It's a real New Zealand Christmas - there's no fire, no snow, no sleigh!
Everything has come to a grinding halt and at last it's Christmas Day
We're wearing shorts and jandals, singing songs of Christmas cheer
Mum's organised the family lunch and Dad'll be drinking Kiwi beer!



It's just your typical, traditional Kiwi Christmas Day
We're celebrating Christmas in the good old Kiwi way
With fresh-picked peas and new potatoes and mint sauce for the lamb
And Grandma's made the Xmas pud and she's glazed the Xmas ham!



The cards are on the mantlepiece, the tinsel is on the tree,
The rellies have brought all their presents and the Queen's face is on TV
Mum's made her own pavlova with kiwifruit on the top
And there's hokey-pokey icecream, and the Chardon's all set to pop!



It's just your typical, traditional Kiwi Christmas Day
Us kids are driving our parents daft - we've been sent outside to play
Dad's cracking another Steinie and Mum's at the kitchen sink
And Grandad's fallen asleep in his chair cos he's had too much to drink!



The temperature is nearing 30 -  everyone is feeling the heat
And after lunch, we all crash out cos we had such a lot to eat!
It's great to celebrate Xmas in our special NZ way
So here's a toast to your family: Have a wonderful Xmas Day!



It's just your typical, traditional Kiwi Xmas Day
You can forget the reindeer, ice and snow, and Santa on his sleigh!
It's fun to sit in the blazing sun, enjoying a Kiwi beer
And here's a toast to you and yours: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!!



by Carolyn Winton (many thanks)

... it is finally getting dark. Very late of course because it is summer and we are on daylight saving time. It is a very late night for our little kids, some of whom have fallen asleep and we make little nests for them with chilly bin walls so they don't get stood on in the dark. Or we just hold them in our arms.

You need to have packed up your belongings as much as possible before the dark comes, otherwise you will never find them.

Its easy to lose your kids as they run to and fro to the loo queues in the dark. The kids that are awake still are all hyped up with the music and because Santa is coming and because there is going to be a huge fireworks display at the end.

This song, "I See Red" is an old Split Enz song being covered by Turanga Merito with help from his friends...

All the kids are yelling "Look it's Santa!"

(After this will be the fireworks display with the orchestra playing at the same time - I couldn't find a decent clip of that, but all of you know what great public pyrotechnics displays look like).

On Christmas Day most Kiwi's are likely to be eating a pav for pudding.

I first blogged about pav's on 360 in response to Mary's pumpkin pie recipe blogs (or was it the other way around). The whole discussion was generated in our chatroom anyway and I still cannot quite get my head around the idea that people think of pumpkin as a sweet.


Definitions:

THE CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY: pavlova a meringue cake with cream and fruit.

MERRIAM WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY: pavlova a dessert of Australian and New Zealand origin consisting of a meringue shell topped with whipped cream and, usually, fruit.

THE COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY: pavlova a meringue cake topped with whipped cream and fruit, popular in Australia and N.Z. Often shortened (Austral. and N.Z. informal) to pav.

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The Origin and History of the Pavlova

New Zealanders and Aussies have an ongoing dispute over which country first created pavlovas, however the first citation for a pavlova in a cookbook is in a 1927 cookbook titled Davis Dainty Dishes (6th ed.) which was published by a company in Christchurch, New Zealand. So there Aussies!

Aussies are renowned for stealing our stuff! Hehehe!!

Anyhow, the pavlova dessert is a meringue-based confection. It was created to honour the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. She had visited Australia and New Zealand in 1926 and Australia again in 1929 and, in both countries, she captivated her audiences with her wonderful performances. They remembered her especially for her solo dance The Dying Swan in Swan Lake, a dance created especially for her by Michel Fokine in 1905.

Because of this cooks and chefs in both countries sought to honour her and the occasions of her visits with confections they created which were designed to capture her light and airy spirit and appearance. (I am not sure why cooks got involved but maybe they were all into that kind of thing back then).

The desserts they created ranged from trifle-like, gelatin-based creations to cakes and meringues in various forms. Not all of these confections were called pavlovas even though they were created to honour her. Back then there was no generally agreed basic rule nor a list of the essential ingredients and a method for making a “pavlova”. But in the decades that followed, the lack of a singular recipe and definition of what-might-be-called a proper pavlova did not deter those who wished to claim that one or another recipe was the “first and original recipe for a true pavlova”.

