An Aussie Christmas

This will be our second Christmas celebrated in Australia. Last year, John and Shawn on Active Transport spent the holiday aboard with us in Sydney. This year they're in South Africa and we're in Hobart. Unlike Australians who realize that Christmas is a summer holiday down under, we're still northern hemisphere traditionalists and it's hard to dispel old ways of thinking that have been ingrained for decades. We're not hoping for snow or anything, but we like the big midday turkey feast and presents under the tree ... I mean, the mast, on Christmas morning.

Most Australians we know tend to celebrate the holiday at the beach with a picnic or have a big outdoor barbie. Several folks from the marina have taken off for a week or two to go sailing or camping over the holidays. It's summertime ... outdoor activities seem the right thing to do. We're told, it has become traditional for international visitors who are in Sydney at Christmas to go to Bondi Beach where up to 40,000 people visit on Christmas Day. Wouldn't that be a fun experience? (NOT!)

Christmas shopping is done in shorts and t-shirts instead of all bundled up in parkas, mittens and snow boots. Though I've seen poinsettias, the local red proteas or the native Christmas Bush with its bright red flowers, seem more appropriate. I've seen artificial trees, but no lots full of real Christmas trees for sale. Santa might be just as likely to arrive at the beach on a surfboard or in a dinghy as in a sleigh … and the white boomers readily replaced the tired reindeer without hesitation for Santa's inland Australian run last night … or so we heard.

Perhaps if we were from California or Florida, the beach thing would be appealing. But we're not...we're from cold and snow country and being at the beach on Christmas … well, it's just not right! We should be shoveling snow or making snowmen or snow forts...having snowballs fights, but definitely not laying on a beach. It was cool and overcast today in Hobart. Not a good beach day at all … but not good for snowballs either.

So, how did we celebrate Christmas? We planned to go to midnight service at St. David's Cathedral, but it was cold, dark, windy and misty at 11pm and we were already in bed. So much for that plan.

We were up early this morning drinking mimosas (champagne and OJ) and singing Christmas songs while getting the turkey stuffed and in the oven for our traditional afternoon feast. We gratefully declined offers made by friends and opted to spend Christmas with just the two of us this year. We like each others' company a lot plus more leftover turkey for the crew.

We cooked and chatted and opened our presents. We had cinnamon coffee cake for breakfast...washed down with yet more mimosas. We watched a romantic movie (Love, Actually) and it was time to eat. The turkey was roasted to perfection. The aroma had driven us crazy for hours. The table was set with our best linen and china (as if!). Hours of preparation led to a leisurely, sumptuous dinner. Everything was delicious including the blueberry/raspberry crisp for dessert (a close second to cranberry pudding). A fine day celebrating what we love most … each other.

We'll Skype our family in the States and Brennan and Hannah in Rome tomorrow when they have their holiday celebration.

Wishing you and yours a happy Christmas from Nine of Cups.

Just Desserts

Australians like their sweets. Why should they be any different than the rest of us? We've run across some traditional desserts that are uniquely Australian and, in the interest of cultural exchange, we've tried and enjoyed.

There are no cookies in Australia, but they do have oodles of sweet biscuits. Same thing, different name. Tim Tams are very popular and come in a variety of flavors which we've tried on numerous occasions... again purely for our cultural edification.

My personal favorites are ANZAC biscuits. Named way back in WWI for ANZACs (Australia-New Zealand Army Corps), these easy traveling, long lasting cookies became associated with wives and mums sending treats to their men overseas during the war. The basic ingredients are oats and coconut. We tasted them the first time on ANZAC Day at a tiny celebration on Pitcairn Island and thought they were the ultimate oatmeal cookie. ANZAC Day, celebrated April 25th each year, is comparable to Veteran's Day in the USA and in my mind, having a cookie specific to the holiday is an excellent idea although they're available commercially all year long.

When we were in New Zealand, we sampled Pavlova for the first time. There's an ongoing battle between the Kiwis and the Aussies as to which country first introduced the Pavlova. Evidently the prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, visited both countries in the 1920's and this dessert was named in her honor. No matter who claims the title of origin, the resulting dessert is lovely. Made with a meringue that's crusty on the outside and soft on the inside, the whole thing is covered in whipped cream and studded with fresh fruits like strawberries, kiwis, passion fruit and blueberries. Pre-made meringues can be purchased in the stores, so all you need to do is top it with cream and fresh fruit. Pretty easy. It's typically served on special holidays like Christmas and it's delish.

