Dashing through the bush....
Since Christmas in Australia comes in the middle of summer, there aren't snowmen or sleigh rides. In fact, it can be 100° on Christmas! Because of that, some Australians have their Christmas dinner at the beach, where Santa has even been known to arrive on a surfboard! Those who choose to stay at home and have a more traditional meal feast on roasted turkeys or ham with the fixings. A traditional flaming Christmas plum pudding completes the meal. Plum pudding is really a steamed cake and the Christmas version has a small prize baked inside. The one who finds the toy in their slice gets good luck (or a broken tooth!). Australians decorate their homes with the native Christmas bush, so named because of it's bright red leaves, also evergreen branches and, of course, Christmas trees.
One nice tradition, that has been happening in the city of Melbourne since 1937, is called Carols by Candlelight. Tens of thousands of people come to an outdoors candlelight concert to sing Christmas carols. 
Many of the Christmas songs of Australia are the same classic ones that are sung the world over, but click here for a fun medley of uniquely Australian Christmas songs!! So crank them up, put on your tank top and flip flops, throw some shrimp on the barbie and have yourself a very Merry Christmas mate!!
Australia: A Land of Unique Animals
I think everyone can name the most symbolic animals of Australia - the Kangaroo and the Koala. These are what you think of first, and we will talk about them, but we are also going to tell you about a couple of lesser known animals that live in this beautiful land down under.
Let's start with one that most people don't even realize is a real animal- the Tasmanian Devil. Those of us who grew up watching Looney Tunes know him right? He spins in a crazy tornado and eats everything in his path! Well, probably no surprise, but that's not entirely accurate. A Tasmanian devil is about the size of a small dog, but very muscular and stocky.
It does eat pretty much anything that it can and with the jaw strength of a crocodile it doesn't leave anything behind- it eats the bones and all! They are usually black and sometimes have white spots and they have a feature that they share with another black and white animal. When Tasmanian devils are scared they produce an awful stink that is even stronger than a skunk! That never came up with Bugs Bunny :) Once found all over Australia, they became extinct on the mainland over 400 years ago and now can only be found on the island of Tasmania.
Our next animal is one I bet you've never seen. In fact, because it is nocturnal and lives in burrows it digs with its sharp claws, most people only know when one is around because they find it's cubical poop! That's right - square poop!! Have you guessed the animal?
It's the wombat. This short, round, furry marsupial is found all over Australia but most people outside of Australia have no idea what they are, in fact, once at the fair I paid a dollar to see the worlds largest hamster. It was a wombat and I only knew that because I'd seen one at the zoo in Australia. Our good friend in Australia send us books every year and the cute and cuddly wombat seems to be featured in many of them.
Our next animal wins the prize for uniqueness- the Platypus! This is a very strange animal.
It has a woolly, fur coat, webbed feet and bill like a duck and a tail like a beaver. Oh, and they (and the echidna) are the only mammals that lay eggs. You might say that something that lays eggs isn't a mammal, but after the eggs hatch the female platypus feeds them with her milk like other mammals and unlike other egg-laying creatures. Yes, they are very unique indeed. They live in freshwater rivers and lakes in Eastern Australia, where they eat insect larvae and worms they find in the mud. They are mostly nocturnal which, you would think, would make finding such small things in the mud impossible, especially since they swim with their eyes closed, but they have special electroreceptors on their bills. These receptors pick up the electric signals from the tiny little larvae and tell the platypus where to go! Nature is awesome. You might think this awesome little animal would make a fun playmate, but watch out! The male platypus has a venomous spur on it's hind legs and that venom is so powerful it can kill a small dog or make a human wish it hadn't tried to pet that cute little platypus!!
There are so many animals that are interesting in Australia that I could go on for days. In fact, there are so many interesting THINGS in Australia that I could go on for days, but I've got things to do and so do you, so please check out this website to learn more about this amazing land.
Of course, the adorable Koala needs to make an appearance in any posting about Australian animals :)
And we can't leave out the Kangaroo!!!!
G'day Australia!!!!!
Some Good 'ol Down Under Grub!
