A little while ago, my sister, Jan, mentioned that she would like to take me, my husband, and my sister to the Cartier Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), it was for my sister Sonnie and my birthdays (we are both November babies from a few to many decades ago), and it would be Gary’s Christmas present – what an absolute treat! Last week it happened, and I cannot stop smiling when I think of the time that we had together.
Following on from a recent post, Family Gatherings, Memories and Food
After we had finished our delicious brunch, having well and truly overindulged, I quietly mentioned to Olivia, that given it was school holidays, if Cooper would like to come for a visit, we would love it! We could pick him up the following day and return him on the Wednesday. There was no pressure at all – I really did not want him to feel pressured. She rang later that evening to say he was very excited to be visiting with us – I must admit that we were very excited too!
The following morning we went to Olivia’s mum and dad’s home, and from there Cooper joined us for the trip to our home in country Victoria. This was all impromptu – there was nothing planned, so for dinner we just had to wing it and use what we had on hand. We decided on beef noodles with broccoli, carrots and snow peas, and for dessert, custard, mango, berries, and at Cooper’s suggestion, meringues. Cooper helped, using his fabulous knife skills to chop mango and veg, then got to work with the noodle dish. While not really to his liking, I was super proud of the fact that he was willing to give it a try.
Plans were in place, everything was in the diary, I’d been in touch with those we were to visit, but as seems to happen, the phone rang, and plans had to be changed!
I worked, cooking and baking ready to be with Christopher, Olivia and our grandchildren. I made meatballs in tomato sauce, a real family favourite, topless cottage pie (didn’t have time to do the potato), sausage rolls, meringues, choc chip biscuits and crisp coconut biscuits. Jars were filled and everything packed.
My sisters visited recently. We had the best few day, we always get to do so much when we’re together, cramming as much as we can into the days, the hours, the minutes. Traveling from different parts of the state, they arrived on Sunday with greetings from one of the locals!
Our mornings were slow and relaxed – lots of chatting, sharing of stories, reminiscing, flicking through magazines and recipe books, and enjoying more than one cuppa together! Our afternoons and evenings were busy! Continue reading
The month of Christmas began with appropriately themed cooking classes run throughout our district, and finished with fabulous family gatherings…
Cooking classes for kids were all about Christmas treats,
and for the adults there was a meal that was budget friendly, various Christmas dishes from around the world and, of course, the Christmas hamper.
