Rum and eggnog, the second day:

It's gone to number one on the hit parade which is nice.

I'm really looking forward to the all the Christmas TV programmes. Christmas day, in our house is not complete without watching Michael McIntyre's big Christmas Show on Christmas day. Boxing Day we're all terribly hungover so we play a version of Scrabble only using Schopenhauer quotes, so not quite as jolly.

I do hope you'll be able to squeeze in the Mrs Brown's Boy's Christmas Day special in order to extend the Michael McIntyre hilarity high...

Taking up the invitation!

I grew up in Sydney, Australia in a harbourside suburb. This meant going swimming at the local harbour pool on Christmas morning, which often coincided with king tide time, which added to the fun. Our Christmas dinner was mostly a traditional one - my grandfather was a stickler for a "proper" Christmas dinner, and in the olden days most Australian homes did not have airconditioning. This meant my mother, grandmother and aunts expired in the kitchen preparing a hot roast dinner! The menu was a cold starter - usually cooked prawns and oysters, then cold ham, hot roast pork and hot roast turkey, roast potatoes and other vegetables, followed by plum pudding and trifle and finished off with nuts, chocolates and my aunt's wonderful shortbread. Grandpa would play the piano for us, and then he'd nod off to sleep in an armchair.

My own Christmas traditions still largely follow what I learned as a child. When I lived in London I cooked goose as that was not something we had in Australia as a child. Even in 40 degree heat, Christmas isn't Christmas without a proper Christmas dinner. This year marks our first Christmas in Vancouver. There will be smoked salmon with brown bread and butter to start, followed by roast pork and roast turkey with roast potatoes, my Mum's recipe for citrus butter roasted sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, stuffing, turkey gravy and pork gravy, and plum pudding and sticky date pudding (for members of the Canadian side of the family who've confessed to not being hugely fond of plum pudding).

Happy Christmas to all!

Hit parade. What decade are you living in out there on the left coast Oink.? What next 'lashings of ginger beer' ???

To me, christmas hasn't arrived until I hear Fairytale of New York.

Sounds lovely and delicious. Don't forget the polar bear swim on New Year's Day. I take my boat out and watch, it's a great way of justifying eating crap and drinking to help mitigate the NYE induced hangover. It's the 100 year anniversary of it so it might warrant a cheeky call for some extra party favours.