'Tis the season for twinkling Christmas tree lights, for shiny excited eyes of children, for pleasing others with great creative gifts and baking. 'Tis the season for looking for that extra ounce of energy to make it all happen. Let's take a walk through some of the Christmas goings-on around Melbourne.
I sometimes feel a little like these stars I found in that city that looked like they were trying to climb the stairs. (Most of the stars were hanging up high so I guess these were those lagging behind!)
I am fascinated by the Christmas merchandising in the supermarkets. Gingerbread house kits seem all the rage. I really liking the novelty of making an Outback Shack gingerbread house.
I was also surprised to see the Heston Blumethal's Christmas puddings range in Coles. The hidden orange doesn't enthuse me. I am more tempted by his puddings with caramel filling and chocolate filling.
And all these Christmas goodies have been on the shelves so long that now they are being sold at cut prices! That is Christmas craziness!
Woolworths has lots of Christmas baking package mixes that are just gimmicks. Take for instance the Betty Crocker's Fruit Mince Mini Tarts. What more does it offer than a packet of shortcrust pastry and a jar of fruit mince? Or the Green Christmas Cupcakes which seem just like regular cupcakes with some christmas sprinkles.
We planned to go to two carols services this year. Christmas got the better of us and one carols service was all we could manage. Sylvia decorated two stars for the outdoor Christmas tree and queued to see Santa.
Above are a few more images of the carols as well as some esoteric ones. In the centre is one from the Melbourne City Square. We went there last week to see the Christmas tree and decorations in the square. Sylvia enjoyed the poles that kids could touch to make bells ring. (We were too early to see the Town Hall light show.)
When planning to go into the city, we despaired of finding any Christmas meals. It isn't like in Edinburgh where every pub has festive dishes on the menu at this time of year and I am always able to find a vegetarian meal.
We had dinner at Lord of the Fries. Just chips and a mini burger. Then we saw that Krispy Kreme had a few Christmas doughnuts. It is the first time I have had a good reason to buy a doughnut from Krispy Kreme. We shared this cute snowman doughnut, covered in white chocolate and filled with lots of sticky jam.
We wandered along to Myer through the Block Arcade and Royal Arcade which are always festively festooned! Here is Crabtree and Evelyn's window display at the entrance to the Block Arcade. Inside we were very tempted by all the marvellous Christmas chocolates at Haig's.
Myer Christmas windows is a Melbourne tradition. I have been going to see them ever since I can remember. Each year they have displays with moving parts that tells a story. (This year was Santa Claus and the Three Bears.) They have become more technically sophisticated but children still find them magical. Then we went to visit Santa at Myer. It was late and there were no queues.
At Sylvia's school it has been busy with end of school year activities - instrumental concert, diorama displays, end of year parties, catch up ukelele lessons, anticipation about whose class she will be in next year. I really like the Christmas tree outside her classroom.
A few weeks back we made
salt dough tree decorations. Sylvia decided to give some to friends, teachers and cousins. You can see the finished decorations at the top of the post. And yes there are some snowflakes a la
Frozen.
And here is our Christmas tree that we decorated on the weekend. Sylvia is delighted with it. You can't see individual decorations in this photo but I can assume you there is a
Frozen salt dough snowflake there.
Finally here are a few foodie Christmas quicklinks:
I love seeing how other places do Christmas! So festive.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joanne - glad it looks festive to a New Yorker
DeleteMelbourne looks so festive this timeof year, Johanna. I'm delighted that you shared this post with us. It's wonderful to see how the holidays are celebrated in different corners of the world:)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you have a Krispy Kreme in Melbourne! I'd have to travel down three states to go to a Krispy Kreme store, although, there are outlets which just aren't the same:) And look at Crabtree and Evelyn my very best favorite place to visit in New York City (amongst other places:)
But, I think my favorite part of this post is those adorable salt dough decorations. It's been years since I've made them. It's good to know children still find them so enjoyable.
Thank you so much for sharing, Johanna...Again I wonder, where do you get all that energy, lol...
Thanks Louise - isn't that funny that Krispy Kreme are closer to us than you! I love Crabtree and Evelyn too. Though I spend less time browsing there than I used to when I was a bit more footloose and fancy free!
DeleteIt is only this year I have got into salt dough - don't know why it took me so long (though I might blame my brother and sister's lumpy decorations with coke can ring pulls for the holes to hang them up with!)
Coke Can Rings, that's hysterical Johanna...Wish I would have thought of it, lol...
DeleteI love Xmas!!! Those salt dough decorations look great, I think I'll give them a go with my Sylvia. Re Xmas stuff in the shops, I was quite excited to find a vegan Xmas pudding in Coles. I grabbed a few, but now I am sick of them!
ReplyDeleteOh and thanks for those links. I love that Jamie is exploring veganism now after being so meat-heavy!!
DeleteThanks Kate - Christmas is such a fun time of year. Hope you enjoy some salt dough decorations. Am sure the puddings will last until you are ready for them - we bought one last year in the Christmas sales and ate it in February ! And yes it is interesting to see the Jamie vegan meal - which is quite impressive - as I always found him very into his meat!
DeleteWhat a great post! I want to make salt dough decorations now, yours are so cute.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cakelaw - v kind!
DeleteAhhhh... salt dough. That brings back memories! We made a batch about 5 years ago to make decorations and ended up with hundreds of them - mainly painted and varnished hearts and stars. We gave them to everyone we know and still have enough to last a lifetime. They get hung all over the house every year now and seem to be unbreakable! Yours look so pretty...... good job...... you'll never have to buy another decoration again!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate - we have given most of the decorations away but we did seem to have quite a few (don't know what Sylvia's swimming instructor would have thought of hers!) I hope your decorations bring back happy memories each year when you hang them about.
DeleteIt looks like you are thoroughly into the Christmas spirit! There is a lot to love in Melbourne it seems, and the gingerbread 'shack' and Krispy Kreme snowman donut make me smile. I hope you enjoy your festivities and carols. Your salt dough decorations bring back memories for me too and look great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari - I have a fine appreciation for Christmas :-) though it always sneaks up on me after I get cranky at all the Christmas stuff in the shops so early. And I do find it fascinating to see how Melbourne celebrates it especially after spending some Christmases in the UK.
DeleteYou've totally reminded me I need to make some salt dough Chrimbo decorations. I love the colours.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joey - hope you have fun making your decorations - I was pleased the colours worked because sometimes those paints just seem a bit wishy washy!
DeleteLove all the holiday pictures - especially your tree, it looks fab. The Christmas windows are great too. There are a few business around here that do something similar, but not too many.
ReplyDeleteI assure you that shack tastes like cardboard and like a flavourless dog cookie - we bought one when they went down to $3. :P
ReplyDelete