Now most of the food of Australia is pretty similar to the food we eat here in America. The brands are different and some of the names have been changed but it's all pretty close. One food is totally unique and something most Americans would never think to eat - Vegemite. This dark brown paste is the peanut butter of Australia. They eat it starting in childhood and love it spread on buttered toast. Apparently it is an acquired taste, because I found it to be one of the most disgusting things I have ever tried. That's a shame because it is a very good source of B vitamins. That was the only Australian food that I didn't like (well, custard apples were kind of weird too) and I have fond memories of meat pies and crumpets. The seafood is outrageously huge (prawn the size of your hand) and if you like lamb this is the place to be! They also have so many exotic fruits - I remember eating fresh passion fruit - so delicious!! An interesting note - hamburgers in Australia are served with a slice of beet and sometimes with a fried egg, too. Yum. So here are the recipes I picked for this week - Aussie Meat Pies, a handheld pie filled with meat and gravy, and a Pavlova, a meringue and fruit cake named after the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, after her tour of Australia. Try them they were delicious :)
For the recipe you will need:
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 med. onion - finely chopped
- 1 lb. ground beef or chopped steak
- 1 T cornstarch
- 3/4 cup beef stock
- 1 oz. tomato paste
- 1 T Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Vegemite (if you dare) or 1 cube vegetable bouillon
- 4 sheets prepared pie dough or make your own
- 1 egg beaten
- 4 small pie tins
- ketchup for serving
1. Cook onion until soft. Add beef and brown.
2. Combine cornstarch with 1 T beef stock and set aside.
3. Add remaining stock, Worcestershire, tomato paste and bouillon to pan. Stir well and add cornstarch mixture.
4. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened.
5. Preheat oven to 425°
6. Cut dough to fit pie tins. You will need tops and bottoms.
7. Put bottom dough in tin and fill with meat filling.
8. Put top on pie and press edges with fork to seal.
9. Brush tops with beaten egg. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown,
10. Serve with ketchup and ENJOY this simple but delicious meal!
For this recipe you will need:
For the base:
- cooking spray
- cornstarch
- 6 eggs whites
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp white vinegar
1. Preheat oven to 250°. Line sheet pan with wax paper or foil. Spray with cooking spray and lightly dust with cornstarch.
2. Make a 9 inch circle in the cornstarch. This is your guide.
3. Use electric mixer to whip egg whites (make sure bowl is clean and dry or it won't work). Beat to soft peaks.
4. Very slowly add sugar 1 T at a time while beating continuously.
5. Add vanilla, cornstarch and vinegar and beat only until combined.
6. Spoon meringue onto guide. Using back of spoon smooth sides and try to make a pretty dome shape.
7. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2hours or until dry to touch. Mine took 1 hr.
8. Turn off oven and leave door open a crack . Let the meringue cool.
9. When completely cool. Move to serving dish or store in airtight container for later use. Mine was all cracked but apparently that is supposed to happen. The next step hides that part.
10. To serve plop a bunch of whipped cream on top and whatever fresh fruit sounds good - the more tropical the better. We used kiwi fruit, bananas and blackberries.
This was really good and I think it would look very pretty if we put a little more effort into decorating it - the kids just literally threw the fruit on top. Beautiful or not , it was delicious. The edges of the meringue were crispy and the middle was like a marshmallow. It was sweet but with 6 eggs and a bunch of fruit it was healthy - right?!?
G'day mates.
Do you Didgeridoo?
What a fun word. Didgeridoo. We can thank the native peoples of Australia, the Aborigines for it and many other fun Australian words. Let's get a little of the history of the Aborigines and then we'll make our instruments.
Just how long the Aborigines have lived in Australia is uncertain, they believe they were brought to life on the island during the creation or "the Dreaming", but scientists believe that they actually migrated to the uninhabited island from Asia around 50,000 years or so ago. During that time, which was right about the end of the last ice age, the continent of Australia was much larger. Why was it larger? The seas were lower because the water was frozen into glaciers and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea were connected with land bridges . Because of the lower seas and the larger land mass, those early settlers only had to travel about 80-100 miles over the sea to reach Australia. Still pretty far when you consider the boats they had, but do-able! Soon these first settlers had spread to every part of the island and evolved with different languages and customs but one common belief - the concept of "the Dreaming".
