Christmas with For Food’s Sake!

Christmas in an Italian household is a production bordering on the ridiculous, with food lining every available bench and table space and close to 20 relatives descending on the ‘chosen’ location of the year. Christmas this year, was at our parents place. Our usual routine for Christmas is lunch/ dessert (depending on fullness) fat-nap/dinner/dessert

We have skilfully mastered the art of literally not taking a breather from stuffing our faces over a decent chunk of 8+ hours, this year was no different…..

Here’s a little run-down of our For Foods Sake Christmas.

We were keen to do a cheese board, something we rarely do at Christmas time – which may have led to our poor ‘lunch’ eating form. The board included a Fromager d’Affinois, a Brie, a Cranberry infused cheese (which was a highlight) typical Provolone, cause it wouldn’t be a wog do without it.

Some Fresh Aussie Prawns

Smoked Salmon

Fresh Oysters

And that my friends, were the nibbles!!! We have all clearly lost the plot.

No Christmas is complete without some pasta – it’s generally a special dish, something we reserve for special occasions like Lasagna, Cannelloni or Gnocchi. This year it was Gnocchi, with Nonno’s usual tomato sauce. This is where it got dangerous. Our Nonno + Nonna were worried they hadn’t prepared enough for everybody, so they made a separate batch of Tortellini. So we essentially had two rounds of pasta. This is both hilarious and embarrassing. We gave up after the pasta, with most of us well and truly at a heightened fat nap stage. Grazing for an hour before lunch is really not a great idea.

There was a gap between lunch and dinner where we exchanged gifts, lounged around and played literally the best game ever ‘Cards against Humanity’.

Before we knew it, it was time for round two. Out came the stuffed rolled Pork.

Our Zia Marghi’s Turkey and stuffing

Our Nonna Grazia’s stuffed Chicken

Our Zia Cathy’s Fried Rice

My creamy baked potatoes

I don’t think anyone was hungry but we sure made a go of it.

And now onto the epitome of Christmas for us, the desserts. We really don’t know when to stop when it comes to preparing food for family do’s – so please, don’t be alarmed. On our fantabulous dessert table we had:

An adorable mini gingerbread house made by my talented friend, Monique.

A hideously ugly gingerbread house made by myself, which also very nearly led me to my first rage induced panic attack the day before.

Mum’s blueberry and strawberry cheesecake

 Mum’s Peanut Butter Candy (a recipe passed down from our American aunt). Quite possibly the best bit of Christmas for us.

A Pandoro filled with hazelnut and coffee ice-cream from Duccio Gelato in Five Dock

Zia Marghi’s fruit puddings with Italian custard

Nonna Assunta’s famous Rococo, Struffoli, Amoretti and Mostaccioli.

And that folks was the delicious spread enjoyed on Christmas day and Boxing day……….and the day after………….

From the team at For Foods Sake we hope you had a fabulous Christmas, celebrating with family and friends and we wish you a very Happy and safe New Year’s. We’ll catch you on the flip side of 2015.

Cheers

Bianca

Photos by Alex