They also have something called White Christmas and Chocolate Crackles, both made with rice bubbles, aka Kellogg's Rice Krispies. Though the recipes are different from the ones we grew up with in the USA like Scotch Treats and Original Marshmallow Krispie Treats, the process is similar. Kids make the recipe because it's an easy, no-bake, chill-in-the-fridge, hopelessly sweet kind of treat.

Then there is Lamington Cake or Lamington Cream which is definitely Australian in origin. I've seen them in pastry shops and the grocery store bakeries, but not yet tasted them. There seem to be several variations on the theme. It's a yellow sponge cake topped first with a chocolate cream icing which soaks into the cake, then it's dipped in shredded coconut. A filling of cream and/or strawberry jam can be layered in the middle according to some of the recipes I've read. It's on the “to make” list.

I saw “brandy custard” in the dairy case at the supermarket the other day. It comes in 1-liter waxed cardboard containers like a quart of milk or eggnog, so it's obviously liquid. The containers were decorated in Christmas colors and I thought perhaps they might be akin to egg nog. I had to e-mail my Aussie friend, Marly B., in Melbourne and get the scoop on custards. They come in powder or liquid form though making them from scratch is the best, she says. What she describes sounds like a rich vanilla pudding which can be drizzled on Christmas pudding or served with fruit or made into cream tarts. Evidently a myriad of choices. Egg nog, by the way, is not very popular here...brandy notwithstanding.

The traditional English plum pudding is still a Christmas favorite here. At least I've seen lots of them in the stores on sale. And, of course, fruit cake is available. I prefer waiting till after Christmas to buy our fruit cake. They're heavily discounted then and are great for celebrating January 7th... Fruitcake Toss Day. We know folks who have used them as dinghy anchors. They seldom drag.

Being from New England, my favorite Christmas dessert recipe is Cranberry Pudding. Though neither fresh nor frozen cranberries are available here in Tasmania (dried cranberries do not work well), I thought I'd share this old Martha's Vineyard recipe with you anyway. It's easy to make and tastes scrumptious when served warm and topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Cranberry Pudding a la Nine of Cups

2 cups whole fresh cranberries, washed

¾ cup white sugar – separated ½ cup and ¼ cup

¼ c chopped walnuts 6 tbsp melted butter – separated 4 tbsp and 2 tbsp

½ c flour 1 egg, well beaten

Place cranberries in a well-buttered 8” pie plate. Mix ¼ cup of sugar and the walnuts with 4 tbsp of melted butter and drizzle over the cranberries. Combine the remaining sugar with the flour and add to the beaten egg; stir well. Add the remaining melted butter; stir well again. Pour over the cranberries.

Bake about 40 minutes at 350F (180C) till the top is lightly brown and the cranberries are bubbling. Serve warm or cold. Top with freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Please bake one for me. Send me a picture. As you're eating it, savor the taste. Think about those of us poor folks who have no fresh cranberries. Sigh! I know I could substitute another fruit, but it just wouldn't be the same.

In Search of Hobart's Best Pub

Today is Summer Solstice in Australia. What better day than today to find a good pub? We weren't interested in a pub crawl or a pub tour ($20pp) or a new pub with no history...or even a pub with lots of people and pokies (poker machines). We were on the hunt for Hobart's oldest, more traditional pubs and the logical place to look was along the waterfront. Some things don't change: sailors like companionship and grog. Being downtown Hobart, with Cups tied up at the Elizabeth Street Pier, has some definite advantages. We can hunt for pubs day and/or night.

With a history that revolves around the sea, Tasmania has no dearth of pubs. Hobart, being its oldest city, currently offers ~40 registered pubs, but that's nothing compared to the early days. Within 20 years of its settlement in 1803, Hobart Town boasted 50 registered pubs for its 10,000 inhabitants and there were, by all accounts, many more pubs of the “unregistered” variety. The pubs that have survived have a rich history. They seem to be clustered around historic Battery Point and Sullivan's Cove, which includes trendy Salamanca Place, so sussing them out was not difficult. We could have gotten some help by consulting Pubs of Tasmania: in Search of the Holy Grail, that evidently provides lot of history, trivia and secrets, but we're way too cheap to do that. Plus part of the fun is finding things out for ourselves.

