Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A little bit festive

We went to see Australia last night. I managed to look past all the cheezy lines, cliches, repeated utterings of the word 'crikey' and just enjoyed it for what it was. An epic, with some stunning visual imagery. And then we stepped out of the cinema into the concrete jungle that is Scum Sunshine. Sigh. I need to get out of the city sometime soon.

I was wrapping a Christmas gift today (two cushion covers) and loved the way they looked all rolled up & tied with string:





I'm not sick of that ladder yet -are you? ;)

And I remembered that I am doing something slightly festive at the moment - eating Lebkuchen! Traditional German gingerbread for the festive season. Ever since I was very young my family has received a large decorative tin filled with these goodies from our German relatives. Mum and Dad try and make it last the whole year. But now I've found them at the IGA :)



Yumm.

11 comments:

Kate Moore said...

I have trialled three recipes for gingerbread and one that I thought was going to be all olde worlde European was hard, fiddly and foul. I am bringing it into work tomorrow for people to use as paperweights. I don't know if it was me, but my partner and I went over the recipe and can't fathom whether it was something I did wrong. They look like the picture.

Anyhoot, I have been avoiding an old recipe I found in a German cook book dating back to the 1950s because it too looked fiddly. I might try it, maybe in winter. I'm heading back to a simpler recipe for the gift giving and will check out my IGA for the imported stuff too.

Jodie said...

Come to Ballarat for a visit - we are almost country.

Tanya said...

I had these at a german market(in melbourne tho!)last year christmas time;)Yummy!

Anonymous said...

I'm meaning to go see Australia too, just to see what it's like.

I tried cooking Lebkuchen onces... did not go to well, it came out hard as a rock! I must have done something wrong!

Renae said...

The cushion covers are lovely :)

Best place for Lebkuchen and all things gingerbready and European? Aldi! There's wonderful things in there at the moment! If you look hard on the right day they even sell spiced wine!

Lara said...

Hah, nice suggestion Renae! I wonder if that's because Aldi is German originally!

Katie - hmm interesting, I've never actually tried cooking them myself. The ancient cookbook sounds good. And this is a good (albeit longwinded read) that can explain why some baking recipes go to total sh*t and never look like the pictures:

http://amerrierworld.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/a-question-of-flour/

Michelle Engel Bencsko said...

We used to have IGA's, now that you mention it. I wonder if they still exist here...
It's often the same for me with American-themed movies because everything is so exaggerated and amplified to depict the locale and the people... it can be very distracting.

Fer said...

Geez, your IGA's must be pretty fancy over there in the Big City, ours are pretty tame but you've made me want to find some of that gingerbread now!

Come to Tasmania, you'll be inspired! Come in autumn though, the colours are magical. :o)

Rosina {Rosy ~ Posy} said...

Your cushion covers look great :) We always eat lebkuchen at Christmas to. My uncle used to bring us boxes of them when we were kids and we just never grew tired of them! Love your blog to :) I've been reading along quietly for quite a while but thought I would pop out of the shadows to say hi :)

Anonymous said...

Hello I am french and I fing thoses in Aldi. I was in Sydney at the begining of December and i saw in Aldi in Sydney.
Aldi open a shop in Melbourne (I dont know if it's finish yet)But try to find the adress near you in
http://aldi.com.au/au/html/service/store_locations.htm?WT.z_src=main
They sell a lot of product from australia and some are organic, but thoses come from deushlang or europ more noth. Sorry for my not so good english.SeeYou
Do

Anonymous said...

oh my god i love that stuff!! we always get a box of lebkuchen from one of my austrian aunts around christmas time too!!!! it is the greatest thing ever ever ever!! I like to bake quite often, but even with that, after having eaten it all of my life from nurnberger, and though im bursting to try to make basically everything from scratch myself, i would never bother with lebkuchen, there are just too many flavours in there, and such a perfect consistency that simply wouldnt work if it wasnt just so... believe me, for those thinking of trying to make it, you're probably better off splurging on the real deal, and just sticking to gingerbread men or something at home.
but spiced wine, or gluhwein is possible! red wine, spices and some orange peel heated up is always a hit, even if you screw it up:)