However by the 1950s, the recipe for a “Traditional Pavlova” was generally agreed upon.

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Pavlova Recipe.

3 egg whites
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup castor sugar
3 teaspoons cornflour

Beat egg whites until stiff, add cold water and beat again. Add castor sugar very gradually while still beating. Slow beat, and add vinegar, vanilla and cornflour. Place on greased paper on greased tray and bake at 150 degrees C (300 degrees F) for 45 minutes, then leave to cool in the oven.

Garnish with lots of whipped cream and kiwifruit, strawberries, peach slices, or whatever you fancy.

For a Christmassy look, kiwifruit and strawberries are the best colours.

Note: This recipe uses NZ measurements, apparently this is different from American measurements so...

1 c = 1 cup =250 ml.
1 T = 1 tablespoon = 15 ml.
1 D = 2 teaspoons.
1 t = 1 teaspoon= 5ml.

Below here is a link to Political Junkies's American meringue-like "Divinity" recipe, which seems to be meringues with nuts in... This kiwi has never heard of such a thing so I thought maybe others of you might be interested to see and try it out. Poli's Divinity  Recipe

Here down under in New Zealand Christmas takes place in the summer months so some of our NZ Xmas traditions are different from the northern hemisphere.

The city councils (in conjunction with sponsors) run many summertime events including Christmas in the Park concerts. When my children were smaller and I lived in Christchurch we used to often go to the events with friends and their kids, (often other multiple birth parents so we had heaps of kids with us). We would arrive about 4pm with our kids and picnic stuff, thermos's of coffee and all our jackets or sweatshirts for later, so that we could get a good spot reasonably near to the stage.

They set up temporary car parking actually inside the park so you have to take particular note of where you put your vehicle else it will be impossible to find in the dark at the end if the concert. There are lines and lines of porta-loos but with all those kids the queues are always astronomical. When your kids are little you can spend a lot of your time in those queues.

So you have got your spot and laid out your rugs and the kids have all been to the loo and you have your picnic tea watching other people still arriving and infilling the vacant spaces...

and the concert starts...

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all round the bach
Not a possum was stirring; not one could we catch.
We'd left on the table a meat pie and beer,
In hopes that Santa Claus soon would be here.
We children were snuggled up in our bunk beds,
While dreams of pavlova danced in our heads;
And Mum in her nightie,and Dad in his shorts,
Had just settled down to watch TV sports.

When outside the bach such a hoo-ha arose,
I woke up at once from my wonderful doze.
I ran straight to the sliding door, looking about,
Jumped out on the deck, and let out a shout!
The fairy lights Dad had strung up around the door
Let me see everything down to the shore.
And what did I see, when I took a peep?
But a miniature tractor and eight tiny sheep.

With a little old driver, his dog on his knee.
I knew at once who this joker might be.
He patted his dog, and in a voice not unkind,
Cried "Good on ya, boy! Now, GIT IN BEHIND!
"Now Flossy! now Fluffy! now Shaun and Shane!
On Bossy! on Buffy! on Jason and Wayne!
Up that red tree, to the top of the bach!
But mind you don't trample the vegetable patch."

So up on the roof those sheep quickly flew,
With the tractor of toys, Santa and his dog too.
As my sister awoke and I turned around,
In through the window he came with a bound.

He wore a black singlet and little white shorts,
And stuck on his feet were gumboots of course;
A sackful of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a postie just opening his pack.
His eyes-bright as paua shell - oh, how they twinkled!
Like an old tuatara, his skin was all wrinkled!
He had a wide face and a round, fat tummy,
That looked like he'd eaten lots that was yummy.

He spoke not a word, but got down on one knee,
And placed a cricket set under the tree,
A present for Sis, one for Dad, one for Mum,
Then he turned and he winked and held up his thumb.

He jumped on his tractor, to his dog gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, as fast as a missile.
I called out "Thanks," as he flew past the gate.
He called back: "Kia ora to all, and good on ya, mate."

(I know this is early, well its certainly earlier than I would normally choose to upload Xmas stuff anyhow, but I won't be around next week. I will be in hospital having surgery and I am not sure when I will be back onto my computer. So, as theres a few little kiwiana Xmas thingies I'd like to put on my page for you I figured I would start now. "A Kiwi Night Before Christmas" has been brought over from my 360 blog from last year).