I came up with six pubs I thought were worthy of our attention. All were originally operating in the mid-1800s and all have some good history behind their walls. We did not have a beer in each, as we were interested in concluding the tour in one day and didn't think we'd be attentive to detail in the last couple of pubs if we'd already drunk three or four pints.

The Customs House Hotel was first on the list. Licensed in 1846, it got its name from its location...yup, right across the street from Hobart's Custom House (now Parliament). We thought it to be pretty non-descript. It's been “gentified” and modernized and in the process, has, perhaps, lost some of its charm.

There is supposedly a tunnel that leads from Parliament to the hotel, but we couldn't find any more information about it. Probably needed to take one of those $20/pp pub tours to get the inside skinny.

We headed to Salamanca Place, an upscale market area with classy boutiques and restaurants and a couple of older pubs. We came across Irish Murphy's first. It's one of the oldest pubs in town and has had several different names. It was considered a pretty rough place as late as the 1950s when Ma Dwyer owned it. It was called Ma's Blues House then because of its crude clientele and its appeal to the criminal element in town. Evidently back alleys provided quick exits when the police showed up.

We took a peek inside. Though housed in an historic Georgian sandstone building, it's a typical Irish-themed pub and restaurant; it has a sister pub in Brisbane by the same name. It appeals to the tourist and younger crowd, I'd say, with evening entertainment and kitschy “authentic” Irish décor.

Knopswood's Retreat, originally known as Whaler's Return, is just a couple of blocks away. It's noted in Lonely Planet as the best pub in Hobart. We're not sure what LP's criteria is, but we certainly wouldn't agree. Once again, it's gentrified and appeals to an upscale after-work/weekend crowd. There's a sign outside: A Friday Night Institution since 1829. The stained glass panels above the bar with scenes of historic Hobart were nice, but the atmosphere was still commercial in our opinion.

The Shipwright Arms aka Shippie's was our idea of a neighborhood pub. First of all, it's actually located in a neighborhood, not in touristy part of town. The sign advertising $9.50 lunches “had us at hello”. We walked in and bellied up to the English-style bar. The barkeep greeted everyone who came in by name...it was like Cheers... except nobody knew our name.

We took a look at the bar menu. Hmm... lamb's brains with mushroom sauce for $13.50. Definitely too expensive for our budget (thank, God). Moving right along to the luncheon specials, I settled on scallop pie and David opted for cajun chicken. We each had a pint of Cascade Pale Ale. We were parched after all of our pub exploring activities. We loved the early maritime photos dotting the walls and the Sydney-Hobart race memorabilia. We especially liked their website notice: No Pokies • No TAB • No Tofu • No Keno • No Pool Table • No Live Music • No Bok Choy

With a lunch and a pint under our belts, we got back on track and headed to the Brunswick Hotel right in the middle of downtown on Liverpool Street. The Brunswick is the second oldest continuously licensed pub in Australia c1827 and boasts “the world’s second largest Chesterfield” (tufted leather couch). We saw the famous Chesterfield, but it was totally occupied and not photographable at the moment... nor all that interesting. We had no inclination to know where the world's largest Chesterfield resided.

New owners describe it as “a really exciting Gastro Pub.” The bar was a traditional style and the décor was “pub-ish”. Its rooms have been renovated and offers backpacker-type rooms as well as more upscale accommodation.

Just a marker notes the location of the Scotch & Thistle Tavern which stood on the corner of Liverpool and Barrack Streets in the 1820's. It was unearthed in 2011 during a construction. We saw the marker on the street and had to do a little digging ourselves to learn more about it.

Last on the list was the Hope and Anchor Hotel, reputed to be Australia's oldest pub and we were really looking forward to visiting it. Built in 1807, just three years after Hobart was settled, it has lots of history, but is, unfortunately, no longer in business and the building is for sale.

At the end of the day, an unanimous vote amongst the crew determined that the Nine of Cups' Best Pub in Hobart Award goes to Shippies … despite the lamb brains.