an attack of pain in the joints due to gout. Dr Yuquing Zhang of the Boston University School of Medicine warns, however, that cherries alone do not prevent gout attacks and that sufferers should continue their present medications.

Helen Briton Wheeler is the author of Day of the Diamond Earrings and the forthcoming Finding Felicity.

Sandwich, anyone?

My grand-daughter Fern passed on this tip about peeling hard-boiled eggs: add a good shake of salt to the water while the eggs are boiling and they will be much easier to peel. She says it works. Fern is studying, and one of her favourite on-the-go lunches is a sandwich of boiled egg and canned tuna, mashed with a little mayonnaise, pepper and salt and spread between wholemeal bread.

Guess who's the Boss?

The head of our household is Pussycat (aka Tofu), whose favourite food is thin-sliced fillet steak – which she doesn’t get too often! Fortunately, she will accept sliced rump or topside, along with dried cat pellets. She also eats the pouched cat food she gets from me when she wakes me up from my precious sleep to give her breakfast at 5am.

Big Things on my Radar

 

Right now I’m glad I’m not looking for a job. When I joined the workforce (years ago), the Catch 22 for first-time job seekers was that every employer wants someone with work experience; but you can’t get work experience until you have a job.

The bad news is that this is still true! Only it seems, more so, with the unemployment figure for people aged 15 to 24, as high as 20% in some spots, notably west and north-west Tasmania, northern Adelaide and Cairns. I live in Sydney, and Parramatta is another youth unemployment hot spot.

Tony Nicholson of the Brotherhood of St Laurence describes youth unemployment as a disaster and warns that, in this situation, unemployed young people are at risk of never getting a foothold in the workforce and of being sentenced to a lifetime of poverty. He says that young first-time job seekers need advice; opportunities to gain basic skills; mentoring; and the chance to gain real work experience with a real employer.

Eamon Waterford of Youth Action (see their website) says that in Sydney’s Parramatta area lack of affordable transport and lack of affordable housing means that young people can’t get to where the jobs are. There is also a decline in blue collar jobs, he says.

If this is true, then our governments, state and federal, should step up. We already have too many people stressed out by high rents – not to mention the homeless! And good public transport is an infrastructure investment that will produce economic benefits long-term. Supporting blue collar jobs? Well that is another big need, one that has political implications, but should be on the agenda of all politicians committed to nationwide prosperity.  

The other job problem is youth underemployment and the casualisation of the workforce. I don’t blame employers, it’s the sign of our times that many small businesses are under pressure to survive. But it’s terrible for those workers who simply cannot get enough paid work hours.

So what is the answer here? Surely one answer is helping small and medium-sized businesses to thrive, to shed the burden of red tape and excessive regulation. If small and medium-sized businesses thrive they can employ more people, including young people.

There must be other solutions to the problems of youth unemployment and employment generally. I’m not a genius, so I’d be very glad to hear from anyone with good ideas.

Helen Briton Wheeler is the author of Day of the Diamond Earrings and the forthcoming Finding Felicity.