A South African Christmas

I know, I know.  If I was following my usual pattern, I’d be posting my Christmas pictures sometime in March!  But for once, I thought I’d be timely!

It all starts a few weeks ago, when I helped the Glasses set up their Christmas tree:

Ain’t it a thing of beauty?  I love gorgeously decked out trees with white lights and a tons of colorful ornaments:

Now as far as Christmas itself, here’s how it went … both of our families celebrate on Christmas Eve.  So  Aaron and I thought we’d carry the tradition on here in South Africa.  Aaron really wanted a traditional Italian feast – the kind we have every Christmas Eve at his mom’s house.  So he called around and found a great Italian deli, wherein he proceeded to buy enough food for , oh … 6 or 8 people!

Here we have a Caprese salad, homemade potjiekos pan, meatballs, roasted red peppers, prosciutto and pickled octopus:

Yeah.  I said it.  Pickled  octopus.  Don’t go all “ewwww” on me.  Have you tried it?  Octopus, if done right, is absolutely delicious, not rubbery at all.  Just a tender yet firm flesh … and this one was marinated in delicious Italian herbs … heaven!:

Here are the sausage and peppers, about to go in to the oven:

And the plates of pasta goodness we attacked with gusto:

We had this feast of embarrassing proportions enjoying the gorgeous weather and sipping some fantastic Pinotage.  Then we settled in to watch “The Godfather” (the perfect Christmas movie if you ask us) while we rubbed our tummies and tried not to go into a food coma.

The next day we were off to the Glasses to enjoy yet another feast. 

There was lots of food prep going on … including all the men gathering around the meat and hacking into it.  I think there may have been some grunting and chest thumping involved ;o)

And then … just look at this table:



GORGEOUS amiright?

And look what each of us had on our plates:

Crackers!  As we don’t do Christmas crackers in the States, it was all very new and fun for us.  Gill filled each cracker with lovely, thoughtful presents.  It’s kind of like a really awesome stocking … with the addition of a perfectly ridiculous hat to wear.  What could be better?

I think Aaron looks beautiful in his braids, no?

Then it was time to take a settle in and face the onslaught of deliciousness.

First up, Hedgehog Potatoes … partially cooked, then sliced through, drizzled with butter and baked to perfection.  I think I died and went to heaven.  Seriously, it was like a baked potato and a bag of crisps (chips) got together and made a beautiful little baby.  A crunchy, soft, buttery baby…. 

There was roast lamb, smoked turkey done on the grill, gambon (ham) and roast pork:

Delectable, and I do mean, mouth-wateringly delectable roast vegetables:

American style stuffing (requested after we made it for Thanksgiving), thank you Sig and thank you Grandma Petersen!:

A yummy noodle salad:

Beetroot jelly … who knew?  Kinda like a South African answer to cranberry jelly:

There were plenty of other things that I didn’t get pictures of … including this stuff whose name, once translated from the Afrikaans means something like “soft Achilles heels.”  It sounds funky right?  Like almost kinky weird … but it’s sooo good.  It’s pearl onions, cooked soft in a creamy sauce … delicious on the meats!

After Christmas lunch we all sat around the pool and tried not to fall asleep for a few hours and then finally, we had Christmas pudding (or as we Yankees would say “dessert”)/tea and all manner of delectable were brought out, including:

Christmas Pudding, or what we would call Plum Pudding.  It was served with a brandy sauce and cream, and was studded throughout with lucky coins!

It was an incredible meal, and an incredible day, made all the better by being surrounded with our adopted South African families:

Well, kids, that was it.  Our fabulous South African Christmas.  We feel very fortunate for so many reasons, and though we miss our families terribly, it is still a wonderful thing to experience new foods, new traditions and make new family here in South Africa.

Now … I’m off to eat some lettuce …