[dotti34]

On the subject of food the last time I cooked a traditional Christmas lunch on the actual day was in 1967! It was a stinking hot day, probably about 105 degrees (in the old scale) outside and about 120 in my little kitchen. We didn’t have any air conditioning; don’t think we even had a fan in those days. When the kids were hot they played under the water sprinkler on the lawn.

I was 3 months pregnant with my third child and not having a real good time of it – I wasn’t very well at all. My in-laws and a couple of friends were coming for lunch and I was determined to do the right thing so I cooked a traditional hot roast Christmas lunch (how stupid can we be at times) with all the trimmings.

Somehow I was left to do the clearing up afterwards as everyone else went outside to try to cool off a bit (in 105 degrees – right!) with nice cold drinks. Apparently it wasn’t hot for me, only for them.

I was thinking about how everyone was staying on for the rest of the day and a couple of extras were also due to arrive. They would expect to be fed again later. It suddenly became all too much and I just sat down on the floor and cried…….I made the decision then that that was the last hot Christmas lunch I would cook and if anyone didn’t like it they could get well and truly what I’d done to the turkey.

The following Christmases (until my children grew up and took over hosting), and even after we had air conditioning, I did all the preparations the day before and on Christmas day we had seafood, cold duck (not really that keen on turkey), ham and chicken, and all the things that go with them, buffet-style. It didn’t matter how many came for lunch they just had to grab a plate and tuck in. No one complained – they wouldn’t dare – and the day was enjoyed by everyone, including me.