Celebrating Christmas without The Bad Bits in Winter Not Summer on Whatever Day You Want

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year and it was icy across Southeastern Australia.

Just before 7.00 am in Charleton, Victoria, it was -2.5 degrees, the coldest morning in 12 years. Up in Birdsville, Queensland, it was a three year record at 2.2 degrees and in the Northern Territory, at the base of the second biggest rock in the world, the gauge read 0.6 degrees. Then, at 8.07 pm, the winter solstice occurred and we tipped over again into the long, axial rotation back to summer.

While this gives those of us with reptilian heat requirements and a fondness for summery gin cocktails great cause for hope and optimism, it also provides incontrovertible truth that we are smack bang in the middle of winter. Winter is when you spend more time inside and you need warm, comforting, rich and cuddly food.

Which makes the following idea a bit less ludicrous...

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

So this comes up every year and, apparently, it's a thing that some people like to do. We're not entirely sure why. The idea of having to endure more than one Christmas a year is enough to send us scuttling under the table with a bottle of Poor Tom's finest and a fist full of valium.

However, if you could do Christmas differently we can sort of see the point.

For example, if you didn't have to spend the national debt on presents that no one really needs or wants, or deal with a parade of relatives with questionable political views, taste and personal hygiene and you didn't have to sit in a pool of sweat on a 30 degree day stuffing down a menu of rich, meaty food designed to be consumed in the middle of a snowstorm, Christmas would probably be a lot of fun.

So I think 'Christmas in July' is actually 'Celebrating Christmas Without The Bad Bits In Winter Not Summer On Whatever Day You Want'.

If that's the case, we're in. So send out a call to your best friends and book a date for a classic Christmas-style feast.

For added incentive, we're offering a 15% discount on our Almond Grove Humane Choice Free Range turkeys. Not a bad start.

Read our December 2017 blog about Christmas and the definition of luxury.

Why these turkeys are so good.

These are the same Humane Choice Free Range certified, pasture-raised turkeys from Almond Grove Farm that we offer each (December) Christmas.

Unlike our Northern Hemisphere cousins, we only eat turkey once or twice a year. This makes it a pretty marginal proposition for a farmer, so only a handful of Australian producers grow turkeys and almost all of those are in sheds. Which makes a truly pasture-raised turkey certified Free Range by Humane Choice an even more attractive product.

We've been to Almond Grove Farm in South Australia to see for ourselves. It's a lovely spot and John Holland is an excellent farmer.

We've also got U Goose Emden cross geese, Sommerlad Heritage chickens from Grassland Poultry, hams, pastured pork roasts and all sorts of other lovely gear for your winter feasting.

For added inspiration and a good laugh, you should check out the fabulous Thanksgiving Throwback feast 1960s and 70s recipes and beautiful shots by Bon Apetit. Really out there.