The Dreaming is the Aboriginal version of how the world was created. They believe that once the world was nothing, until some beings they call the Ancestors arrived and took many shapes (mostly snake shapes for some reason). As the Ancestors travelled they created new life and formed the landscapes of Australia. The stories of the Ancestors have been told and retold for generations but not written down. They were also painted for ceremonial purposes on pieces of Eucalyptus bark with natural paints, but many times those were burned at the end of the ceremonies. The Aborigines lived in peaceful isolation on their beautiful island until the 1780s, when British settlers arrived. (The country had been lightly explored by the Dutch in the 1600s but they had not settled.) The settlers brought with them many new diseases, sheep and cattle which fouled the waterholes and a desire to "claim" the land as theirs. As you could imagine, soon the the Aborigines and the English were fighting. Guess who won? Not the aborigines, there were many restrictions put on them, including not being able to marry interracially or owning land. In fact, it wasn't until 1967 (!) that they were given citizenship and equal rights!! That's a pretty hard pill to swallow when you were there first. Eventually, the Australian government has realized that the Aboriginal culture is a valuable asset to everyone and many efforts have been made to protect it from further decline. All this history learning is making me sad.
Luckily, we have a fun project to do !! We are making a didgeridoo!!!!! What is a didgeridoo? I'm glad you asked. The didgeridoo is a wind instrument (that means you blow into it) that has been played by the Aborigines for at least 1,000 years. It is a long tube made from a tree or branch that has been hollowed out by termites. They strip the bark and sometimes decorate it, sometimes not. A mouthpiece of wax is made on one end to form a tight seal around the mouth and the player vibrates his lips and hums and drones constantly while breathing through his nose. Typically, it was played during ceremonial dances and it was always played by men. Well, that's their rule not ours - here in this house we ALL get to didgeridoo!!!
Didgeridoo Project
For the project you will need:
- hollow branch. If you can't find that you can use some PVC pipe or a cardboard tube :)
- paints or markers and any other decorations you'd like
1. I think you can guess where I'm going with this. Paint the tube with gleeful abandon and then let it dry. Waiting is the hardest part.
2. Put one end over your mouth and make humming motorboat noises into it. Breathe through your mouth and see how long you can go :) If you'd like some inspiration check out this video to see how it is played by a professional. If you'd like to see some wonderful Aboriginal art while listening to some didgeridoo music click here.
Here you see the finished didgeridoo being used to drive us all crazy :) Who's brilliant idea was it to make this instrument?? Just kidding, it's fun to try to make it sound authentic - or just sing Aussie Christmas Carols !
Have Fun!!
G'day from Down Under
Or "down undah" as it would be pronounced in our next country - Australia. I've been saving Australia as one of my easy countries that I can whip out during busy times. This is one of those times (hence the lack of posts for Iraq) I'm helping at both my children's schools, trying to get the Christmas shopping and cards done, and keep the house together. I know it doesn't sound like much, but writing blog posts took a back burner last week- if you were interested in learning more about Iraq I'm sorry. This week, I promise, will be different. Australia has always held a special place in my heart because we have a very dear family friend who lives there. I've been twice to this beautiful land, once around 8 and again a few years later, my mom has been about 12 times and each year our friend (Hi Pam!) sends my kids great books featuring Australian animals and characters.
Australia is a travel destination that most people only dream about visiting, and I am lucky that my father worked for the airlines and we got a BIG discount, but if you can afford to go, it is a WONDERFUL place!
And a BIG place! The continent/country/island of Australia is almost as large as the United States, which makes it the 6th largest country. There is almost any type of climate you could desire- from the snowy mountains in the Australian Alps, where there is more snow annually than Switzerland, to the hot, dry outback where temps can reach 120°. Natural wonders abound also, like the Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rock. Because the country has evolved so isolated from other land masses, the animals are unique too, we will do a whole post on the great animals of Australia. I've also got some fun ideas for an Aboriginal post - we might try to make a didgeridoo! And, of course, some delicious recipes!! I love Australia and I hope you will too!! Stay tuned :)
This is a picture of my Mom and me holding a real Koala at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane Australia in 1980. I held it too and all I remember was the long, sharp claws digging into my shoulder!!
